moldy unfinished food, design flaw?

[justanewbie]

We have a mobile coop that is about 65 sq ft for 3 Barred rocks. My problem is that they don't finish their treats, they always end up dumping them on the ground. Within a day or 2 the food becomes moldy and I have to scrape it up. Is there something I'm missing? Should I put in some kind of food shelf? Any advice is appreciated. I'm new to chickens

 

[cstronks]

Chickens will always knock food out of their feeder. Certain feeders offer slotted bars that prevent chickens from doing the sweeping side to side movement that often knocks food out of feeders and onto the ground.

My suggestion would be to deepen the trough so that the birds really have to stick their head in to access the feed. A deeper trough will keep as much food in the feeder as possible, but still offer full access to the birds.

My hens would knock food out every so often, but generally all the food would be eaten by the end of the day. I never worried if a bit stayed on the ground overnight. My last suggestion would be to modify the amount you feed. Try and feed just enough so that your chickens finish all of the food given, or set times for feedings to guarantee that the hens will eat their allotted food in that time. If you cannot feed the chickens on a daily basis due to actually having other responsibilities ( like most people ) then a deeper trough is the way to go.

 

[justanewbie]

Please forgive me if this is a ridiculous question. We don't have a trough, so I'm don't sure what you mean. We have a plastic feeder that just sits on the ground.

 

[cstronks]

It isn't a ridiculous question at all. A trough feeder is one that has a large reservoir for food, and then a tray area that is gravity fed where the food sits. They can be mounted on walls or stand alone in the middle of a run. The picture above is a good example of one.

Another suggestion is to cover a portion of your run if you have it. This can prevent water from dampening the feed. If you don't have a run, then the trough feeder can work out in the open.

 

[justanewbie]

Oh cool, I've never seen one of those before. The run and coop are covered, the problem is that I live on an island and mold happens overnight. It's so humid here, I hate it. I made them a mix treat of oats, lentils, split peas, and Chia seeds. They dumped the bowl over and this morning it was molded and covered in ants. The feed is usually not too bad, we clean their feeder and refill it every night.