My chickens won't eat inside their coop!

[wildrose41]

My hens do not want to eat their feed inside the coop, they rather scratch for it off the ground but I don't want it outside because the wild birds eat it if the hens just leave it lie. How can I encourage them to eat indoors? It just goes untouched indoors. Thanks for your input.

 

[Pyxis]

My suggestion would be to firstly stop feeding them outside altogether. Eventually, if they got hungry enough, they'd eat from the food inside. Also, try to make the food inside a bit more enticing at first. Sprinkle some black oil sunflower seeds over the top of it. If you have a pet store nearby that sells reptiles, buy some live mealworms and put those nearby the food - your birds will go crazy for them. If you can't get live ones, get dried ones and sprinkle them on top. They sell them at Tractor Supply in the chicken section and also in the bird seed section, since wild birds love them too. Put some yogurt next to the food. Mix in their favorite treat. Just make it more appetizing in general, and I bet they'll start eating it.

 

[chfite]

If the sole source of food is in the coop, they will eat in the coop.

Chris