What is happening to our chicken feed?

[Cowgirl71]

I was going through more feed than normal on two occasions this year...

1) Our feral flock of then 24 Guinea Fowl learned that there was a free all-you-can-eat buffet in the coop.

2) Several of our barn cats learned that there was a buffet in the coop.

It doesn't sound like you have Guineas, but it could be feral cats...

I've also experienced what HorseFeatherz NV mentioned about changing the feed and the hens digging through it to find the good stuff (often the cracked corn) and spilling the rest on the ground.

I've also heard that goats can be a problem (if you have goats?).

 

[fiberart57]

Do you have a dog who might be eating it? My Cocker Spaniel loves chicken feed and will lick it out of the feeder. I finally figured out how to keep the door to their run closed enough so she couldn't get in.

Mary

 

[CARS]

Well, no shooting required. The little thieves don't have a long enough tail and as Chris pointed out, I don't live in South America. What ever they are, they are porky little things, living high on the hog at my expense. Short of making the barn air tight, I think I am stuck with them.

Why can't beautiful song birds take refuge in my barn??

 

[PepsNick]

It sounds like you just have buckets without a lid. Why don't you get one? If that's the only opening then I'm sure that whatever has been taking your feed won't be able to get to it anymore. And I doubt one or two rodents could eat all of those- probably a lot of them or something larger. Look out for those, they are also predators not to the food, but to the chickens.

 

[Wifezilla]

I was going through a lot of feed in the quail pen. Turned out a squirrel had been coming by for breakfast. He ate a hole in some of the netting.

 

[HLAC]

Cottontail rabbits come and eat out of my chicken's feeder if I don't pull it up off the ground for the night.

Starlings will hit it during the day.
I shoot the starlings and they're pretty fast learners. They see a few of their flock members keel over next to the feeder and they start to look for food elsewhere. For at least a little while. Their longterm memory isn't so good.

 

[thebirdguy]

Quote:
Do they look like this?

These are english sparrows.. they nest in rafters and are very prolific pests.. Non native to the US and now are everywhere... The local warehouse stores all have sparrows that live inside all winter long... even see them in Walmart sometimes..

 

[ChickenMama18]

Both buckets have a top and are five gallons each. They have a tray attached at the bottom for the birds to eat from. Their run is totally inclosed with wire and a roof so altho we have dogs they can't get in, nor can cats or squirls. Very small birds might be able to....but haven't seen any over there. I know the chickens scare the small birds out of the yard when they are free ranging so not sure they would let them dine with them. We had mice at one time and put out poisen and that got rid of them. Also got rid of a wood pile they were hanging out in. Haven't seen anymore droppings. I did notice that there is some small bits of corn in the crumble......could they really be digging that much??? Didn't look like there was ten pounds worth on the ground. I'm so perplexed. We refilled their buckets and left for our trip this morning. Hopefully it will still be full...altho we will only be gone til Sunday. Any other ideas? Seriously...we cannot afford this and of course I'm not going to let our feathered babies starve! LOL!

 

[ChickenMama18]

Hmm....guess I could pull the food at night??? I dunno!!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
What I do is put black rubber pans under the feeders to catch all the scratched out feed. It saves me oodles of money. They come in all kinds of sizes, but there is one size that is just perfect for the hanging-type feeder. It is wide and short.

http://www.amazon.com/Fortex-Fortif...4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1293076042&sr=1-4

I'm not sure this is the size I have- I got mine from the feed store. It looks like the same shape, though.