Backyard Chickens - is a feeder necessary?

Question

I'm getting two laying hens. I see these "chicken feeders" at the stores. Is there any reason I can't just put their feed in a pie pan or similar dish?

Answer 1

you dont need a feeder for only 2 chicken's . just put it in a shallow pan . they will still get in the pan and scratch the feed out on the ground. it dont hurt them to feed from the ground . they will pick up small stone and gravel to grind their food up. you will also need to give them some oyster shells for calsium

Answer 2

Chickens are by nature scratchers and every chicken I have will 'scratch' the feed out of the container (unless it is raised). I now just toss it on the ground as they free roam to go after their food of preference (bugs) anyway.
Are you having a roost ? or place for them to lay ?
My setup guy used golf balls for laying cues (where to lay) in the boxes he wanted them to lay the eggs and it seems to work. Also he used a light bulb during the winter to extend their day to a more normal time. good luck

Answer 3

You can do that no problem.
Here's a short video of how to make one for free.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1t3StjWlyE&list=UUBhY6S4KAS00lJWlZtePUxw

Answer 4

yes you can but chickens eat fast and you would have to replace it a lot with a feeder it dose its work you will probably have to fill it up in the morning and then again at night

Answer 5

no,, just toss a small hand full of scratch out for them in late afternoon before they go to roost, they will free range enough to need very little "feeding".. they will need a nest to lay in. one for each and a roosting place that is high enough to be safe..

Answer 6

If you allow them to run free, they will get a fair amount of nourishment from eating worms and bugs. A lightweight pan would easily spill over when the birds scratch at them with their feet. If you would like to use a pan, use a heavy ceramic--made for food use, of non-lead glaze, or pyrex one that would not be easy to tip. Provide water at all times in another non-tip container, preferably a little bit away from the feed station, or they will get feed in the water dish, and spoil it and cause waste. You may have a pecking order problem, when one will literally "pick on" the other in order to establish a hierarchy, natural in birds. If blood is drawn, the pecker (sorry about that) will have a taste for blood in future. This happens when the fleshy cones and wattles are cut from bird fights. This can be caused by lack of fibre as a factor, so provide it, as they seek out what is not provided, and the fibre is found by them in drawing blood and eating it. I raised chickens, and learned much from a 1940s book on the subject, from when people had to supplement their diets by raising their own food in wartime. Also, they need calcium for eggshells, or they could crack their own eggs and eat same, so an economical method is simply to save their eggshells, dry them, grind them, and add them to their feed for consumption. If they do start eating their own eggs, provide a "dummy" egg, from which you have blown out the contents from 2 pin holes in same, and replace with a mixture of raw egg, mixed with hot pepper, and tape ends to hold the liquid back in, or do the same with hard-boiled, though the liquid state seems to work better (easier to put back together, though, if hard-boiled.) If a hen becomes "broody"--wanting to hatch a clutch of eggs, which stops egg production, and cannot be done without eggs fertilized by a rooster--the hen can be shocked out of would-be motherhood by actually taking the hen and holding her in cool water up to her head. You will then find out where the expression "Mad as a wet hen" comes from, because hens hate water, and their feathers are not made to repel water, as in the case of a duck, so wet chicken feathers stink like hell. The hen will be so pissed off with you that once you release it, she will run off and attempt to dry herself. This is best done on a sunny day, because chickens can catch a form of the common cold, so allow them a sunny time of day to dry out. A repeat of this may be necessary; the shock of the water apparently dispells the chicken's natural urge to hatch eggs. Water from the hose would be cold enough; no need to refrigerate it. And chickens are so prone to lice. This brings back memories of treating my hens with delousing powder, best done on a calm day, and after treatment, their first instinct is to shake themselves, which of course, disperses the powder in one's general direction. When you see a hen, or any bird, taking a dry dirt bath, by forming a depression in the dirt and taking it into their feathers by flapping about, that is nature's way of dispelling lice, since lice, believe it or not, are repelled by this form of dirt. And there are the ornamental breeds that attempt to fly, (actually a form of flitting/hopping), so you have to keep them from roosting in trees at night by clipping one wing's feathers to throw them off "flying" balance. I could keep going on, but this brings back memories of my teen-age years and raising chickens in my backyard. Nothing like having a breakfast of eggs when you just saw those eggs laid only moments earlier, and the shells are still warm and damp prior to cracking... Good luck...