Clucky the Great Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 I have some ex-barn girlies and where they came from there was a chain feeder and they were fed a mixture of grains, not pellets and the chain worked multiple times a day. There were about 10,000 girls in their shed so the majority of the food was eaten straight after the chain went round. I got 6 in January so had them a few months now but they are my first chucks so I'm still very much learning! I am just wondering how much is too much food because I have added bokashi bran to their feed recently and they seem to have even more of an appetite with that and 6 of them go through 2 grubs in a day and a bit! They go through 40kg of layer pellets in a month. They seem to me to be always eating and are quite plump! (see the omlet gallery and mine are the ones that have a really fat hen in a bucket full of feed!) I was under the impression that they are supposed to eat what they need and stop really so to just leave them a continuous food supply is this what I'm supposed to do? Thanks for any advice, Clucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Are you sure that you haven't got unwelcome visitors helping themselves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firescorpion Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 We to have ex batt hens and for the first few months just wanted to eat but I think it was because as before they had to get food when it went round and they weren't used to it being left there all day for them to go back to? Mine now eat less as now they know they can get it when they want. I only feed them organic chicken feed from omlet ( with treats now and then) I think they might level out on how much they eat when they know its readily available. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clucky the Great Posted June 1, 2014 Author Share Posted June 1, 2014 Yep definitely no unwanted visitors they tend to stay in the secure cube run most of the time and if there is access to the food I'm supervising their free ranging. And thanks so you think I should keep giving them continous supply of layer pellets then? Because I've never heard of an overweight chicken before but I think Funky definitely classifies she's nearly twice the size of the others and she just eats constantly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firescorpion Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 (edited) I just fill their omlet feeder and I only have to refill once every two weeks when it runs out? It works for me?? I would give it ago and see how you get on.? I use the eglu go feeder and drinker ( have to keep topping up the water ) Edited June 1, 2014 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clucky the Great Posted June 1, 2014 Author Share Posted June 1, 2014 Thanks Omlet feeder as in a grub? And how many chickens do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firescorpion Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Eglu go and I have four girls so you might need to top up more regular if you have six. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clucky the Great Posted June 1, 2014 Author Share Posted June 1, 2014 One omlet feeder every 2 weeks for 4 chickens? Is that right? So 2 omlet feeders for 1 1/2 days for 6 chickens is rather excessive then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firescorpion Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Just a bit???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 40kg a month for 6 girls sounds like loads. You could try getting them a gravity feeder which will slow them down a bit. I've got 13 girls. The batties eat much more than the others but I still don't get through that amount of food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clucky the Great Posted June 1, 2014 Author Share Posted June 1, 2014 That's good to know then! Think they might have exploded if I'd have kept going on like this, I'll look into a gravity feeder! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clucky the Great Posted June 1, 2014 Author Share Posted June 1, 2014 Wastage, I was hunting around on sites looking for a gravity feeder and came across a post saying wastage can sometimes be up to 50% depending on the feeder? I only tend to fill the grubs up to half way because otherwise they tend to throw it about everywhere so do you think that could be part of the problem too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 (edited) Definitely. I've got "dine a chooks" for mine. They can't scratch the food out and throw it around everywhere Edited June 2, 2014 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Obvious question....when were they last wormed? Sometimes they can look like porkers but that's just the feathers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Worth worming them, if they've not been done recently. Ex-batts do tend to turn into piglets for the first few months, as they're just not used to having food at all times, so keep grabbing it in case it goes away. Also worth checking that you're not feeding lots of other birds as well. I watched my run a few weekends ago, as my two seemed to be getting through food quickly, and along came the crows, magpies, blackbirds, starlings, dunnocks, sparrows and an assortment of blue and great tits - and they were just the ones I saw. Think I'm feeding the entire bird population of north Cheshire and their mates! Good job hen food's cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firescorpion Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Mice and rats also don't help as they can get into the smallest spaces? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clucky the Great Posted June 2, 2014 Author Share Posted June 2, 2014 Yep I wormed them with flubenvet a couple of weeks ago and am going to give them a 3 week booster week next week. They were on verm-x before and it didn't seem to be doing anything. Thanks for all your advice, I might lock up the food at night though because there could be mice about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clucky the Great Posted June 2, 2014 Author Share Posted June 2, 2014 and oohh Thanks Chickabee but dine a chooks a bit expensive with shipping costs as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Yes your right. They did tell me they were getting a distributor in Northern Ireland, but it hasn't happened yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 Oohh! the dine a chook set-up looks great, especially since my two seem to get dirt in their water for fun. I could also then control how much food the wild birds get, rather than just having an all-you-can-eat-buffet as at present Would the feeder and drinker fix ok to the cube run mesh, or do the need something more sturdy to be attached to? We don't have any handy fence posts nearby but could probably knock a couple of posts into the flower beds if needed. Can't justify the cost at the moment - with postage basically doubling the price, it's cheaper to let the wild birds eat all the food . Roll on a local distributor and I'll definitely be in the queue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 Mine are attached with cable ties, they do the job just fine. Why don't you email them, they are very helpful. They'll probably let you know when they have the new distributor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipsychick Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Chickabee How have you fixed your wet a chooks with cable ties ? Did you attach them to the fence the hook The drinkers hooks through or just put cable ties round whole pipe ? Hope that makes Sense . Mine have just arrived and I thought I'd use cable ties but not sure which way Is best . Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Hi, I just put the cable ties through the hooks on the back. That way you can take them out easily if you want to clean them or move them, which I have done on several occasions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Very simple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipsychick Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Fab thank you . I am so looking forward to clean water without washing glugs every other day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
