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  1. Al Gerhart

    No wonder chickens fed cafeteria style select each element in about the same proportion as it is in the old mixed feeds

    The source for that 1957 study doesn't appear to be available online other than in some articles that Winter wrote in a ag tech journal but the quotes attributed to the work states that the cafeteria method works only as long as the essential nutrients are all available and it points out that...
  2. Al Gerhart

    RATS!

    Predator urine was looked at in that University of Nebraska white paper on rodent control. It actually brought in more predators and had zero effect on rodents. Rats are after one of four things, food, water, nesting materials, or a safe place to build a nest. Food is the most common draw...
  3. Al Gerhart

    Rats living in soon to be Coop..

    Palm tree nuts.... sounds like they have a ready source of food already but they will prefer the chicken feed. I am not privy to the nutritional value of these palm nuts but you can bet they are sufficient in protein and carbs and fats being that they are a nut. So, you need to focus on...
  4. Al Gerhart

    Let's talk Oregano Essential Oil for Chickens... Uses? Dosing? Benefits? Can it be used daily?

    An old thread for sure. But I enjoyed reading U Stormcrow's replies and the sputtering that results and then the wholesale ignoring of excellent advice and wisdom. When it comes to feeding nutrition and things of a medicinal or chemical nature, U Stormcrow is the godfather of those topics...
  5. Al Gerhart

    Feeding Chickens iguana?

    Chickens are the mother load of salmonella, no worse than iguanas. Used to do bacterial studies on countertop materials. Our source of bacteria was to grab a Walmart frozen chicken, thaw it in the fridge, use the water that drained off. Contaminated myself twice, got a drop somehow in the...
  6. Al Gerhart

    Squirrels---is there a good food girls will like and squirrels hate? I read that nectarine pits (do not help my cancer...but) contain some poison....

    Squirrels can be stopped by treadle feeders by setting the treadle pressure at least six pounds which might be too much for all but the larger breeds of hens. Leverage has a cost, meaning that if the treadle pressure is at six pounds, the pressure needed to just push the door open without...
  7. Al Gerhart

    Grandpas vs RentACoop Treadle Feeder

    I hesitate to recommend either one due to the inherent safety problem with that overhead lid. What I can say is that the pressure needed to operate is low enough and those huge honking treadles that are so close to the feed do work better with banties. Of course that also means they are...
  8. Al Gerhart

    RATS!

    I'll try to help. The problem with the grandpa feeder is the feed tray has no real sides, front lip, or even a feed lip. They put that wire grate in there and that is about all they can do. Back in the day, it was all there was. I suppose the tooling costs are too much for them to change...
  9. Al Gerhart

    Best feeder for 8 chickens with an enclosed run?

    Great points. Although two medium would hold 66 pounds, provide 20" of eating space, opposed to 14", and as one poster rightfully pointed out, having two feeders is great for bullies in the flock. Cost is actually lower for two mediums than one extra large. I'm a tightwad, making and selling...
  10. Al Gerhart

    deer feeder for chickens...hoping to cut waste and rats...

    No, if you free range that limits the Fort Knox coop method, unless you leave the feed inside the coop and keep the door closed during the day. The second method, the sanitation method, is cheaper than the Fort Knox coop. And if you follow it you ensure the rats stay at the neighbor's coop...
  11. Al Gerhart

    Best feeder for 8 chickens with an enclosed run?

    Nat J, Altairsky, and Rosemarythyme have given some great advice. Not sure of the other manufacturers, but our Medium feeder will hold around 33 pounds of feed if you stuff it to the gills. Eight birds, like they said, 2 pounds per day, 16 days before needing a refill with 8 hens. The extra...
  12. Al Gerhart

    What are your opinions on grains/seeds as layer feed instead of processed feed?

    Two value systems colliding. Hard truths that people don't consider. I look at the pampering of pets and agree, it is their money to waste if it makes them happy. But the other end is "How many kids in the developing world could that pet pampering money save through vaccinations and survival...
  13. Al Gerhart

    Chickens Won't Eat Corn or Milo

    Frost ranger answered your question quite well and thank you for questioning the advice. An open mind is a great thing. But the advice is not rare but the most common held knowledge, stick to commercial feed, the appropriate feed for what you are feeding. Billions have been spent over the...
  14. Al Gerhart

    deer feeder for chickens...hoping to cut waste and rats...

    That is a great price and it might work for mice that chickens might kill during the day, you will be programming the rats to wait and eat when the feed is dispensed. They will fill up and stuff their burrows with the excess. Meantime your flock is introduced to artificial scarcity and they...
  15. Al Gerhart

    What are your opinions on grains/seeds as layer feed instead of processed feed?

    When people think they are smarter than college trained and experienced nutritionists with all software and testing equipment I just have to shake my head. Millions, billions, have been spent on research on feeding chickens with the current experts standing in the shoulders of the ones that...
  16. Al Gerhart

    Chickens Won't Eat Corn or Milo

    Asking the wrong question. Ask why you would feed scratch and harm your birds.
  17. Al Gerhart

    All Things Treadle Feeder

    Royalchick is completely correct on this. I design, build, and install trophy kitchens but even there I try to squeeze out every penny in cost to get the customer the biggest bang for the buck. When I grew up, money was scarce, so I learned to respect it above so much. My thinking is to...
  18. Al Gerhart

    All Things Treadle Feeder

    If you had read the instructions you would have read the part telling you to email with pictures so I could understand what the issue was. Since you didn't, most would understand that you didn't read the instructions. The "gap" is nothing more than the spring tension needing adjusted or the...
  19. Al Gerhart

    All Things Treadle Feeder

    The gap will not be 3/8", send me a picture if it is but I can assure you it is not. Gaps will be between 3/16" and 1/4", put there on purpose for two reasons. First, the door drops as it rotates back, if the door is tight it will snag on the bottom. Second reason, as the sheet metal wears...
  20. Al Gerhart

    Mice eating feed and getting into coops

    Mice breed even faster, after delivery they can be pregnant again within hours and deliver the babies around 19 days later. About the same number per year, say 140 per mother mouse. But, they are at breeding age in six weeks......
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