I want to gather some opinions on an odd observation of mine. It's about my chickens' outdoor waterer. They have an open waterer in the run, and a nipple waterer in the coop. Their feed is in the coop (no feeders outside). The outdoor waterer is about 10 feet from the coop, and the run is covered. So, here's the mystery... Every morning before I let the chickens out, I rinse the outdoor waterer and fill it with fresh water (ice water now that it's hot). I let them out, hang out with them for a while, and leave. I return in the afternoon to check on them and give their water more ice. And every single time there's a sediment of feed at the bottom of the outdoor waterer! My run bedding is yard waste (mostly grass clippings and dry leaves), so nothing resembling that sediment. The feeder is 10+ feet away. How in the world do they get feed in there?!? They have dry crumbles in the coop, so not like something stuck to their beaks that gets washed into the waterer. I know that they don't have sphincters in their esophagus, so gravity brings things down when they lower their head, but I thought that only applied to water and other runny substances, not dry feed. Is their feed just rolling out of their crops and spilling down through their open mouths? That's the only explanation I can think of, and it honestly sounds a bit ridiculous... What do you guys think? Do you find unexplained feed in your waterers, too?
