Messy Eaters - Elevate more?

[khern120]

Hi Everyone!

We’ve recently switched to a new feeder hoping to cut down on maintenance and mess. Well… it’s more of a mess lol They’re pecking and scratching out their feed and it’s everywhere!

We tried elevating it and it felt like they made more of a mess and now we put it back on the ground. I was thinking maybe we’re not elevating it enough? Or maybe we should put something inside the barrel so the feed dispenses slowly?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Coops Dad]

Put the feeder in a plastic kiddie pool. It'll contain the mess, cut down on feeding the mice and, when the feeder runs out (or you take a pause on keeping it filled), the chickens have a handy little concentrated pile of spilled feed to fall back on.

Also, yes; get it so the openings are about 6"-8" above the ground.

 

[nuthatched]

Put it up on cinder blocks.

 

[FrostRanger]

Using pellets instead of crumbles also helps so eve if they do spill some, someone else will come along and eat it. I recently added some port feeders myself ('cause a single 10lb feeder isn't enough for 8 birds especially when 7 are chicks and the adult is somewhat food aggressive and generally cranky) and it seems like it would be very messy to use with crumbles. This also might also depend on the personalities of your birds, my birds, particularly the chicks, are very active foragers so even though food usually gets knocked out of the feeders, it doesn't stay on the ground for very long

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Agree with putting up on cinder blocks. These feeders are elevated with cut up railroad ties. Chickens dont jump up there and kick feed out because it's to awkward, nothing to land on. I put feeders in galvanized garbage cans every night. No spill and no rats. To me it's the next best thing to a rat proof feeder.

 

[EddieSalita]

Design of feeder is more important than height imo. The flick to the side, and towards themselves. So baffles for the side flick, and a lip for the chin flick is the features your after.
Adjustable gap is also good. You can make the gap small to give them less depth of food to flick. Adjustable gap is good for different type of food. Crumble vs grain vs pellets.
I use one as pictured. It has all three features. The bucket fittings are OK of you can find them with a bit more of a downward projection so the feed level is lower than the overflow point.
The other answer is of course to measure feed and possibly soak it, amd feed each day in a deep sided dish. they can't flick soaked feed.

 

[K0k0shka]

I agree that design is more important than height. It needs a very tall lip on the front so they can't rake towards themselves and out on the ground. Those pvc pipe / portal hole type feeders have been a total disappointment for me, I've tried a couple. I went through a lot of feeders until I finally found The One that's truly waste-free, and I can use it with crumble, too (I don't like pellets) with no mess and no waste. It's this one. I've had it for years and highly recommend it!