seems as tho i have a hen roosting on the top of the feeder, its an open top and there's a pile in it most every morning. If i put the feeder under the nest box, it will keep them from roosting on it, but is that a good or bad place to put it? if i put it there, they wont be able to access all the way around the feeder. or, should i try hanging it and will this stop the roosting problem? they have a roost bar (2x2) but im not sure if they even use it other than to stand on. (my chickens do not live at my residence and by the time i get there in the am, they are already outside in the run and when i leave at nite, it is still light out. also, the door makes alot of noise when opened so im not sure they would stay on it if i went down late a nite to check. while the roost bar is dirty from dirty feet, i dont know if they sleep on it.)
I'd bet they are roosting, and I think that under the nest box is okay as long as they have food all day- this is second to the option of hanging it, though- I'd go for that in a heartbeat. Just make sure you don't hang it from anything they can perch on or the roost!
We hang ours. My husband just put up a braced piece of MDS with a screw hanging off of the side, and we suspend the food. No-one tries to roost on it.
When I was a kid, we put a round bar that would rotate above the feeder. When chickens got on it, it moved so they wouldn't roost on it. We had two boards that went up from each end and then the 'roll' bar went straight above the feeder, hooked on both sides to the two boards. It worked, no one roosted on the feeder after that.
I have one of those feeders and had the same problem, for about 5 minutes. I took a piece of chicken wire, maybe 24" x 18" and rolled it tight enough to drop into the top of the feeder. Once it unrolled it presented a precarious perch at best, and no more Roosting. I can fill the feeder through the top still, as the feed runs right through the chicken wire.
