littlehipkitty
In the Brooder
- Jul 25, 2019
- 5
- 3
- 39
So my husband and I are new to all this. He's wanted chickens and ducks for the past couple of years, but we didn't have the time to dedicate to them until this year. We ended up with 8 chickens and 2 ducks, and it was kind of an impulse purchase so we were not really prepared (oops).
I've built a large coop and run for them to share, which I will post pictures of when I'm finished (mostly just siding and roofing left). However I wanted to share pics of the trigger feeder we are using for them, because I read about it on the forums here.
I didn't want to spend a fortune on a fancy feeder, but we live in an area that is a huge natural habitat for mice, so I wanted something reasonably rodent-proof. The trigger feeder cost about $5 to make and has been working great.
I read some advice here on how to train them to use it. We started out with scratch in it instead of their regular food and they learned how to use it within the hour. The scratch was a great motivator lol. We also kept it lower and with no stump under it until they had it figured out. After a week or so we raised it and after another week we added the stump. We are using it with crumbles but my husband put some treats on the plate to reinforce the idea that food was there. They didn't have any problems adapting to it with the stump. The plate on the stump helps keep the food from being trampled into the ground (you can see the mess still there from before the stump).
It seems like this type of feeder isn't as common, but considering how cheap it was to make, that it is rodent-proof, and the chickens and ducks learned to use it easily, I'm surprised more people don't use it! I found all the info on here for making it to be invaluable.
I've built a large coop and run for them to share, which I will post pictures of when I'm finished (mostly just siding and roofing left). However I wanted to share pics of the trigger feeder we are using for them, because I read about it on the forums here.
I didn't want to spend a fortune on a fancy feeder, but we live in an area that is a huge natural habitat for mice, so I wanted something reasonably rodent-proof. The trigger feeder cost about $5 to make and has been working great.
I read some advice here on how to train them to use it. We started out with scratch in it instead of their regular food and they learned how to use it within the hour. The scratch was a great motivator lol. We also kept it lower and with no stump under it until they had it figured out. After a week or so we raised it and after another week we added the stump. We are using it with crumbles but my husband put some treats on the plate to reinforce the idea that food was there. They didn't have any problems adapting to it with the stump. The plate on the stump helps keep the food from being trampled into the ground (you can see the mess still there from before the stump).
It seems like this type of feeder isn't as common, but considering how cheap it was to make, that it is rodent-proof, and the chickens and ducks learned to use it easily, I'm surprised more people don't use it! I found all the info on here for making it to be invaluable.
