your favorite feeder..

[spirit wings]

Well I'am shopping for feeders, need to feed 30 birds. thought I would check to see what and why people like or dislike certain kinds...ease of feeding,cleaning ect... Thanks!

[TheSnipes]

I use one of those poultry feeders - red bottom, white conical top - 30 birds can't fit around it at once but they all get a turn It does let them spill but not nearly as bad as using a tray. I've never tried the box style feeders.

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by spirit wings

Well I'am shopping for feeders, need to feed 30 birds. thought I would check to see what and why people like or dislike certain kinds...ease of feeding,cleaning ect... Thanks!

The only ones I've ever used are the ones on my website that my husband built. They work fine for me. If you put oil and different things on your feed, then they can become a problem, but I don't, so it's not a problem for me. The oil makes them gunky and it can spoil so they have to be cleaned regularly. Been there, done that.........

[DEEJAY7950]

well that's an easy one for me to answer, I like the no waste style feeders, those are the one's which have plexiglass sides where the birds stick their heads through a 2" hole to feed, the plexiglass makes it easy for the birds to see the feed and helps cut down on wasted/spilled seed ( there's no real "no waste feeder", more like "less waste feeder" would be more appropriate!) These can be expensive especially with shipping these days, so with this in mind if your just a little bit handy you can make your own feeder using the link I'll put up, also note that you can change the length to whatever you want, and can put your own plexiglass on this feeder one side or both sides whichever suits you!

http://pigeonracing.homestead.com/pigeonfeeder2.html

[re lee]

No matter what feeder you use It is more important to regulate the feed. You get next to zero waste if the birds are not over fed. Smaller feeders well with more birds then you get more picking and unbalanced feeding. Feeder should be large enough the all birds can feed at the same time.

[spirit wings]

Thanks for the info, I did a search and did read about the amount of feed is important. now the type feeder does'nt seem so important..... learning!

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by re lee

No matter what feeder you use It is more important to regulate the feed. You get next to zero waste if the birds are not over fed. Smaller feeders well with more birds then you get more picking and unbalanced feeding. Feeder should be large enough the all birds can feed at the same time.

Excellent points and TO the point. The only time pigeons waste food is when they have enough of it to pick through and eat what they want to.

[Maggie-NC]

Originally Posted by Lovebirds

Excellent points and TO the point. The only time pigeons waste food is when they have enough of it to pick through and eat what they want to.

This is my biggest problem. I can't grasp the concept that 1 oz. of food 2 x day is enough so I overkill with the feed. Now, that is not for the aviaries where Lewis mixes the feed but for those that I bring inside or have inside the house. He feeds the ones in the aviaries the way they should be fed. I look at how much one ounce is and feel sooooooooo sorry for them so I add a bit more and more and, of course, they never eat it all. Shoot, I even cater to them by putting in MORE of their favorite things.

How long does it take to "break" them so they will eat all the food? I will begin tomorrow!!!!!!

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by Lady Tarheel

This is my biggest problem. I can't grasp the concept that 1 oz. of food 2 x day is enough so I overkill with the feed. Now, that is not for the aviaries where Lewis mixes the feed but for those that I bring inside or have inside the house. He feeds the ones in the aviaries the way they should be fed. I look at how much one ounce is and feel sooooooooo sorry for them so I add a bit more and more and, of course, they never eat it all. Shoot, I even cater to them by putting in MORE of their favorite things.

How long does it take to "break" them so they will eat all the food? I will begin tomorrow!!!!!!

