Messy eaters

[trainman]

My Barred Rocks are very wasteful with the feed. I have a 3lb metal hanging feeder for them. It's about 4-6" above the floor of the coop. I just cleaned the coop and noticed there was more feed on the floor than bedding. I feed them layer crumbles. Is there a way to not have them throwing the expensive feed on the floor? I've never had a flock before that spread it around. This current flock is a big disappointment in a couple ways compared to past flocks.

 

[AmyJane725]

Get a port feeder. Works like a charm.

You can buy them on Amazon, but kinda pricey. I bought the ones pictured back when they were cheaper and I love them. No feed wasted, ever. You can make your own with a 5 gallon bucket and some pipe. They also sell port kits on Amazon if you don’t want to deal with pipe.

 

[DickMidnight]

i made this one out of scrap wood and some pvc elbows. no food thrown around.

 

[AmyJane725]

i made this one out of scrap wood and some pvc elbows. no food thrown around.

That’s adorable! I love the design!

 

[kerbotx]

Sounds like it could be too low; general rule of thumb says the bottom of the feeder should be level with their backs, so play around with the height a bit. Plus, if you could add a lip to the feeder, that might prevent them from flicking pieces out - think split plastic tubing of some kind, like what you hide computer cords inside of. And of course, crumbles work better in some feeders more than others - I've seen suggestions on the boards here, if you have the time to search.

 

[ChickenLeg]

Id keep the feed right at their neck level between their shoulders and head and see if this helps. Ive had wasteful eaters and by raising up the feeder it helped some of them. Ive also made covers that go over the opening on the feeders to they only have 4 or 5 opening around the feeder and each one is only about 2inches wide, its harder for them to theow out feed this way. Cheers

 

[ChickenLeg]

Sounds like it could be too low; general rule of thumb says the bottom of the feeder should be level with their backs, so play around with the height a bit. Plus, if you could add a lip to the feeder, that might prevent them from flicking pieces out - think split plastic tubing of some kind, like what you hide computer cords inside of. And of course, crumbles work better in some feeders more than others - I've seen suggestions on the boards here, if you have the time to search.

You posted right before me hittin the same topics lol

 

[3KillerBs]

It's about 4-6" above the floor of the coop.

Way too low.

As noted above, if you raise the feeder to the height of the chickens' backs they don't spill so much. You can provide a brick for shorter chickens to stand on.

When I do have a spill I simply don't refill the feeder until they've eaten all the feed off the floor.