My chickens carried their pellets to their nesting boxes

[Sweetbird]

This morning I discovered two human size handful piles of their pellet food in two nesting boxes. Is this usual? How did they get up there? I have two rows of nesting boxes and they are in two of the highest row of boxes. It's a mystery for me and I hope someone has some insight.

 

[Kelsie2290]

My first guess is that you have some sort of rodent collecting food, ie mice, chipmunks etc.

 

[centrarchid]

Check for rodents. My situation could involve children.

 

[Sweetbird]

Uh oh. My husband saw a rat the other day in the coop when he went to close it up for the night. Do I get a couple of farm cats, or... ? This is distressing.

 

[centrarchid]

First line of defense is making so not food is out after dark. One approach for that is to cover feeder late in the evening. Another is to reduce the amount loaded into feeder so all consumed by end of day but birds still have relatively full crops. Both efforts require frequent checking. Poisons can be problematic and most cats not effective against rats. Some dogs are but they can cause damage as well.

 

[Sweetbird]

Well, thanks for those answers. I do keep the food in a huge feeder, so I'll get a metal trashcan with a lid and keep it there. I'm not sure how to tell how much my chickens will eat each day. Is there some kind of formula for that?

 

[centrarchid]

Combination of putting in measured amounts of feed (I do by the scoop), checking the amount of feed in feeder at roosting time, and crop distention. To start, I track how much feed is applied in the morning to empty feeders. In the evening as shutting pens for the night I make a quick glance at feeders. If a feeder still has feed in it, then I reduce allotment the following morning. If feeder empty, then I first visually check crop distention of lower ranking birds if known. If in question then I walk over and tough the crop area to see how well it is distended. I often had to check birds late at night which was ideal time to verify at least some crop contents half way through the non-feeding period of the night. With adult birds feed intake will vary somewhat with weather, especially temperature. Juveniles require closer monitoring and behavior in the morning can be informative; learn their language indicating stronger than usual interest in feeding.

You can also do this with free-range chickens to optimize foraging.