kits peeing and pooping in food dish

[ipoGSD]

What type of food dish can I use to prevent kits from peeing and pooping in their food dish?

I either have to feed them very little but often throughout the day so if they pee or poop very little food is wasted or if I fill it I find a good 2 inches or more of pee soaked pellets. This is getting pretty wasteful!!

In one cage I use a lock crock and the other because the plastic sides are so high I have to use a regular dish.

Is there some kind of dish I can set in the bottom of the cage that I can modify some way to prevent this?

 

[akane]

That's why most breeders have their cages setup with J feeders. Kits will sit in any dish their butt fits in. You can't really stop them.

 

[alforddm]

When the kits are small, they will sit in the J feeders too. :lol:

 

[MaggieJ]

You could try using one of the chicken water bowls, the kind with a trough around the jug that holds the water. This would only give them a narrow eating space, too small to sit in. It would be a bit annoying to fill, but might prevent the waste.

For that matter, you could improvise a feeder using a pie plate with a big rock taking up most of the centre space so they have no place to sit.

 

[ipoGSD]

Maggie that's a really good idea!! Hmmm maybe a plant pot glued to the bottom will work.. I'll try it. Ty

 

[TraceeLynn430]

The chick feeder is pretty efficient; by the time they are big enough to maneuver to it and feed, they are usually too big to get into the smaller sized holes, and the slanted design makes it a little bit challenging to balance on top of it, so it is a bit of a deterrent, but ultimately, there is no absolute fool proof way to avoid this unfortunately :| (If there is, I have not yet discovered it.) I guess I should be thankful that mine seemed to only poo in the food bowl!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I use creep feeders for the kits.



Maggie's suggestion to use a chick feeder makes me wonder if the type with feeding holes would work? I have that type out in the shed somewhere, so if I manage to find it I will test it out and see if the openings are large enough for the kits to get their muzzles into it.

That's why most breeders have their cages setup with J feeders. Kits will sit in any dish their butt fits in. You can't really stop them.

When the kits are small, they will sit in the J feeders too. :lol:

I use Pro-B feeders in my doe cages- they don't have a protruding trough, and I have never seen a kit sitting in one that I can recall.

http://www.bassequipment.com/foundation ... ms=PROB-00^PRO-B_SCREEN_FEEDERS

 

[ipoGSD]

Hmm I'll have to look into those pro feeders. But until then...looks like this is working. They are sitting around the dish like puppies with a puppy feeder bowl.

I didn't get to the dollar store to buy a flower pot so I improvised lol rinsed it out.. a little scissor action..Some hot glue.. so far so good! I of course will keep a close eye on them tho the hot glue is non toxic so it should *in theory* be safe



Btw.. chubby chestnut is one we plan to keep..isn't he a cutie?!?! 3 others are going to family members once old enough to go there are a couple really big females so I mightttt keep another for breeding.. the rest....... but my dogs will be happy

-- Sun Apr 03, 2016 4:43 pm --

Msd, how much does the larger pro feeder hold? For a mama and babies would 1 work or would I need 2?

-- Sun Apr 03, 2016 4:45 pm --

Btw MSD...The bunbun closest to the camera is adorable!!! ♡♡♡♡

 

[ladysown]

i use cat bowls with mine.. they are a bit too small to sit in with their butt in the bowl, they can still sit on top of the bowl if they want but their butts hang off the sides.

they sorta look like this one: http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photogr ... ge17889062 harder for them to tip too because of their design. BUT momma's have been known to pick them up and whack up the side of the cage if i am feeding someone out of order.

 

[ButtonsPalace]

The three right now won't sit in the food bowl unless it's empty or very low *I.e. mom decided she didn't like where her food bowl was so she moved it and in the process she dumps all the food out* So when I go out to her hutch I find three little furballs probably about 1-3 lbs a piece all squished in this food bowl. AND THEY ARE SO FLUFFY! So it literally fills the bowl with fluff *I use glass pie pans probably about 9"

 

[Schipperkesue]

If they like sitting in an enclosed area, give them some cardboard boxes with the bottoms cut out. They can have fun hopping in and out and chewing. Much more fun than sitting in your food and water.

 

[akane]

Having repurposed a lot of chicken items to rabbits I found my kits just managed to get stuck in the ones with holes and the smaller gravity fed ones easily tip over. Even for the guinea pigs I have to use the next up size and put a brick on top to keep it in place.

 

[ipoGSD]

Just a quick update.. so far so good.. my little low budget contraption is working!!!

Ps they so have a big box to sleep/play in/on. I took it out for he pic. The smaller box holds their hay