feed ideas

[B-man]

We have a feeder setup with just wheat in a large storage box with pvc pipe for them to access it.
And another feeder with layer mix that they just peck all the good stuff out of.

I have started fermenting their layer mix and mixing with some bread to absorb the liquid. To start with they weren't really interested but now they love it.

So my problem is now trying to limit the waste of the food.

The feeders just end up having grain spilt on the ground all the time and currently I'm just putting the fermented mix on the ground. What do people use to place the fermented grain? Ideally something, easy to use, I don't have to keep cleaning every day and that spreads it out so they can all eat at the same time.
I was thinking cutting a piece of pipe in half as a trough. Open to ideas that are better than this.

As for the other feeders in not sure as they were designed not to spill

 

[azygous]

I use dog bowls in those raised holders so they are up off the ground. This prevents debris from the ground, which contains feces, getting kicked into the food. You never want to put feed directly on the ground. You will eventually have to cope with diarrhea and more serious bacterial infections, including worms.

You do not need to make fermented feed wet and soupy. I barely cover the feed with water, and it absorbs it all as it ferments. The consistency is like cookie dough. Putting extras into the feed, such as bread, seeds, or other things, just insures that they get eaten and the feed is ignored. The result is the feed doesn't get eaten and that is where all the vitamins and minerals crucial to the health of your chickens is.

 

[B-man]

Yeah I'm trying to get it all off the ground. Would need a few dog bowls. Not a bad idea.
Anyone else have other ideas?

I don't have heaps of water in the fermented feed. So a couple of slices of bread soaks it all up, and gives them some hydration aswell. I don't give them heaps so they still eat some of the other feed in their run. Don't think mixing bread is an issue. And also absorbs the vitamins and minerals that are in the ferment water.

 

[azygous]

You don't need bread to absorb the excess water. Adding more feed will do that, and you're adding more vitamins that your chickens can use. Bread doesn't have those. Bread is also high in sugars that can contribute to crop issues.

 

[NatJ]

Yeah I'm trying to get it all off the ground. Would need a few dog bowls. Not a bad idea.
Anyone else have other ideas?

I've read of people using gutters, the kind that go along the edges of house roofs to catch rain. Just attach it to something so it doesn't tip over (screw to the side of the coop or run, or hang with chains or rope.)

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I use a plastic gutter to hold the wet mash I feed my birds, very similar to fermented feed. Sure, i do occasionally have to clean it out - but rain or a hose both do fine for that purpose (though the hose is better, of course).

Actually, I use several plastic gutters at several feed stations. Don't know how they hold up long term, but I've most of three years out of the ones I'm using. The plastic clips that hold them in place tend to break, but that may be from the goats stepping in them.