However long it takes them to get hungry enough to eat what's put in front of them........
Aside from the wasted seed, I don't really see the point in limiting feed for pet and non-flying pigeons. Scooter and Dory for instance..........they get whatever they want whenever they want it. They waste quite a bit of feed, BUT, it's only 2 birds, so "quite a bit" isn't really that much. It's quite a bit for two birds, but not that much in the big scheme of things.
Just try measuring the feed. Give one bird one ounce and see what they do. Since they're accustomed to having a buffet.......it will take a few days. So, give them one ounce. If they don't eat it all, don't give them any more until what's there is gone.
I fed my young birds this morning. 51 birds got 48 ounces of feed. I put it all down for them. When they got through eating, there was a bit of whole corn left. I just left it there. They've had open loft all day. Tonight, they're all inside and there's nothing left in the food trays. Probably a dozen pieces of corn under the feed trays that they can't get too. I could have put down more safflower seed or probably anything besides the corn and they would have eaten it and STILL left the corn.
My widowhood cocks each have a bowl in their box. They get one ounce of feed every morning. The next day, some have eaten everything, some have left the stuff they don't like. That means they weren't REALLY hungry to begin with. I don't do this everyday of course. Depends on the race coming up, who's going, who's staying home, etc........
But, again, I don't think it's that big a deal for your birds, to a certain point. You can try it and see what happens.

[bigislerollers]

One thing on feeding is not to overfeed, this will definately cut down on waste, and to make sure you have a large enough feeder so each bird can get to the feed. I like to make my feeders which are open on both sides, sort of like what Lovebird uses, 1 foot long for every 10 birds. This way every bird has an equal chance at the feed and no one is left wanting.

[warriec]

I like something covered over head and it should allow only the head to go in. if bodies go in they will dirty there food.

[re lee]

Originally Posted by warriec

I like something covered over head and it should allow only the head to go in. if bodies go in they will dirty there food.

If fed right there is NO left over feed to dirty. Except your breeder pairs Wher you put extrat feed out. But agin you can regulate it By adding each young bird into the amount Say 10 young add about 10 extra ounces as youngf in nest are feed more then young eating on there own. Now about 1 and a 1/2 ounce per bird at each feeding 2 times a day is about right. 1 ounce keeps them alittle on the hungry side 2 times daily. I have noticed to the evening feeding at times they eat a little less But morning they are just slighlty mor hungry. Perhaps because they go a little longer before eating agin because of the night hours.

[warriec]

its too difficult to regulate as there are lots of birds in 3 lofts. plus i have babies been born almost every other day so very difficult to calculate.

I dont have much wastage, they eat it all by night fall. I feed and water them once a day. I just dont like there food and water to be dirty.

[eric98223]

Originally Posted by Lady Tarheel

This is my biggest problem. I can't grasp the concept that 1 oz. of food 2 x day is enough so I overkill with the feed. Now, that is not for the aviaries where Lewis mixes the feed but for those that I bring inside or have inside the house. He feeds the ones in the aviaries the way they should be fed. I look at how much one ounce is and feel sooooooooo sorry for them so I add a bit more and more and, of course, they never eat it all. Shoot, I even cater to them by putting in MORE of their favorite things.

How long does it take to "break" them so they will eat all the food? I will begin tomorrow!!!!!!

ok this is going to sound cruel but here is what i did and it worked great. had birds who didnt want to come in at night so first thing i did was pull the food and not feed for 2 nights (i only feed once a day) on the third night when i put all the birds out of the loft but not outside. then i put the food down and rang the bell. buy they were ll through the drops very quickly (less than 3 min) and i left the food down for 15 min and picked it up. the next noght same thing only this time they were all in in like a minute and im talking 30 birds or so. i did this for a week before letting them outside again. now i put them out and lock them outside for an hour. when they all come back from flying, then i feed open the landing boards and ring the bell. 85 percent of the birds are in in 2-3 min after 15 min i pick it up. the birds who are last to come in are the first tomorrow i guarantee it!! that is the only device you have for control so i would suggest useing it wisely.


E..

[DEEJAY7950]

Originally Posted by re lee

No matter what feeder you use It is more important to regulate the feed. You get next to zero waste if the birds are not over fed. Smaller feeders well with more birds then you get more picking and unbalanced feeding. Feeder should be large enough the all birds can feed at the same time.

That may be fine for a group of racers, so that is just one aspect, however in the "breeding loft" the birds get all the feed they want!