Best feeder for a chicken tractor?

[forester7]

I have just completed my 1st chicken tractor. I am wondering what types of feeders would be best for 20-25 broilers? I want a design where there would be minimal wastage. Any suggestions out there?

 

[iwltfum]

I use 36" trough feeders from strombergs. Have about a gazillion of them so I know them well. Simple and effective. Easy to clean, you could hang if it you want. And I have had some for years out in the weather all season and have yet to see any kind of corrosion. I use them from day one in the brooder without the top bar, then about 1 week in I put the top bar in and it travels with them until butcher day. I use one 36" trough per 20 birds.

Here's the link for the one I use

 

[Parront]

I have hanging feeders, you can raise them to keep them from billing the food out. This photo was before I hung it -- one of the cockerels wedged himself under it and between the blocks I had it on and suffocated himself, so hanging feeders from now on! This is a tall movable tractor-style pen and I hung it from the support bar.

 

[iwltfum]

Just beware of problems using mash in hanging cylinder feeders. Pellets and crumbles work great in them, but I have never found one that mash can run through consistently. Worse with high humidity for some reason.

 

[Parront]

Yes, the fine mash can clump up and not come out. They are big enough for pellets when they get the big feeder.

 

[0x1997f-250]

I have just completed my 1st chicken tractor. I am wondering what types of feeders would be best for 20-25 broilers? I want a design where there would be minimal wastage. Any suggestions out there?

I cut a 6 foot section of gutter and capped the ends. I only feed twice a day so needed room for all birds. After 6 weeks I added another 4 footer. I had old gutters so it was cheap

 

[Vacman]

I don't mean to be argumentative, but I would like a clarification. I was under the impression that the purpose of a chicken tractor was to move the chickens around so they would scratch up and fertilize different areas of your property. If they are scratching, aren't they digging for and eating natural food. If you feed them, don't they stop scratching aggressively for food? (Just curious as mine free range in a contained orchard but I did contemplate tractors at one point)

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't mean to be argumentative, but I would like a clarification. I was under the impression that the purpose of a chicken tractor was to move the chickens around so they would scratch up and fertilize different areas of your property. If they are scratching, aren't they digging for and eating natural food. If you feed them, don't they stop scratching aggressively for food? (Just curious as mine free range in a contained orchard but I did contemplate tractors at one point)

If you live in an area where you don't have feral chickens living and reproducing in the wild the chances are that the forage there cannot possibly support the chickens without supplemental feeding.

Additionally, if you do have feral chickens living and reproducing in the wild you will notice that they are game/junglefowl types -- light, active breeds that neither produce many eggs nor develop a meaty carcass.

Tractors are used in the management of meaties as a means of spreading their copious manure over more ground than a confinement system, moderately supplementing their enormous feed intake, and keeping them a little more active than they might be otherwise in hope of warding off leg problems due to their insanely-fast growth rate.

@U_Stormcrow has some figures on feed consumption in a free range environment.

 

[Vacman]

If you live in an area where you don't have feral chickens living and reproducing in the wild the chances are that the forage there cannot possibly support the chickens without supplemental feeding.

Additionally, if you do have feral chickens living and reproducing in the wild you will notice that they are game/junglefowl types -- light, active breeds that neither produce many eggs nor develop a meaty carcass.

Tractors are used in the management of meaties as a means of spreading their copious manure over more ground than a confinement system, moderately supplementing their enormous feed intake, and keeping them a little more active than they might be otherwise in hope of warding off leg problems due to their insanely-fast growth rate.

@U_Stormcrow has some figures on feed consumption in a free range environment.

Thanks for the clarification. That's just what I was looking for.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

If you live in an area where you don't have feral chickens living and reproducing in the wild the chances are that the forage there cannot possibly support the chickens without supplemental feeding.

Additionally, if you do have feral chickens living and reproducing in the wild you will notice that they are game/junglefowl types -- light, active breeds that neither produce many eggs nor develop a meaty carcass.

Tractors are used in the management of meaties as a means of spreading their copious manure over more ground than a confinement system, moderately supplementing their enormous feed intake, and keeping them a little more active than they might be otherwise in hope of warding off leg problems due to their insanely-fast growth rate.

@U_Stormcrow has some figures on feed consumption in a free range environment.

I do - and I'm not using "meat breeds", though I have free ranged CornishX - they don't much care for it, the lazy {explicatives}. You can see my flock in my Sig below, I keep it updated with hatchings and cullings.

The summary is I have 50+ birds, mostly mutts, inside 4.5 acres, of which 1.75 acres is a "biodiverse polyculture" (one of these days, I should start a thread with pictures, so I can just link it). My birds free range about 10 hours a day, more if they feel like jumping the fence. I'm in FL, so I have a long growing season, which also helps. The pasture is re-seeding itself and expanding into the surrounding highland hammock as I remove underbrush (mostly youpon holly). I believe I could significantly increase my flock size without overwhelming the pasture's carry capacity.

Free ranging, depending on season, saves me 20-35% on my feed bill. I had been saying 20-30%, but I have so much "in season" right now that I'm only offering 9# of feed per night, and the goats are eating some of that. The expectation for my middle of the road weight birds would be somewhere in the 13-14# per day range. At the tail end of "winter", I was feeding almost 12# a day.

As to management practice, I feed a custom mix (for reasons of price) of commercially complete feeds from the local mill at 18% protein once a day, in the evening, to get all the birds to come back to the runs, ensure they sleep with full crops. Gives me the opportunity to evaluate how quickly (or not) they are consuming their feed ration, so I can adjust if needed. In the AM, they know no feed is coming from me, so they are eager to free range.

I've birds as young as 4 weeks partially integrated with the adult flock who range with them during the day, but are housed separately in the evenings and get a 24% protein feed then. I eat my excess males, and don't mind the extra weight the higher protein feed provides - it also keeps their calcium intake down, as the mix I make for the adult flock is basically a higher protein "Layer" feed, ranging between 18-20% protein, 2.5 - 2.9% calcium (depending on mix, which depends on price) plus free choice oyster shell. I'm paying $0.228 /lb in feed at present.

/edit Current mix is 3 bags Layer (16/3.5), 1 bag Game Bird Grower (24/1), served as a wet mash. I've also fed 2:1 and 1:1 - planning to return to 2:1 in the winter months, which will push calcium down to about 2.6%, and bring the protein up to 18.6% - assuming prices don't continue to climb

Hope that helps???