Food wasting

[macmac955]

My baby chicks keep scratching away all of the food in their feeder. It ends up everywhere in one day and I just have to throw it away because they poop on it. I only have a 10 pound bag of food. What should I do?

 

[sourland]

What are you using to feed them? You may need to get a feeder with small openings limiting access to the feed.

 

[macmac955]

What are you using to feed them? You may need to get a feeder with small openings limiting access to the feed.

I’m using the typical chick feeder with 8 holes

 

[saysfaa]

Raising the feeder helps with that. Raising to the level of their backs works well, especially if you have two tiers so they stand on a step and still have the feeder at about back level.

 

[macmac955]

Raising the feeder helps with that. Raising to the level of their backs works well, especially if you have two tiers so they stand on a step and still have the feeder at about back level.

Okay thanks!

 

[3KillerBs]

I concur, raise the feeder.

This is my setup for new babies, up on a broken paver block (I collect random bricks and chunks of building materials), to keep the bedding out of it.

After a week or so I switch to a hanging feeder, providing a block for the shorter babies to stand on and raising it as needed:

I also don't throw out the entire thing if they poop in the feed. I just pick the poops out. They're always perfectly dried and dry poop doesn't present any risks.

 

[macmac955]

I concur, raise the feeder.

This is my setup for new babies, up on a broken paver block (I collect random bricks and chunks of building materials), to keep the bedding out of it.

View attachment 3467131

After a week or so I switch to a hanging feeder, providing a block for the shorter babies to stand on and raising it as needed:

View attachment 3467134

I also don't throw out the entire thing if they poop in the feed. I just pick the poops out. They're always perfectly dried and dry poop doesn't present any risks.

Thank you! I just grabbed the boxes from my new markers to lift them a bit and it’s working really well.