Grandpa’s Feeder

On August 3, 2019August 2, 2019 By CarynIn Coop

I bought a Grandpa’s Feeder awhile ago for the chickens, then found out they weren’t big enough to operate the opener yet. So it sat in its box for a couple months. Now at well over two pounds they are big enough! (They really only had to be 14 ounces. Oops.)

Grandpa’s Feeder set up on bricks outside the coop

There are three stages to train chickens to use the feeder. The first stage holds the lid of the feed area open with no movement. This stage lasts a week. We started this stage and Cloud was my brave chicken; the first to eat from the feeder! I put mealworms in there on top of the feed, so there was definite incentive.

I noticed as the other chickens started to try it, that they were reaching in from the side and not standing on the treadle. The instructions say to block the sides with a box or something similar to keep this from happening. A box would block the coop door, but I have a bunch of temporary fence stakes, so I pounded one in on each side. Those long necked chickens could still reach around, so I added another stake. That did it! Now they all stand on the treadle to eat. I added some more bricks too so there is a step up.

Nice try, you have to stand on the treadle to eat.

The next stage is allowing some movement with the treadle and lid. I’ll see if I need to expand my brick area and how long it takes for the chickens to get used to the movement. But I have a few days before I worry about that! Then another week before we try full movement.

Water access

On July 23, 2019 By CarynIn Coop

I realized I could thread the hose through the wire mesh and have access to the sprayer inside the chicken runs. It makes it much easier to rinse out and refill the foot baths. Eventually we may put a PVC pipe down to the runs, in which case this setup is still useful, but for now this works. I had an extra pull handle from the catio door rebuild, so put it in at an angle, which makes a great sprayer holder. I also have had hose holders for years that I’ve never installed, so I put one of those up to keep the hose from being a tripping hazard. I fully expect the chickens to try roost there, but the ease of water accessibility is worth it.

All roosting

On July 16, 2019 By CarynIn Coop

All the chickens roosting in the glare of the flashlight.

Finally! When I did my last check on the chickens before bed, they were all roosting! None on the ground, hurray! I had to keep the light to a minimum, so they didn’t come ask for mealworms, so briefly shone enough light from the flashlight to get photographic evidence.

I will wait for awhile before trying the poop catcher, though. Deep litter method it will be for the time being. (I turn over the pine shavings to mix in the droppings every morning, rather than scooping them out.)

Run rotation

On July 10, 2019 By CarynIn Coop

The run rotation is still working! I let the chickens into the middle run where the scratch grains had sprouted and were about 5 inches tall. The chickens loved it.

The grain in the far run has just sprouted, and I seeded and watered the close run, which had been stripped nearly bare in a week.

I love it when a plan comes together

On July 6, 2019 By CarynIn Coop

So I recently bought some scratch grains for the chickens because I was so excited that they were old enough to have them. Then I found out from multiple sources that scratch grains are good for winter because they are warming, not so good for summer. So I tucked them away in an metal storage can to await winter.

Fast forward a couple days, and I had just opened the far run with its lovely sprouted grass and the chickens loved it, but I kept forgetting (squirrel!) to buy more grass seed for the now closed runs. Ah, but I had all this grain stored in the coop, could I sprout it? The internet said I could. So I tried.

I used a small cultivator to break up the soil, spread the scratch mix, worked the seeds lightly into the soil, and watered 2-3 times a day (now we are drying up).

I figured that if the grains didn’t sprout, and got moldy or otherwise yucky, I would scrape the mess out and go back to shade grass. But no! One morning I went out and I had sprouts! Hurray!

The chickens were super excited to get into the “new” run with all those fresh green sprouts! And I closed off the far run and spread more scratch so it will be ready in a few weeks! Yay for rotating runs with fresh greens!

Critters and Craft

Category: Coop