Baby Chick with weird obsession

[carlycec]

I'm a rather new Chicken mom , I had 3 chicks last year at this time and now have 3 new babies. One of the new additions , a 2 week old Easter Egger named Eleanor , has this weird obsession. She will use her beak to knock out all the food (Chick crumbles) from her feeder. She will continue until she has emptied it. I have tried to change the feeder but it does not make any difference she does this with what ever I put her food in. I saw her dust bathing in the crumbles so I thought adding a dust bath with sand would offer her an alternative . I can't put the feed back in the feeder as the three will poop in the feed that is spilled all around the feeder so I need to dispose of it. I'm going through a lot of feed , I tried a smaller container so there was less waste but it just takes her less time to empty it. They have a mirror , low roost bar, and the dust bath for entertainment, and plenty of space as their brooder box is quite large for only 3 chicks. Any suggestions on modifying Eleanor's behavior would be appreciated.

 

[BYCforlife]

If you make a hole or 4 in the side of a yogurt container, just big enough for the chicks to stick their heads through, your chick won't be able to knock feed out.

 

[BYCforlife]

Just a no-waste feeder I found on the internet:

On this thread actually:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chick-feeder-no-waste.865378/page-7

 

[sylviethecochin]

x2.

Could also try putting your feeder in a rubber bowl.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Maybe raise the feeder a little higher level with their back, usually helps reduce waste. Is it a chick feeder or just an open container? Some birds do this their entire life... looking for the tasty pieces!

Maybe making wet into a mash?

Add things to peck at... like polka dots on the wall, colored marbles, or what have you?

Pics welcome!

 

[BuffOrps32]

Have you added a dust bath?
Is she to big to get food out of the feeder?
Can you hang the feeder so she can't reach it enough to knock the food out, but still eat?

 

[PirateGirl]

While I free feed I try not to make more food available than they can/will eat in a day, less waste overall. Also, if they spill all their food, I choose not to refill or dispose of anything, they just have to eat it off the ground instead of from the feeder. Chickens eat all kinds of things, dirt, bugs, plants, seed, things off the ground, things dug up from underground like insects and worms, if their feed spills I figure they can eat that off the ground too; I don't let it go to waste, in fact, more often than not things like table scraps that would normally go in the trash go to the chickens too.

 

[PirateGirl]

oh, I meant to add that you can put their feeder in a pie tin or on a large plate and then if they tip/spill/scratch out all the feed it will collect there and they can eat it without it being mixed in so much with the bedding etc.

 

[carlycec]

Thanks for all the ideas

 

[aart]

Pics of the kinds of feeders you are using might help us hep you find a solution.