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jules.chuck

Chicken Feed on the ground not in the Grub box !

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Hi,

 

I have had my two lovely chickens for just over a week and found a very annoying habit when I put food in the grub box.

 

One of them (I suspect Henny Penny GNR ) gets the food out and makes a big pile all over the ground. :shock:

 

Is this usual behaviour for chickens... :?

 

It seems a waste as I am currently moving them around the garden every other day and so this leaves a mess on the ground and I am worried about encouraging rats and other vermin :evil:

 

Interested to hear what your experiences are !

 

Jules

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Hi Jules

 

As Eglutine says a tray underneath the grub is a good idea it works really well.

 

I used to do this but then changed to a heavy dog bowl as they can't tip it over or scratch anything out of it. When I bought extra chooks I changed to this method.

 

Hope this helps

 

Best wishes

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One of mine (Rosey) does this so I put an old seed tray underneath. I think this may have encouraged her and her 2 cronies more though as I think they like the sound as the pellets hit the box. They do tend to eat it all up though and any left I put back into the grub when I bring it in at night.

 

Stevie thanks for the tip will try that tomorrow.

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Oh dear.

 

The only thing I can think of is that either they have been eating a lot of grass and stuff from under the run (it's been in three places since we got it).

 

They do a fantastic job of mowing the lawn.

 

Or they are on a diet.

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I reckon on four hens eating one Grub completely full of layers pellets a day.

 

But I actually give four hens two half-full Grubs, partly because I like to see each hen have its own feeding hole, but also because I find when the Grubs are full they get spilt.

 

I also have a trick of combining pellets at night into the more "popular" of the two Grubs, so that no pellets stay outside for more than two days, but every one gets eaten.

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Thanks for all the great ideas.

 

The tray works they now pick it off the tray.

 

Now I keep on finding the nest straw all over the run !!

 

Mine must be really messy chickens :twisted:

 

I'll try raising the grub also as this might encourage them to eat it out of the Grub feeder.

 

As they are on grass I want to introduce grit any good ideas for putting this in the run. I have tried an old branston pickle lid but that has now been turned over and is the other side of the run.

 

Jules

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The Grub feaders are a bit of a disaster. Food is wasted in great quatities and it makes one heck of a mess. I've found the answer - buy a more conventional one of the hopper type design. Since I've been using one there's been no mess or wastage and it will last my 2 greedy chickens for nearly 2 weeks without refilling. They cost about £10 and are worth every penny! Likewise with the Glugs for water. They don't hold much (they won't last 2 chickens more than a couple of days) and they quickly get messy. I replaced it with a conventional one that holds 4 litres and lasts for 4+ days - great peace of mind if you go away for the weekend.

 

There must be loads of places you can buy there but mine came from Countrywide Stores:

 

http://www.countrywidefarmers.co.uk/pws/ProductDetails.ice?ProductID=255

http://www.countrywidefarmers.co.uk/pws/ProductDetails.ice?ProductID=256

 

Hope that helps.

 

Rog

 

(PS I don't work for Countrywide!)

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I have the above from countrywide - instore they were £9.99 each or two for £15 (water & food). The feeder I hang from a bungee in the run and my monster grub emptier cannot do that any more - plus it holda 4kg of food so great when we are away for the weekend and not so much topping up for others when we are on a longer holiday.

 

Tracy

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Not the slightest hint of them tipping them up - they'd have to try pretty hard to do so! On the other had I did find the glug container empty on the ground one day.

 

I put my feeder/waterer on blocks to raise then a few inches above the bark that my run is on, but they're designed to be hung or put straight on the ground. They've certainly made it much easier to keep the girls fed and watered and the run is much easier to keep clean.

 

Rog

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Just ordered those in the hope that it will tidy up my run! I'v got two small drinkers, that the girls keep knocking over and a plastic feeder that they knock over - and as a result the top comes off and spills mash everywhere!!

 

Spilled mash is not nice! It has become compacted beneath the bark chip, and stinks - it's also very warm - so is either fermenting or rotting! Big clean up this weekend!

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