Wasting WAAAAAAY too much feed!!!!!!

[byveidt]

This sounds weird, but what I do I bring in older birds from outside to eat all of the spilled food if I'm not brooding outside. They're happy to clean it all up, and I don't feel like I've wasted anything. Depends on where you brood, though.

 

[mags247]

My brooder has a wooden floor and deep litter. I have absolutely no feed waste. I would never even think to put biddies, pullets or chickens in anything with a wire bottom.

 

[byveidt]

My brooder has a wooden floor and deep litter. I have absolutely no feed waste. I would never even think to put biddies, pullets or chickens in anything with a wire bottom.

Ha. Biddies.

 

[seminolewind]

Those are cool feeders!

 

[Abeall]

Here's a few pictures of my plastic shoe boxes with 'ski's turned into chicken feeders. Been almost two weeks and 25 chickens using them and the waste has gone to almost nothing. So far, no one has tipped one over.

With these. Are there holes on the sides? Or do they just climb in or eat from the top? Also, is there a lid for it or do you have a waste problem in the feed?

 

[bernaboo111]

get one of those long feeders with a lot of holes and screw it into a piece of plywood and put a little edge around it. this should catch the feed.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Check out these two links..I think you'll find them helpful. No feed gets wasted here anymore. : )

Growing Fodder
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/newestpost/713334

Fermented Feed
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds

Hope this helps

~ Aspen

 

[Dutchgirl]

At least for the adults, we feed pellets for that very reason. We have found that crumbles get knocked out much more easily, and then they just get rubbed into the ground. With pellets, the chickens can actually see the spilled food and, if you take away the main food source temporarily, will usually eat it.

 

[mzgarden]

Little bits, you said: I'm having the waste problem, too, and this is a great idea! Are those bolts w/ washers used for connection?

My husband suggested using them to keep the connection tight. So I pre-drilled a hole in the plastic bin and wood ski, put the washer down and put the screw through and tightened it.

 

[mzgarden]

Abeall, you said: With these. Are there holes on the sides? Or do they just climb in or eat from the top? Also, is there a lid for it or do you have a waste problem in the feed?

No holes on the sides - they stand on the ground and reach in and eat. There can be 6 birds gathered round each box at a time easily. Because I keep the feed at half full, they don't toss it on the ground. The sides of the plastic boxes are too thin for them to roost on and so far, no one has walked into one - I think because the sides are high.