? About Food in Run

[mylilchix]

Today is the chicks 3rd day out in their run. I've been leaving small dishes of food out for them, but I don't want to leave a large feeder out. I'm concerned if I leave something more permanent outside it'll attract the bear we have in the area. Any thoughts would be helpful!

Thanks, Sonja

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Well, yeah, you wanna avoid the bear. Thats first priority.
Just give the birds what theyll eat up in 10-15 minutes. No more. In your case, they need to eat in the coop.
But chickens reek - I mean they smell. Even a clean run and yard, one that you think is not smelly is gonna be like a beacon to a wild animal.
A bear can smell them from a looooong ways off. They're not long on eyesight, but they have keen smell. I'd be more worried about the chickens themselves, than a few table scraps.

 

[^_^]

A bear?

Can the chicks get back into the coop on their own? Some days I just leave the feeder in the coop instead of putting it in the run. I figure if they're hungry they'l just go back inside to eat.

 

[mylilchix]

The chicks are awesome about going back into the coop. Our dogs bark and they go running. I'm planning on getting some DE to sprinkle in and out to cut back on the smell. Altough our dogs poo smells worse, so I think that's masking the chicken stink!!

The chickens are down wind from the dogs. We also have llamas coming to put next to the chickens. The mama llama sounds an alarm when she sees a bear.

I'll just keep food in the coop. They seem to know to go there when they're hungry. I just put a little in the run, and that's gone pretty quickly.

Thanks, Sonja