Food everywhere, run floor. Should I clean it up or let them eat it?

[jwebs94]

So my sweet little Sussex chicks (8 weeks old) have found that scratching their food out of the feeder and covering the floor of the run with it is fun. There is a crap ton of feed on the ground. Tomorrow I was planning on covering the run floor with sand.
(I hadn't done this yet, the coop has sand for litter and this was their first week with access to the run, so I didn't cover it with sand yet because I wanted them to get used to the grass and dirt. Now that they are allowed out of the run, I plan on putting sand in the run.)
Anyway.... it's a ridiculous amount of food. Should I leave their feeder out of the run for a while in the morning so that they can eat it up? It's been piling up for a couple days and we've had rain, I worry it might be yucky --though there are no visable signs of damp or mold at this point. (Edit to add: I have the run covered with a tarp)
My thoughts are... 1 let them eat it or 2 rake/shovel all of it out of there and put the sand down.
And of course... hang the feed so they can't do that any more and will have to think of a fun new way to make a mess

 

[21hens-incharge]

I would clean it up.
Nothing worse then chicks finding spoiled food and getting sick.

Crazy that they can make such a mess.

Is your feeder rain proof? You may find you need a shelter over it to keep it all from being ruined.

 

[SueT]

You could put the feeder at chest height to make it harder to scratch it out. What is it that you are feeding? Is there more than one type of food in there? If so, chickens will bill it out to get to their favorite part.

 

[jwebs94]

I would clean it up.
Nothing worse then chicks finding spoiled food and getting sick.

Crazy that they can make such a mess.

Is your feeder rain proof? You may find you need a shelter over it to keep it all from being ruined.

I did edit my post to add that it's covered with a tarp so the run stays dry, but they run in and out with their muddy feet from the yard. I did see the "rain hat" type feeders on Premier 1's site and I'm thinking about those... or rigging mine somehow. I like the treadle type feeders too.

 

[jwebs94]

You could put the feeder at chest height to make it harder to scratch it out. What is it that you are feeding? Is there more than one type of food in there? If so, chickens will bill it out to get to their favorite part.

There is only one kind of feed in there. I haven't hung the feeder yet, just been setting it on the ground. I need to stop that. lol
--I feed them the Nature's Best Organic Starter/Grower that you can get at TSC.

 

[CannedMonster]

You can get a milk crate and put the feeder on top.
They can still eat but its too high to fool with.
I think most farm stores have milk crates for just a few bucks.
They’re quite handy.