Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: wolverine on June 26, 2010, 06:52

Title: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: wolverine on June 26, 2010, 06:52
They have always done this and it really annoys me. They knock them out the feeder with their beak and don't eat the ones they have thrown out! I've put up with it till now but I'm currently using flubenvet so it's expensive feed they are wasting not just cheap pellets. Any advice on stopping this?  Are there specilized feeders to stop this Ive been thinking about a trough quite deep with less food? Any thoughts?
Title: Re: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: Sassy on June 26, 2010, 09:59
The plastic green and white feeders that you see a lot of have little bars all the way round which is supposed to stop this :)

I'm sure others will have some ideas :)
Title: Re: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: k4t1e195 on June 26, 2010, 14:56
i will keep an eye on what people put because im having the same problem. They are wasting loads of pellets. Ive got 5 girls and im using 1 sack of layers every 4-5 weeks.
Title: Re: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: Bogof on June 26, 2010, 22:53
One of my girls seems to like to eat the fine powder from the pellets and she digs down to get it. I have one of those green and white feeders 5kg and a large 10kg red one with a black lid she does not manage to get the pellets out of those. 
Title: Re: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: pigeonpie on June 26, 2010, 23:31
I've got 2 different styles of feeders both supposed to discourage the girls from dropping food but I still have a couple of messy eaters.  Luckily some of the other girls prefer to eat from the floor so clear up.  When I use flubenvet I add a few drops of olive oil to help it adhere to the food and this seems to encourage them to eat and they don't drop as much as usual.
Title: Re: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: Ma Lowe on June 27, 2010, 18:58
I too had this problem and bought the green and white feeder mentioned and they don't seem to spill any from this as we can hang this one in their coup.
It seems if the feeders are on the floor then they scrape the food out with their feet.
Title: Re: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: spider on June 27, 2010, 19:18
I screw a lengh of guttering to the wall just under beak height :)

Block up both ends, they can't mess in it and there is no waste.

I will post a pic later when I go over to feed them :)

Spider
Title: Re: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: k4t1e195 on June 27, 2010, 20:22
i brought one of the green and white ones today. Will let u know if its any better.
Title: Re: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: pigeonpie on June 27, 2010, 21:15
I have one of the green and white ones that is suspended from the roof of the covered run and it is better than the other but the girls wiggle their beaks around in the food and still manage to flick bits out.  I think perhaps I just have a few fussy eaters!
Title: Re: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: Tazzy on June 27, 2010, 22:03
My green and white feeder is also suspended by wire in their eating area, kept at about vent height and I rarely have any waste. Stops them knocking it over and pooping in it as well  :lol:. Pity it doesn't deter the jackdaws  >:(
Title: Re: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: pigeonpie on June 28, 2010, 09:46
I've been watching the girls feed from the green and white feeder this morning.  It seems that at least one of them picks out food in her beak and then drops it on the floor before deciding whether to eat it or not so perhaps what I have thought of as spillage is actually her being a fussy eater.
Title: Re: pellets being thrown out the feeder!!
Post by: wolverine on June 28, 2010, 17:15
Just got back from work and food everywhere!!! And they squark at me like I'm starving them ha ha  i'm tempted to just leave it on the floor untill they get so hungry they clean it up for me but they are so stuburn they would prob starv to death before giving in to me >:(