How Quickly Does Albendazole Work?

[Steph101]

Is it possible to get a feeder that holds LOTS of layers pellets (2 weeks worth, in fact).

One that the chickens can't flick and waste food out of. My problem is, we are going away in three weeks (only for 8 days, in this instance) and I have no one to look after the chickens while we are away. it's been a constant niggling worry for me for months.

I tried the chicken sitter forum months ago, to see if anyone in my area could help out in my area, and I'd return the favour, but I've had no luck. I can't take them to a chicken sitters any more as I have eight chickens now, and that's too many to transport.

I asked my niece to help out last year when we went away, which she agreed to do, we even offered to pay her £60 even though she had no experience, and she let us down two days before. We ended up taking our then five chickens to Moochoo in South Birmingham who very kindly helped us out. My only option now is my mother, who has agreed to pop in every couple of days, but she lives six miles away. As I don't think she would manage to get in and out of the cube (even though it has the new wider door) and she could pour water through the glug without having to open the cube gate so I amo wondering if there is such a thing as a feeder that holds that much? I know ideally they should have daily care, but I've racked my brains now, and my main concern is making sure they are fed and watered daily. I could always ask her to move in for a week, which I think she would agree to, but I don't think it would be along term solution for the future, as she is her mid seventies. My nieghbours are mostly elderly, and the others keep themselves to themselves, so I wouldn't really want to impose on anyone. I give them all eggs every couple of weeks, but I feel I can only let someone I really trust look after my chickens.

If I could find the right feeder, I'd like to buy it now so I can experiment to see how long the feed would last.

[Raina]

I'm not sure, Sorry!

 

 

Could you maybe buy more Super/Glugs & Grubs?

[Steph101]

I've already got three grubs and two glugs in there! My problem is the 'flicking'.

[The Dogmother]

Personally, I'd be worried about the feed going off in that time.. then there's the eggs to collect.

 

I see that you've checked the hen sitters list, but perhaps it's worth trying again, or putting in a request to see if someone not on the list might pop by for you.

 

I have a dozen hens and am lucky to have a neighbour who pops round every day to care for them when I'm away. I wouldn't consider going away, nor having this many if I wasn't first confident of holiday cover.

[chickencam]

The egg collecting could be a problem, and they really need a daily welfare check, I would ask your mother to move in whilst you were away this time and keep trying the sitter list.

 

I had a request on there for ages and then a new member contacted me and offered to look after them in return for advice on his new arrivals, so don't give up.

[Sarahsausage]

Oh gosh! That is a long time to leave the chickens unattended, I would be fretting so much on holiday! Apart from the food going off as Claret has said, what about the water going off as well? If I were you I would ask your Mum to stay at yours and chicken sit, that way she can keep an eye on their well-being, food and water and collect the eggs. Best to be safe than sorry!

[Steph101]

They wouldn't have been completely unattended! She would have collected the eggs every other day. I am a caring chicken keeper, and my girls live like princesses; they have the best of everything. Just wanted some friendly advice from fellow chicken keepers. I wouldn't dream of putting my girls in danger! Thanks folks. I should have known better.

[chickencam]

I don't think any offence was intended, just advice given.

[moochoo]

Why not have a look at the large tredle feeders are the domestic fowl trust? I don't know how long their food would last in them but it would stop the flicking issue.

I hope you can find a happy solution.

[C&T]

When we go away next weekend for a couple of days, I thought I would leave one grub full of porridge.

 

I know I have read somewhere that chooks arent supposed to like old porridge (turns sour or something?) but ours love it, in fact they seem to prefer it! And I thought there would be less chance of flicking food?

 

The mash would only be their normal food mixed with water, bran and garlic.

 

Also, we have Mash rather than pellets. And although some goes on the grounds, it is much less then the amount of pellets that got flicked left right and centre...

[Porkypie]

Hello. I have one of these:

 

http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/Galvanised_Treadle_Feeder.html

 

Lots of other places sell them. They are expensive but in my 'novice' opinion (I'm only 4months into chicken keeping) well worth the money if you can afford it. You don't need to worry about fetching the feed in at night, it's waterproof so doesn't matter if not undercover and it holds lots of feed so I rarely need to fill it up. As far as the feed 'going off' i don't see the difference between storing feed in there and storing it in the metal bin I have in the garage and we're only talking a few weeks - shouldn't be an issue. In terms of the feed, two weeks would be absolutely fine going by my limited experience although with more hens a top up may be necessary - but I guess you can experiment with that before you go away. Maybe just asking your mum to check the level of the feed a couple of times over the 2 weeks just in case...

