How do you stop them wasting pellets?

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Lucylou

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Does anyone have any brilliant suggestions of how to stop them getting all the pellets out of the feeder & onto the ground? I have one of those galvanised feeders with a 'coolie hat' top & it stands on a small raised plinth. It wasn't so bad before the bad weather but so much is wasted it would be good to have more of it actually eaten :)
 
Hi

try using a plastic feeder with a circular grid on teh bottom, they will have to physically pick the pellets out and drop them on the floor, Southmead Poultry have pictures of the feeders, i am lucky enough to have a Scats country store nearby and paid £7.99 for mine

regards

Scuffer
 
I also put a plastic tray/plate under my feeder wherever it hangs. Means stuff that falls out lands in there and most of it can be eaten or put back in the feeder.
 
yes, I use the feeders with the plastic fingers at the bottom. You do get a little waste but not much.
 
I recently installed a new Emperor feeder and watched what happened.

A few hens 'bill' the food, sorting through it to see if there is anything better hidden inside.

(Feeders with 'fingers' or smaller selection areas help with this.)

I also noticed that if the hens could see where the food was falling down into the tray they would always peck at the moving pellet, even if the tray was already full to overflowing.

I made some adaptions to the feeder so they couldn't see the pellets arriving.

What I have noticed over time is that some hens prefer to eat from the hopper, and others from the floor. This now seems to be in balance and wastage has virtually stopped.
 
Also worth adding mine hang up so are at neck height - if they are placed on the floor, they tend to try to scratch and bill out the food...
 
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