Chickens LOVE to eat! They spend the greater part of each day exploring, foraging and eating their newly discovered treasures and pecking at the great grains in their chicken feeders. Ideally, it’s healthier for your chooks to have the freedom to free range and munch on nature’s bounty; however, even if your chickens are able to free range for a while each day, they still need the nutrients found in feed. So when filling your chicken feeders, pay careful attention to fill them with the appropriate feed for your chicken’s stage in life, sex, and job in your backyard flock. For a great breakdown on all the types of feed available have a peck here.
Feeding your flock from a chicken feeder is easy. Commercial feeds are readily available, labelled according to the chicken’s stage of development and contain just the right mix of nutrients for a healthy flock- starter for the babies up to about eight weeks, grower for the teens up to about eighteen weeks, no matter what their purpose is in your backyard flock. After that, feed your meat birds finisher feed, feed your layers layer crumbles, and show birds get breeder feed.
So, ready, set, pour this fantastic feed into your chicken feeders! Our free range treadle feeder is easy to clean and refill. And, refill you definitely will! As chickens mature and grow into their fine feathers, the most common feeder found in backyards for the “still feathering” chickens are hanging chicken feeders like the one in our Starter Kit. Treadle chicken feeders are great for a free ranging flock as these keep weather and other wildlife out. Chickens just step on and voila…feed!
Chickens are intelligent birds by design. Their bodies actually play a major role in keeping themselves healthy. Chickens have a built in radar that keeps their nutritional needs in check while pecking grains in their chicken feeders. First, their body sends nutrients to take care of general bodily maintenance first; then it directs leftover nutrients to promote quick growth in meat birds, a high yield of eggs in laying hens, and beautiful shiny feathers in show birds. It is important to offer your flock a separate feeder, such as hanging poultry cup chicken feeders filled with shell grit - crushed egg shells or oyster shells which adds calcium to their diet at crucial times such as for older hens whose bones aren’t as strong as they used to be, in warmer weather when chickens don’t eat as much, and for all laying hens. While pecking at their chicken feeders, chickens are quite the intuitive ones. They will eat the exact amount of the crushed shell supplement that their bodies need. Absolutely amazing! Check out our grit guidelines here.
Cleaning chicken feeders is much easier than cleaning waterers with the exception being the wee one’s feeders, as the wee one’s tend to just stop and plop not at all concerned with where their droppings drop! So, if your hanging chicken feeders do get hit with occasional droppings, clean them with one part water 10-15 ml of apple cider vinegar with water in a spray bottle and spritz away the dirt!
Chickens LOVE to eat and LOVE to socialize with their family. So, grab a blanket and have a picnic with your chooks. Don’t forget to share! Bon appetit!
From breeds to feeds, there are plenty of things to consider when becoming a chicken parent. You'll need practical information to help you raise a happy, healthy flock. Many chicken keepers struggle to handle chicken health or behaviour issues, especially in the first few years of having a flock.
This is why I recommend Chickenpedia to all my readers. They have comprehensive online courses on everything you didn’t know you need to know and then some more! From healthcare to raising baby chicks to feeding and behavior, you’ll find beginner-friendly courses that’ll give you the knowledge and confidence to successfully look after your chickens.
As a member, you will get access to ALL their fantastic courses. No need to wing it, become the ultimate chicken eggspert! Check out Chickenpedia today and with my discount code (BOKBOK50), you can get 50% off!
