The
little feeders for baby chicks are relatively inexpensive, but they are
rapidly outgrown. The larger feeders are not inexpensive at all,
costing about $15 for one feeder that is only three feet long. The
main objective with these birds is to make eating as comfortable as
possible, so it is a priority to provide them with adequate head-space.
The best solution I have discovered is to simply buy the pieces of
plastic eave trough that come in ten-foot-long pieces. Including
the plastic ends that are available, a feeder of that size costs only
about $9. The advantages of using these substitutes are that they
are not only easy to fill, move, and clean; they are also easily stored
when the season is finished.
A
constant and adequate supply of water is another necessity for healthy
chickens that will want to keep on eating. I have used a variety of
types of waterers, depending on the age of the chicks. The little
one-gallon sized ones are perfect for starting the birds, but will by no
means be sufficient as they continue to grow. Larger waterers are
available in both plastic and metal. The metal ones are easily filled
with a bucket, but seem to develop serious leaking issues even during
the first season of use. The plastic ones are more expensive and are
more easily filled with a hose than with a bucket, but their lifespan is
much longer and, for some reason, the chickens themselves tend to prefer
them. If at all possible, I do try to avoid carrying any more buckets
than necessary, so I also have acquired an ample supply of hoses, each
of which is at least 75 feet long. I have experimented with the
automatic dog waterers that can be attached to a regular garden hose for
a constant supply of water. It worked very well indeed, and I am
considering devising a series of them for the coming season. They are
available for about $16 each.
Feed
for a large number of birds can be very costly if one chooses to use the
bagged varieties. One hundred birds may consume a five-gallon bucket
full of feed twice a day. The bagged feeds are usually about $9 per
50-pound bag, so I checked with our local grain elevator about a ration
for chickens at the various stages of their development. The manager
was quite happy to research the available information for me. I found
the price varied from starter feed to grower to finisher, but it was
much less expensive overall. Storing bulk feed can be another issue,
but I have an extremely elderly metal grain wagon whose tires are not
only totally defunct, but are impossible to replace. It seems that
tires for rims like those aren’t available anymore. That wagon doesn’t
roll very well, but it easily stores two tons of chicken feed. The very
fact that it is raised above the ground (and is metal) helps to deter
the rodents that seem drawn to chicken raising operations.
The
main question everyone asks is, “Do you butcher all those birds
yourself?”
The
answer to that is a resounding, “NO!”
