How full to fill chick feeders?

[SusanME]

I got a big metal feeder for my chicks- 12 Rhode Island Reds- because I wanted to be sure there'd be plenty room for all of them. At first, I think I filled it way too full. They wound up roosting on it and pooping in it quite a bit. (This may be a bad idea, but when I checked on the chicks, I'd flick out the hardened poops- I would have gone through insane amounts of food if I dumped it every time.) Now, I've put less in- maybe quarter full? They're bigger and seem more able to get to the food. I'm here all day, so I can check every few hours during the day to make sure they aren't running out.
How full do you fill your feeders?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't overfill for the same reason, if it gets wet or soiled or anything, I don't want to toss out a lot of food. A day's worth of food is good enough to me.

 

[centrarchid]

I like the feed to be mostly gone by dark. The feeders are filled early in the morning. In some instances the feeders are removed at dark and replaced at dawn. This makes stealing feed by rodents less of an issue. It is also more labor intensive.

 

[CatsandCrops]

I found if you raised the food and gave them a "play ground" then they wont jump on top of the food. I had a few pieces of 2x4 and some sticks in there at a week, with their food on top of a small brick and they stopped jumping on it.

 

[Birdsong 82]

Judge how much they eat daily and try to keep it at that level. Mostly gone by dark I agree is the way to go. Since you have a feeder with cover opposed to just a dish it will be harder for them to soil it as they get bigger ( yet I'm sure they'll find way sometimes... they always do)