[Mrs.Apron]

Ok, at the risk of sounding like a complete idiot, I have a question....

Is it possible to put a dish of layers pellets out first thing in the morning, let the hens have a good feed and then take the bowl away, returning it at teatime for them to finish it?  I thought it might prevent rats,mice and wild birds from helping themselves. 

We don't have our hens yet, we're getting them in June, but they will be free-ranging in a large area during the rest of the time.

Is this a good idea?  Or do they need to be able to graze all day long on their pellets?

Thanks for any advice!

[kegs]

They need food out all day but you could get a treadle feeder which will prevent any other birds/vermin from helping themselves.

[Mrs.Apron]

Ok, thanks for that.  Will look into it.

[ManicMum]

Treadle feeders also help with the hungry wild birds - I don't mind them scavenging a bit of what the girls chuck around, but I can't afford to feed hordes of sparrows!

[rocker]

I had my feeder on the ground, and noticed that slugs were able to get at the feeder.
as my feeder has a handle, I got a cup hook, and a short length of sink chain and suspended it at a reasonable height for them to feed from, so far no more problems.
The next part was the water bottle, same basic shape & size as the feeder, it was resting on the ground, I noticed that it was getting clogged up with dirt from the run,  I got a half building block and a piece of wood same size, the water bottle now rest on that, it is high enough for the birds to access without too much ingression of dirt.
Hope that helps
Regards
Rocker

[Mrs.Apron]

Thanks everyone!