'Slow Feeding' birds to keep them from scarfing down food + to encourage foraging

[lazy gardener]

I was going to suggest that you ferment their feed. Were you saying that perhaps one of the dogs might be enjoying the feed? If so, you might put some sort of wire over the pans, perhaps a 4" mesh would work to keep the dog out. My dog loves chicken feed, especially if it's fermented. Fermenting is super easy.

 

[centrarchid]

You could slow feed intake by making them invest more effort while feeding. Consider setting up a loose pile of hay in a location protected from precipitation, then pour feed into that so chickens must scratch around though pile to get eats. It will change their equation when it comes to deciding when to invest in foraging. I use a grain mix approximating scratch grains for same purpose. In my area the forage base is starting to ramp up.

 

[lazy gardener]

Only down side to above suggestion is that it could encourage rodent activity. Centrarchid has LGDs which would make that option feasible in that case, but in my situation with my dog on an E-collar boundary, that would result in an explosion of rodent population.

 

[centrarchid]

OP has dogs as well. Setup could be modified to limit rodent access, or the feed applied can be restricted so it is cleaned up most days by time birds go to roost.

Making rodents have harder time could involve setting up something like a plastic sand box elevated so chickens have to fly up a little to get in. That would deny rodents much cover and make climbing up more problematic.

The restricting of feed works even with standard feeders. Load only enough to take birds halfway through day before they must go foraging. I load mine mostly with an incomplete ration that changes with seasons to compensate for changes in what foraging provides.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Our temps went back up about a month ago. We had a couple weeks of very cold weather (between 0 and 20), then temps started crawling back up. The flies are back, the grass is growing, and it was 75 a few days ago. I'm excited about the grass at least. I'm probably going through about the same amount of feed as I did in summer as they were penned due to the precarious grass situation (they of course think I sprout it for them). I definitely need to try the hay thing, that's a great idea.

We have virtually zero forage this time of year. By May, my feed consumption per bird will drop in half.
While trying to get grass to grow, chickens will benefit more from tender forbs like clover, alfalfa, forage type turnips, radish, etc. They are more nutritious for monogastric animals and less fibrous than grass.

I toss their feed on the ground in summer, always have. It keeps them busy and scratching—and it helps the feed bill.

If you use a proper feeder, you'll cut your feed bill even more. If fermenting feed, you'll cut the bill in half from what you achieve dumping dry feed on the ground.
Check the type of feeder I posted below.

Our LGD's are outside 24/7 as it's there job to protect everyone. So keeping them out of everyone's feed when I only have polywire and not traditional stock fencing is an issue. Birds are out all the time so I tend to run down and dump their feed then run back up and grab the horses buckets from the house and then run back down and dump their feed. I tie one of the dogs and the other dog has a perimeter up by the house so we have peace for a short time while the vast majority of the food is eaten.

I think I'm going to be trying a combination of chicken wire/other type of wire over shallow feed pans with some hay or straw in them and for the ducks just wetting down the feed/hopefully fermenting sometime soon.

When the crop is empty, that is the hunger signal and when they will mob you. The crops are usually empty in the morning and they want to eat as soon as they wake up.
What type of feeder are you using for the chickens now? When you say dump the feed, do you mean on the ground?
This is my favorite chicken feeder for eliminating waste and ease of cleaning. It may not work for ducks though.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/harris-farms-hanging-feeder-10-lb-capacity
The baffles prevent the chickens from billing the feed out.
I run through about 20 pounds of feed a week for every 10 birds but that varies dramatically from season to season and whether I feed dry or fermented.

Hay isn't a good idea for chickens. It much too fibrous for an animal without the ability to chew.

 

[BantyChooks]

If you use a proper feeder, you'll cut your feed bill even more. If fermenting feed, you'll cut the bill in half from what you achieve dumping dry feed on the ground.
Check the type of feeder I posted below.

Really? My birds would dump half that in ten minutes. I've tried it. It ends up looking just like I threw it on the ground, even with baffles. I figure why go to the effort of filling it and whatnot if they're going to dump it anyway.

I have tried rubber bowls, trench feeders, plastic feeders like that—and I gave up on them all. It is hard to find something that works for bantams, LF, and ducks.

Fermenting works somewhat in summer. I have done it before, but remain unconvinced as to whether it's a good idea.

In winter I fill rubber pans and then wait long enough between feeds that they clean much of the food they spill off the ground. It's bad for worms, I know.

 

[centrarchid]

We have virtually zero forage this time of year. By May, my feed consumption per bird will drop in half.
While trying to get grass to grow, chickens will benefit more from tender forbs like clover, alfalfa, forage type turnips, radish, etc. They are more nutritious for monogastric animals and less fibrous than grass.


If you use a proper feeder, you'll cut your feed bill even more. If fermenting feed, you'll cut the bill in half from what you achieve dumping dry feed on the ground.
Check the type of feeder I posted below.


When the crop is empty, that is the hunger signal and when they will mob you. The crops are usually empty in the morning and they want to eat as soon as they wake up.
What type of feeder are you using for the chickens now? When you say dump the feed, do you mean on the ground?
This is my favorite chicken feeder for eliminating and ease of cleaning. It may not work for ducks though.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/harris-farms-hanging-feeder-10-lb-capacity
The baffles prevent the chickens from billing the feed out.
I run through about 20 pounds of feed a week for every 10 birds but that varies dramatically from season to season and whether I feed dry or fermented.

Hay isn't a good idea for chickens. It much too fibrous for an animal without the ability to chew.

I am close to you. It birds totally free-range they should be able to achieve crop fill multiple times a day if ground not frozen. Inverts in soil moving and flush of plant growth in its little bits it top notch.