Edited June 25, 2009 by Guest

[Sarahsausage]

No offence was intended Just voicing my opinion.........

[The Dogmother]

When we go away next weekend for a couple of days, I thought I would leave one grub full of porridge.

 

I know I have read somewhere that chooks arent supposed to like old porridge (turns sour or something?) but ours love it, in fact they seem to prefer it! And I thought there would be less chance of flicking food?

 

The mash would only be their normal food mixed with water, bran and garlic.

 

Also, we have Mash rather than pellets. And although some goes on the grounds, it is much less then the amount of pellets that got flicked left right and centre...

 

You might find a gravity feeder better then - they can't stand in it to scratch the feed out, and the dividers on the bottom stop them from flicking it everywhere.

 

I have two like this:

 

Porkypie - the feed goes off rapidly when it absorbs moisture from the air. Some gannets will still eat it when it has got damp, but pickier hens won't. As soon as mould spores start to develop, then it quickly becomes dangerous; so stored in a lidded container will be fine, but a feeder is more open and it will spoil quicker.

 

No offence was intended, just advice offered based on the information given.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Don't worry, we didn't think you were abandoning them for 8 days . As I read it, your problem is your mum managing to get into the run to refill the feeders/drinkers .

 

Where do your feeders hang at the moment? Do you think they could hang on the door (or at least one feeder) so she can get easy access when she opens the door? If she's filling one feeder every 2 days, that should be fine and a watering can would fix the glug.

 

Also, do you hang your feeders quite close to the ground? I think the higher up the grub is the less they can flick the pellets about as they have to reach up with their necks.

[Porkypie]

The feeder has a metal hatch that closes when a hen isn't feeding. I agree that it certainly isn't airtight and being outside more susceptible to moisture than inside the garage but maybe it would be Ok for a couple of weeks? I left feed out in an open container one night and that was certainly damp the next morning but I haven't had the same problem with my metal feeder. But like I say, I am very new to this so experience is limited

[C&T]

Thanks Claret.

 

Had seen these before, but didn't realise they were able to help prevent Flicking - must be worth a go!

 

Will investigate further....

 

Mind you, my chooks would probably be scared witless of it... Take 'em a few weeks to be convinced that it won't kill 'em! Daft things

[The Dogmother]

Thay are funny things, aren't they?

 

Mine are champion food flickers but haven't managed to get it out of these yet, nor to stand in it to rake around and poo. They are easy to clean and dishwasher-proof too.

 

I have to say that with the number of hens I have, the Grubs are no use - Glugs are quite good for holding food and they can't flick it out, but then they can stand on the sides and poo in it! the same goes for troughs with rolled edges.

[Steph101]

Hello. I have one of these:

 

http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/Galvanised_Treadle_Feeder.html

 

Lots of other places sell them. They are expensive but in my 'novice' opinion (I'm only 4months into chicken keeping) well worth the money if you can afford it. You don't need to worry about fetching the feed in at night, it's waterproof so doesn't matter if not undercover and it holds lots of feed so I rarely need to fill it up. As far as the feed 'going off' i don't see the difference between storing feed in there and storing it in the metal bin I have in the garage and we're only talking a few weeks - shouldn't be an issue. In terms of the feed, two weeks would be absolutely fine going by my limited experience although with more hens a top up may be necessary - but I guess you can experiment with that before you go away. Maybe just asking your mum to check the level of the feed a couple of times over the 2 weeks just in case...

 

Thanks Porky Pie. That's all I needed to know. I just wanted to make it easier for my Mum. She wouldn't need to top up so often if I had a bigger, more efficient feeder. You should see the poultry farm my chickens came from feed heaped up on the floor, manure everywhere, chooks pecking away - not exactly the best hygiene conditions I've come across, and her chooks are all the picture of health! Mom's offered to stay at the house, so I'll probably take her up on her offer. We've had food out for days and days and it doesn't smell sour, and the chickens have still eaten it, and they're all really healthy! Put it this way, they rarely miss a day laying!

