Burying Food for Later

[Lifeiseasy]

About a week and a half ago I had 8 mix breed chicks hatch in an incubator. They’re feathering really quickly and are already trying to jump out of the brooder. They have a quart feeder from TSC that I used on my first batch of six chicks a year ago. But I have to fill it up almost daily. Or so I thought.

Yesterday, after filling their feeder and waterer I noticed that the locations of those two objects were pretty close to the edge of the brooder which enables the chicks to jump onto the edge and out. So after shuffling some things around I noticed that there wasn’t just bedding in the bottom of the brooder, there was a whole quart load (or two) of feed! They’re somehow throwing all of the feed out of the feeder and hiding it under the bedding!

Has anyone else ever had chicks do that?

 

[mountain chicken]

sounds like you got a mouse , reason I say that I dont think any chick can move food that fast .

 

[Aapomp831]

You definitely have a mouse.

 

[Lifeiseasy]

Mice would make sense if they weren’t in a corner in a room in my house. Also, no mice would last that long in my house because we have three cats that all used to be feral.

 

[Aapomp831]

Then it’s probably just where the feed is landing as they scratch at it. The feed weighs more than the shavings so it makes sense that you would find it underneath. As they age they get messier and messier with their food and water.

 

[mountain chicken]

mice don't care about location there radar noses track them to food

 

[mountain chicken]

you be surprised seeing what a mouse can carry my dog loves his med size milk bones . we for the longest time couldnt figure out where they were going . well we found them in the lower drawer of the stove . well I know the dog didn't do it lol

 

[GC-Raptor]

there was a whole quart load (or two) of feed! They’re somehow throwing all of the feed out of the feeder and hiding it under the bedding!

Yes, I had the same thing. A plastic quart feeder with a red plastic bottom with 5 holes. My brooder was a plastic tub covered with window screen. Every time I changed the shavings there was a ton of crumbles on the bottom. GC

 

[rosemarythyme]

Chicks love to kick feed everywhere because their instincts are telling them to scratch up stuff. They're not trying to save it for later, they're just messy and it's easy for tiny chick sized feed to fall through bedding, where it accumulates.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Mine did the same thing. They were not necessarily hiding it, but would knock it out, or scratch it out, of the feeded, and then scratch so much that it ended up on the bottom since it was heavier than the shavings. They wasted so much feed!