Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens (30 page)

Whether or not a specific plant is toxic may vary with its stage of maturity, growing conditions (such as drought), and other environmental factors. Should a chicken get a potentially toxic dose, the effect also will depend on the bird’s
age and state of health. The accompanying table lists common plants that could pose a danger. Some mushrooms are toxic as well, but mushrooms would have a hard time getting a foothold where poultry are active.

Feeders come in many different styles, the two most common being a long trough and a hanging tube. When looking at designs, consider that chickens are notorious feed wasters. Feeders that encourage wastage are narrow or shallow and lack a lip that prevents chickens from
billing out
— using their beaks to scoop feed onto the ground. Chickens will spend minutes on end scooping rations out of a feeder. Why they do it is anybody’s guess. Maybe they’re hoping to find something more interesting, or maybe they just need something to do.

FEEDERS

One hanging feeder is enough for up to 30 chickens.

This trough has adjustable-height legs and an anti-roosting reel that rotates and dumps any bird that tries to hop on. Allow 4” (10 cm) of trough space for each bird, counting both sides if birds can eat from either side.

At any rate, a feeder with a rolled or bent-in edge reduces billing out. To further discourage this behavior, keep feeders at the height of the chickens’ backs — which means, if you raise chicks, changing the height as the chicks grow to maturity.

Regardless of its design, a good feeder has these important features:

Discourages billing out

Prevents contamination with droppings

Is easy to clean

Never fill a trough feeder more than two-thirds full. Chickens waste approximately 30 percent of the feed in a full trough, 10 percent in a two-thirds-full trough, 3 percent in a half-full trough, and approximately 1 percent in a trough that’s only one-third full. Obviously, you’ll save a lot of money by using more troughs so you can put less feed in each one.

Since you fill a trough from the top and chickens eat from the top, trough feeders tend to collect stale or wet feed at the bottom. Never add fresh feed on top of feed already in the trough. Instead, rake or push the old feed to one side, and at least once a week empty and scrub the trough.

A good feeder discourages chickens from roosting on top and contaminating feed with droppings. A trough mounted on a wall allows little room for roosting. A free-standing trough may be fitted with an antiroosting device that turns and dumps any chicken trying to perch on it. In my experience, somehow chickens still manage to get their droppings into the feed.

After having used trough feeders for years, I’ve found I much prefer tube feeders. Since you pour feed into the top and chickens eat from the bottom, feed doesn’t sit around getting stale. A tube feeder is fine for pellets or crumbles but works well for mash only if you fill it no more than two-thirds full. Otherwise the mash may pack and bridge, or remain suspended in the tube instead of dropping down. The best way to adjust a tube feeder to the right height as a flock grows is to hang it from the rafters by a chain and hook.

Chickens, especially young ones, like to roost on the edge of the feeder top, or hop inside for a private snack, thereby fouling the feed. A tube feeder, therefore, should be fitted with a cover. These days most hanging feeders come without a lid, though some, but not all, manufacturers offer a fitting lid as a separate option. You can recycle the lid from a plastic bucket, if you find a size that fits your feeder, by notching out opposite sides to fit under the feeder handle. Chickens will still roost on top, so when you lift the lid to refill the feeder, you’ll have to brush off droppings to prevent them from falling into the feed.

The bottom cut from a plastic jug and hung over the top of a feeder makes a strange-looking contraption, but successfully keeps chickens from roosting on the rim.

A better, though admittedly strangelooking, option is to cut the bottom from an empty plastic gallon jug (bleach, vinegar, or anything else nontoxic) and hang it over the
top of the feeder, upside down, by a string through a hole poked into the center. Chickens don’t like the dangling thing that jiggles when they jump up onto the feeder rim, and roosting on top of the feeder instantly comes to an end.

If you feed free choice, put out enough feeders so at least one-third of your chickens can eat at the same time. If you feed on a restricted basis, you’ll need enough feeders so the whole flock can eat at once. As a general rule, allow each mature chicken at least 1.5 inches (3.75 cm) of space around a tube feeder or 1 inch (2.5 cm) of space along a trough feeder. If the trough is accessible from
both sides, count both sides in your calculation; for example, an 18-inch (50 cm) trough has 36 inches (100 cm) of feeder space.

Even if one feeder would be enough for your flock, furnish at least two to ensure weaker birds don’t get chased away by the bullies. If you have more than one rooster, furnish at least one feeding station per rooster. Each cock will gather his hens around a feeder, and fighting will be reduced.

Placing feeders inside the shelter keeps feed from getting wet, but encourages chickens to spend more time indoors. If you have to keep feeders indoors, for good litter management move them every 2 or 3 days to prevent concentrated activity in one area.