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Life on two acres of arid dirt, on the edge of the Australian outback.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

"Chook Pecker"

Our new chook feeder arrived in the post today...
(sorry about the blurriness, I forgot to change the lens on camera lol)



We ordered this funny looking spring thing off eBay...

It came all the way from Bristol, UK ,
total cost $17.00


Then we took a 20litre bucket with lid
and fitted the "Poultry Pecker Spring Feeder" into it...

And filled it with wheat.


Wa la!!


Hopefully it keeps the pesky little sparrows, mice and pigeons at bay...

We have it hanging off the ground in the chook pen , high enough for the chooks to reach but too high for any "others".

We are on watch now to make sure the chooks are using it properly. They are able to see the wheat and all they have to do is peck the spring and the grain will fall to the ground...

Lets hope it will work!


And here is one of our little bantam girls, she is busy for the next few weeks keeping six "hopefully" fertile eggs nice and warm...


The weather is warming up to a nice warm weekend ahead, 34C (93.2F). Time to test how long I can go without putting the air conditioner on. My aim is to keep the heat out by keeping the house shut up and the block out curtains closed.

Wishing you all a lovely day!


15 comments:

  1. I have been feeding my chooks twice a day, only small amounts at a time, as the fat boy pigeons that come in our yard by the multitudes are eating all the feed.....It is a problem I have been thinking about for ages....I hope it works for you, as it just a waste of feed isnt it....do you just feed your chooks wheat? no pellets?

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  2. The wheat going to waste on feral birds is a big bug bare for hubby! He is always scheming ways to get rid of them!

    Yes Suzanne we only give the chooks wheat. We have an endless supply from my dad who grows it at Kimba on the West Coast at no cost :)

    I have given our girls laying pellets before but not often. We mix pollen and bran with water as a treat for them, they go nuts over it!

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  3. What a nifty little device, it's amazing the ideas people come up with isn't it! I hope it works.

    I would love to have chooks, just a few since we are in suburbia but we have cats and dogs and unless we go for a relatively small hen house for them I don't think we can do it....I would rather give them quite a bit of room so until Hubby finally gives in to my nagging for him to build a large hen enclosure I think I gotta go without lol.

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  4. Hi Tania, very clever idea, so many inventive people out there. I am only just starting to have problems with pigeons taking the wheat. It will be interesting to see if it works. Hope your shoulder keeps improving for you. I also need to have surgery at some point for my shoulder and have also been told by the doctor it is going to take a long time to come good. Hope it all works out well for you.
    Sharon

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  5. i bet the eggs taste devine - im envious!!! our aunty in country NSW feed her chooks kitchen scraps - is that ok for them?

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  6. Hi Amanda, yes scraps are okay for chooks, ours love them...

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  7. Strange,but simple,but as long as it works.I'll send my sister over to take a peek. She and I both raise a few chickens, and mice and other varmints are a problem at times.So far,my two cats and an occasional black snake are doing a great job of keeping the mice at bay.We have an occasional squirrel, but we enjoy watching him come and go, and the chickens don't seem to mind sharing with him.

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  8. Love it! When we get chooks again one day, I will be investing in one of these :)

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  9. I've seen these and I'll be most interested to know your verdict. Can't believe you're having those temperatures already!

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  10. Oh Thats what we need,....The magpies get in and make a mess and waste sooooo much of our pellets and wheat!....Will follow closely to hear of your success with it.

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  11. I'll be really interested to hear what you think of the device in the next week or so, Tania. I wonder if my chooks would be smart enough to work out how to get their food! I think that's clever, and I like especially that it keeps food off the floor when it's not needed. That little bantam is so cute!

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  12. Hi there,

    we have one of these and if you are having problems getting the chooks to peck it, try smearing peanut butter on the spring feeder - they soon get the idea!!

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  13. Great! Thanks funkbunny for the tip. The chooks have been a bit reluctant to peck...

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  14. Wow! thirty four degrees already! That's hot. Your new chook feeder has me intrigued, I hope it works for you.

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  15. A great device and will be waiting on the verdict to how it works. The weather has been lovely and yes the weekend is supposed to reach the 30's here too.

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