Texas

[GFamily]

Hello!

Texas member here - chicken mom since 2012.

Sent from my iPhone using

Love the pictures! Welcome and beautiful birds!

 

[Kilsharion]

I am having HUGE issues with my chickens scratching all of their feed out of their feeder...i use a 5lb feeder and they will completely empty and spread it out all over the ground in a single day. I buy a Lay mix from a LFS and am starting to wonder if they are picking around certain things to get to their favorite bits? i dunno.

Do you all feed like a daily ration to avoid this? or do i need to rethink my feeders? i use on the hanging feeders and it hangs about 6" off the ground because of the varying sizes of my birds currently...i just feel like im going through feed twice as fast as i should be...

I do fermented feed, not dry; and, so I can't use the feed hangers...so, I don't have a suggestion for you. They sure love to scratch in their food.

For us, I found that the easiest thing for us was to make a covered feeder. We have a PVC pipe mounted on some legs with a cover over the top of it. It is open on each side just enough for the birds (guineas and chickens) to be able to get in and eat the food comfortably; but, they can't get on top of the food to scratch at it. It also protects the food from the rain (we have our food out in the run).

Doesn't do you much good on how to approach your current feeder issues; but, maybe gives you an idea on an alternative.

 

[Kilsharion]

Love the pictures! Welcome and beautiful birds!

x2

 

[bnjrob]

I am having HUGE issues with my chickens scratching all of their feed out of their feeder...i use a 5lb feeder and they will completely empty and spread it out all over the ground in a single day. I buy a Lay mix from a LFS and am starting to wonder if they are picking around certain things to get to their favorite bits? i dunno.

Do you all feed like a daily ration to avoid this? or do i need to rethink my feeders? i use on the hanging feeders and it hangs about 6" off the ground because of the varying sizes of my birds currently...i just feel like im going through feed twice as fast as i should be...

Do your feeders have the grill in the tray and/or the ability to raise/lower the opening that the food falls out of the middle reservoir from?

The only time we have problems with scratching the food out of the feeders is when we use the on-the-ground chick feeders for the tiniest chicks. Once we go to the hanging feeders, we don't have a problem with scratching or beaking out the food.

We also feed crumbles. If your mix has different grains, it may be also be a case of picking out what they want first. I know that ours do that when I clean out the frig and give stuff to them. They'll pick pieces of meat out of a stew before they will eat the tomatoes in it, that kind of thing.

 

[GFamily]

I am having HUGE issues with my chickens scratching all of their feed out of their feeder...i use a 5lb feeder and they will completely empty and spread it out all over the ground in a single day. I buy a Lay mix from a LFS and am starting to wonder if they are picking around certain things to get to their favorite bits? i dunno.

Do you all feed like a daily ration to avoid this? or do i need to rethink my feeders? i use on the hanging feeders and it hangs about 6" off the ground because of the varying sizes of my birds currently...i just feel like im going through feed twice as fast as i should be...

I actually only feed my girls at night. I will go fill up their feed bucket after work and then I throw them kitchen and garden scraps (fruits, veggies, worms, crunched up egg shell for calcium etc.) The rest of the time I let them forage for food. However, as soon as I fill up their feed bucket they dump it out....it never fails. Everyday they do this. I think they enjoy foraging for their food and eventually all that food that fell out they'll forage for it and eat it up as long as you're not refilling the feed bucket right afterwards. They are creatures that are meant to forage so if they are kicking it around then they are probably just having a good ol' time. I have seen some people use the feeding systems where the chicken has to peck a lever and it will empty a few pellets at a time. I really like those systems and might end up switching to one of those when they get bigger.

 

[mark9199]

x2

x3

 

[TexasLisa]

Hello!

Texas member here - chicken mom since 2012.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Howdy and

from Rosenberg, TX! I love your pictures!

I am having HUGE issues with my chickens scratching all of their feed out of their feeder...i use a 5lb feeder and they will completely empty and spread it out all over the ground in a single day. I buy a Lay mix from a LFS and am starting to wonder if they are picking around certain things to get to their favorite bits? i dunno.

Do you all feed like a daily ration to avoid this? or do i need to rethink my feeders? i use on the hanging feeders and it hangs about 6" off the ground because of the varying sizes of my birds currently...i just feel like im going through feed twice as fast as i should be...

Kilsharion beat me to the draw! Have you considered fermented feed?

Buffy, the ditz that she is, hasn't quite figured out the whole "nest" thing. She laid her egg right next to the waterer, yesterday.

That bird's a mess....definitely our "blonde".

Kilsharion, have you considered changing her name to 'Ditzy'?

Lisa

 

[GFamily]

Where do you guys get your food grade DE? No store around me sells "food grade"...that I have been able to find thus far.

 

[Thirteen]

welcome aboard thirteen! Where abouts are you located?

DFW area Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[showbarnmom]

Where do you guys get your food grade DE?  No store around me sells "food grade"...that I have been able to find thus far.

I buy mine from the feed store. Our purina store carries it. (I'm in new braunfels if your close.) I also know you can buy small bags online, though I do no know what site.