 

Many thanks again, Porky Pie

[Redwing]

Have you considered a professional pet sitter? they neednt live in and can do one visit a day, thats what we used to do with the dog and cats and thats what we will do with the chickens too. A chicken friendly pet sitter would be hard to find but most normal ones wouldnt turn the money down and a quick 15 min crash course would answer most of their queries. We used to pay someone £7 a visit

 

As for a feeder the problem is not to get such a big feeder that it takes up a lot of room in the run as I take it they will be confined for the 8 days so a large floor standing feeder would not be ideal. If it was me I would go for the biggest gravity feeder (like the green and white one above) and hang it so they have ground space, a hanging feeder also stops a lot of the scratching

 

If necessary you could rig up a shute/pipe so that the feeder can be filled from a wide necked funnel via the pipe from above so the feeder could be filled without going in to the run if by any chance the food does run down, the green and white feeders are good because you can see the level easily and a small amount of food left in a small sealed container on top of the run could be the contingency

 

Another option is a leaflet drop in the area asking if anyone has a close by responsible teen who could help

 

Dont take offence at any comments, people are trying to help, I must admit I was a little surprised at your post as even you recognise that your proposed plan is not ideal

[Egluntyne]

I have a large treadle feeder from ** flytesofancy**.

 

It is very good, and does stop the flicking issue. If filled to the brim, it will hold 10kg of feed.

 

It might solve your immediate problem.

[Sheilaz]

Regarding feeders, I have a metal one from http://www.solwayfeeders.com & the hens peck a release coil for the pellets to drop down.

 

This holds enough for over a fortnight, with the added advantage that there is no food left on the ground at night, it's dry & rodent proof.

 

It is large though, I'm not sure of the smallest & whether it's too big for your run; are they in an Eglu run? Anyway, you might find the website useful.

 

I've done this with sitters who will check health, water, & collect eggs, but can't access the food daily.

I also left instructions on what I wanted done if a hen appeared to be unwell, or if they found one dead, so that's something to prepare too unless you have easy phone access, and a plan B for if the sitter was unwell! Then you have all eventualities covered!

 

Good luck!

[The Dogmother]

Do you have any forum friends who would be happy for your sitter to have their number in case they need more experienced help? I have given my number to friends in the past.

[jlo]

You might find a gravity feeder better then - they can't stand in it to scratch the feed out, and the dividers on the bottom stop them from flicking it everywhere.

 

I have two like this:

 

 

I bought one like this a little while ago but it gets covered with hemcore. Is there a foolproof (JLO proof??) way of hanging it up?

[TAJ]

When we go away next weekend for a couple of days, I thought I would leave one grub full of porridge.

 

I know I have read somewhere that chooks arent supposed to like old porridge (turns sour or something?) but ours love it, in fact they seem to prefer it! And I thought there would be less chance of flicking food?

 

The mash would only be their normal food mixed with water, bran and garlic.

 

Also, we have Mash rather than pellets. And although some goes on the grounds, it is much less then the amount of pellets that got flicked left right and centre...

 

You might find a gravity feeder better then - they can't stand in it to scratch the feed out, and the dividers on the bottom stop them from flicking it everywhere.

 

I have two like this:

 

Porkypie - the feed goes off rapidly when it absorbs moisture from the air. Some gannets will still eat it when it has got damp, but pickier hens won't. As soon as mould spores start to develop, then it quickly becomes dangerous; so stored in a lidded container will be fine, but a feeder is more open and it will spoil quicker.

 

No offence was intended, just advice offered based on the information given.

 

I have just upgraded to the 6kg from the 3 kg version of this feeder (special offer price on Flytesofancy), plus there 18 litre bucket waterer - I think they would last my 6 over a week if needed. I still think daily checking for health and egg collection is a must, as well as checking food & water - imagine if something happened - the drink container broke etc whilst you were away, so it is still important they are checked daily.

 

Tracy

[Olly]

Steph, have you thought about modifying the Cube end panel, as per this thread? I don't know how fit your mum is, she'd still need to lean in to reach the feeders, but I find that so much easier than trying to get them out through the door. I keep mine fastened with big pegs from Lakeland.

 

I always take some treats and chuck them up the far end of the run, so that I don't have chickens flapping around and trying to get out when I open the end panel. I do sympathise, luckily I have a chicken-loving friend who deputises for me, but she is too nervous to let the girls out when I'm away so I try and make it as easy as I can for her.