kickingfood every where!

[thepremo1]

i have a feeder with a mason jar that is a little less than a quart
its just a traditional feeder red some holes in it.
yesterday i noticed my chicks had went threw almost half of it in no time
so today i filled all the way to the top, and i put it into a big bowl, i just went to chick on it, and the feeder jar is empty!! but the bowl has about 70% of their food still in it.
i have never seen them kicking it out, and they are only a week old, this is my first time with chicks, is this normal behavior, and is there any way to stop it!!

 

[gritsar]

As I just posted on another thread, raise your feeder. You want the basin of it to be level with the height of your smallest chick's back. They'll still kick it out, but not as bad. They'll also eat the food they spill off the bottom of the brooder and it won't hurt them a bit.

 

[Tala]

Yeah if I go to refill the feeder and I can tell that there's a cup of feed on the "floor" of the brooder - I just remove the feeder and let 'em clean up for a bit.
Raising the feeder on a piece of 2x6 or similar item can help quite a bit too.

 

[felidaet]

I agree with raising the feeder. However, last year I had this style of feeder for a short time. There was a lot of waste even when I elevated the feeder. I read a comment here on BYC that some people found there was a lot less waste with a different style of feeder. They recommended using the long type (either metal or plastic). I bought a metal one of these and immediately noticed a significant improvement in the amount of wasted food. I will only use the long one this year.

 

[WallTenters]

We put some cardboard around the feeder - so they can still reach just over the cardboard to peck food, but there's not really anywhere for them to stand and kick. the cardboard is just wrapped around the feeder, maybe 2cm above the rim where the holes start. Plenty of room for them to reach the food.

Maybe next year we'll try the long feeders, but we were going to mostly forage our chicks over the summer, so we won't have to face that for a long time

.

 

[RThomas]

Yup, use the long type feeder. They can't scratch out the feed as easily. A lot less waste.

 

[Chickens-246]

You need a feeder with a lip, this will reduce/stop 'bill out'. The reason the majority of feeders are made without a lip is manufacturing issues. 'Long' feeders have a lip, one should only fill it 2/3 full to reduce bill out.

I assume you have a feeder like this...

Something like this would work better, but it still needs to only fill the tray 2/3 full.