Chicken bald back

[kerryegg]

Help, the chooks just stand and watch masses of sparrows a couple of blackbirds and a robin eating from the grub. I take food in at night because of Mr Rat, whose days are numbered, but I can't think what else to do. Worried about worms being passed to chooks as well as amount of food I am using. I have got well stocked feeders in a different part of the garden and briefly tried a feeder in the far end of the WIR but they preferred the pellets. Any ideas appreciated.Thank-you.

[Cooks]

mine do the same, rascals!, hubby is changing my WIR door do that I have a chicken pop hole so they cant just fly straight in there and help themselves.

Edited March 20, 2010 by Guest

[Chucky Mama]

I bought a treadle feeder to stop the fat ever growing population of wood pigeons eating my chicken food. It does stop it but I am not 100% sure yet about whether I love or hate it. It is a disaster with mash as it got damp in the very cold weather and then the girls took it from the feeder and then threw it all over the ground - but is fine with pellets. If you don't know about treadle feeders it is a feeder that you fill up and then the chickens stand on a platform to open the flap to get access to the food. Small birds are not heavy enough to activate it. They do need to be 'trained' to use it as it can be a big scary monster to start with I just put a brick on it for a week or so to keep the flap open so that they understood.

[Blackrocksrock]

I dont mind the robin and blackbird eating the pellets and I feed them also peanuts and fat squares etc as well and the chickens like to catch whats left under them too so share and share alike. I looked at the treadle feeders but at 10kg and a 20kg one as I never saw any smaller ones they are bit big for the eglu

[Egluntyne]

I find the treadle feeder does the trick here.

 

Why not try putting wild bird food out? It might help with the problem.

[Chucky Mama]

I dont mind the robin and blackbird eating the pellets and I feed them - and the chickens like to catch whats left under them too so share and share alike. I looked at the treadle feeders but at 10kg and a 20kg one as I never saw any smaller ones they are bit big for the eglu

 

I agree, I don't mind the smaller birds but the pigeons bug me, they are breeding like wildfire. We even have a pheasant and morehen that visit. Ours wait under the bird feeders too waiting for the falling seed . I can get our treadle into the cube run but it is a bit of a palarver so it lives outside (our free range so not a problem) but it would not be an option in a eglu run.