Mama hen keeps dumping chicks food?

[esavvymom]

Our Bantam Frizzle has hatched three chicks in the last week, and a fourth one was breaking through today, so hope to see it tomorrow. One more egg remains.

My question is about the chick feed. All of them are in a dog kennel in the coop, protected from the rest of the flock. They hve food and water, but every time we put the food in the pen, mama dumps it over and knocks the lid off. Then mama and chicks scratch around and forage for food. I am a bit worried the chicks are not getting enough FOOD in this process. They are full of energy, so I hope that is a good sign. The oldest is one week old tomorrow, the youngest appeared to us from under mama on Sunday, so just a day or two old.

 

[katelk]

She is probably just teaching them to forage for food. As long as you are providing plenty of food, they are probably getting enough. Once all your eggs hatch and the chicks are strong enough to run around, the mama will probably want to take them to venture out of the crate in a safe environment to teach them more.
Personally, I love watching a mama with her babies. I had a hen this spring that would get out of the nest with all her chicks and lay down in front of the feeder while they gathered around and she would coo and cluck softly like she was explaining that this was where to find food lol so precious