PVC Pipe Feeder - Knocking food EVERYWHERE

[JennyPatty84]

My husband just installed two PVC Pipe feeders for the hens. They have saved so much space in the coop not having the large metal feeding taking up so ground surface area. The only problem is that the hens are throwing all the food onto the floor. We didn't have this problem with the metal feeder. Did anyone else have this issue? Any suggestions on how to fix it? We installed one with our silkies as well and they seem to be eating it out of the feeder and not throwing it on the ground, it's just the big girls!

 

[Zoomie]

Yeah, see, birds do that. Anyone who keeps birds - any type of birds - has to deal with this. People have come up with all sorts of really ingenious feeders to try and stop birds from doing this, and they still do it. They are "billing" the feed, going through to find just that **perfect** piece that looks really tasty.

If your metal feeders worked, I would go back to those. It's really hard to build feeders that stop birds from billing their feed, no one should feel bad if their very first effort did not work out quite as expected.

I also keep canaries and you would not believe the amount of feed those tiny little guys can waste, slinging it out of their very specially designed feeders... that still don't stop them from this habit. My bird room has a tile floor and I have to sweep it every single day.

 

[JennyPatty84]

Thanks so much for your reply! It makes me feel better to know it wasn't design flaw and they just like to fling it around! At least they are having fun when they do it. =D

 

[Al Gerhart]

Stopping birds from beaking feed requires either some distance between the top of the front of the feeder, usually around an inch or two, a lip protruding inside the feeder parallel with the surface of the feed, or some sort of grid that prevents the birds from raking their beak through the feed. Not that many birds are going to be feed rakers but there will be a few.

Most of the commercial treadle feeders don't have anything to prevent raking. Grandpa feeder has the grid but no lip. The fairly new cheap Chinese treadle feeders don't have either. We rely on a 1/2" lip that extends into the feeder, parallel with the surface of the feed, and the fact that the feed will be about an inch and a half below the front of the feed lip, but once every few months someone emails or posts on our Facebook page about feed getting raked out and we send them a 10" x 1.5" sheet metal strip that just slips in place.

So if your old metal feeder had an inward swinging door try taping a strip of cardboard across the front, even just the duct tape will stop the raking, then come up with a more permanent solution later.

The only PVC feeders that I have seen that can prevent this do it by requiring the birds to stick their heads deep into the pipe, not good for the heavy combed birds. I am sure that works but of course these types aren't bird proof or rat proof.

 

[RonP]

Can you post a picture of your PVC feeder?

That will be a great help to formulate a solution to your problem.

I also use a PVC feeder, I have zero waste from the Chickens flicking out food.

 

[HARRY47264]

Hi Jen I had similar problems with my PVC feeders solved it by raising feeders up according to the size of the birds. all my birds are in separate pens according to breed so they are pretty much the same size. Have a nice morning
Harry

 

[JennyPatty84]

Can you post a picture of your PVC feeder?

That will be a great help to formulate a solution to your problem.

I also use a PVC feeder, I have zero waste from the Chickens flicking out food.

This is what mine look like, pretty standard design. They are still making a mess with them

 

[RonP]

OK, great.

If you put a 2 inch extension on the bottom you will have exactly what I have. With that I experience no waste.

Y 

 

[JennyPatty84]

Wonderful!! I'll go pick up some extensions!! Thanks so much!

 

[RonP]