The A&M's are home!! (And making rabbit feeders work)

[CARS]

I've mentioned it before in other threads, but My 7th grader's Ag class is done with the quail they raised and used as "test subjects" for feed rations and breeding. It is their last week in school so I picked them up today!!! For Free!!! (well, I guess if you take into consideration the amount of feed I put into our son....)

30 of them are less than 3 months old and 40 of them are from last spring.

The little guys are a bit crowded, but I can always make more cages this weekend. The others have been divided into groups of 5.

I am feeding them 18% layer feed that I feed my hens. The Ag class has proven with these birds that they actually lay more eggs with 18% than with the 22% and 28% rations. We'll have to see. Within an hour I had 6 eggs!!

One thing that is going to change tomorrow is the rabbit feeders. Within a couple hours they have thrown more feed out than they have consumed

. The plan, form some metal covers, punch some 1" holes in the covers, and pray that the holes (similar to the chick feeders we use) will keep alot of the feed IN the feeder and off the floor.
Why do they have to shake their heads when they eat? Or reach for the back of the feeder and spill food with their breast feathers??

 

[macnugget]

I tried that rabbit feeder thing didn't work for me When I made my cage I have a shelf that sticks out and i use a normal chick feeder lot let waste just don't fill it to the top

 

[monarc23]

cool cage set up!

 

[CARS]

Quote:
Thanks! They are old layer cages. I removed every other divider to make the "stalls" larger. I did add 1/2" hardware cloth to the bottom for their little feet.

We'll just have to see how it works!!

 

[monarc23]

It looks awesome! I bet it willwork perfectly! I'd have an indoor set up like that for sure!!!

 

[shelleyd2008]

The way I feed mine is to just use the round bases that are for chicks, without the bottle. For some reason they don't waste hardly any that way. I have a 'feeder' in my tuxedo's cage that I made....out of a cut-up butter tub. I cut the bowl part in half, cut some holes in the lid, and wired it down. Since it's not sloped at all, any feed they kick out goes right back into another hole.....almost no mess there, unless it gets low and they flip it over from walking on it!

 

[macnugget]

this is mine with the chick feeder

 

[Appaloosa Hill Farm]

I came up with a solution (using strips of duct tape) to the rabbit feeder feed-loss problem. I'll be glad to take a pic or 10 if anyone would like to see it.

 

[ShadyGlade]

Quote:
I'd like to see a pic or ten please??

 

[CARS]

About half of the rabbit feeders were empty this morning... with a big pile 'O waste under them

The others seem to be eating like nice little gentlemen/ladies

My god do they poop. Even my Cornish don't make that much of a mess

I put a roll of duct tape in the van so when I go home from work I can make a few different feed retainers. I've got Fireman's Drill tonight so I am ducking out of the shop early today to try and remedy the spillage problem. It seems like it is the larger ones that seem to be making the most mess.

They sure don't like the dividers I put up, they seem to be trying to jump over them all the time and bonking into the wire walls

So Chickadeedle.... where are the pics??