4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[munchkin]

Hi everyone

 

My girls don't seem to eat a vast amount of layers pellets. Do i throw away the pellets they don't eat on a daily basis?? I am currently only topping up the grub once every 5 days - mixing old food with new - but I'm worried that the leftover food might go musty if left in the grub for over a week and make them poorly.

 

I feed them on a mix of layers pellets, bokoshi bran and garlic powder.

 

Any advice would be great

 

Thanks

[chelsea]

I have 2 grubs on the go and we used to fill them to the brim and found that we were throwing a lot away. We do throw away any leftovers in the grubs on cleanout day (saturday), but now when we refill the grubs we dont put so much in them and then if they are running low in the week we just top it up.

 

I wouldnt like to say how long pellets keep in the grub to be honest, as we have always thrown the old stuff away every week.

[Gallina]

If you bring the pellets in at night, they keep longer: they go damp if left out on wet nights.

 

I have two Grubs, but my hens have a marked preference for one of them. So when I bring the Grubs in, I amalgamate the old pellets in their favourite Grub, and put the new ones in the Grub they only use when the first one is empty.

 

Thus no food remains out for more than two days, and none gets wasted.

 

Pellets left permanently out for weeks would get very nasty, especially in winter.

 

When I start a new sack of pellets, the Grubs get a bit of a scrub, but not otherwise.

 

Pellets are getting extremely expensive now, and so it costs a lot if you have to keep throwing them away.

[Karen Pimlott]

just feed enough so they clear it.... if its gone extra quick give them a tad more... they dont need it full to the brim 24/7. Dont forget chooks only feed in daylight hours so as previously suggested bringing food in at night is a good idea & will help not to encourage vermin.

 

 

They can be fuss pots ours wont eat the old stuff or what they scrat on the floor

 

K

[chickenanne]

I agree - with time you'll get an idea as to how much they eat a day, and just leave that amount out.

Would definitely recommend taking them in overnight, asmice particularly can get through teeny tiny gaps.

Normal feeders that you fill from the top but they eat from the bottom are easiest as the oldest feed gets used first anyway.

[Mutrix Farmers]

I keep the grub topped up until Thursday, then on Saturday morning when it's getting a bit empty, wash it and make porridge with what I have emptied out. The girls also get porridge every day, that way I know they are getting a regular dose of limestone flour, bokashi bran and garlic powder. OH says I take more care preparing their breakfast than I do my own

 

Mine like to scoop the pellets out onto the floor too, which I was worried would encourage mice, but I haven't seen any evidence of that.

[owenofj]

They'll scratch around in the mud, walk around in their own poo, eat dirty worms.... but eat a stale pellet? I don't think so.

[DW]

As I only have 2 hens, I half-fill the grub with pellets every 4 days or so. When it's nearly empty (with about a teacup of pellets left), I pour them into a cage cup (like this: http://www.regencypoultry.com/shoparea.asp?p=84e74f13-57f6-4314-9aee-7978b08940c7 ) and leave only this out for the girls' breakfast (which they devour before I'm up). I then refill the grub with fresh pellets.

 

D.

[surferdog]

Mine dont' seem to like the grub or the glug They will only eat pellets out of the grub if there is absolutely nothing else available but they will eat them out of a china dog bowl. Every couple of days I empty the leftover pellets from the grub into the bowl to make their morning porridge. I also bring the grub in at night.

[munchkin]

Thanks for the replys everyone. I think i shall make a porridge like others have suggested and see how they go. Sometimes i wonder if i worry more about the chucks diet than mine and hubby!!

[wombatally]

We worked out how much our lassies ate a day and measured it into a pint glass, they're currently eating a pint and a half a day so we have a plastic 'glass' that we use to measure their ration and it seems to work, they usually clear the grub by the end of the day.

 

Alison

[Rachel F]

I top up the grub every 3-4 days, but on my 'cleaning the hens out' day, i empty whatever pellets are left over into their treats bowl - I them use them as a basis for a porridge / mash / treats etc. Mix it all up with some hot water, and they devour it. In that way, I don't feel I am wasting anything...

Rachel F

[sugarplum]

this is all very interesting and i understand why you all do it the way you do but im worried that if i dont fill it all the way up my little minatures wont be able to get the pellets.

 

is this true?