My son sprinkled feed all over the ground in the run! Mold??

[Chick Charm]

There is no need to worry or cause any undue anxiety. Especially with the amount your son threw out. Although it is ideal and best to feed your chickens from a clean feeder it should not be a cause for alarm for them to feed off the ground. Many people have thrown feed on the ground to their chickens.

 

[VelvettFog]

I sprinkle food on the ground almost every day.

 

[eggboy]

They will be fine. My chickens would all be dead if that was a problem!

 

[spacecowgirl]

Thanks for all the replies, guys! I think I have the situation remedied now.... (I also throw food/treats on the ground for them all the time, but those disappear almost instantly.)

I was just worried because I heard horror stories about chicken feed molding, and it was stuck to the dirt everywhere in their run. But, I got most of it up and removed, and I'll keep a sharp eye out for any sign of mold forming for the next several days. Thanks again, everyone!!!

 

[loanwizard]

Quote:
I understand where YOU are coming from, but respectfully I disagree.... Partially, but to say never...

My chickens are livestock. Anything I clean out of the fridge, saves on feed costs for the chickens and hogs. Molds have bacteria. Some good, some bad. I also am not throwing out a 50lb bag of feed that has gotten wet. So far, I have not had a chicken get sick because of my rotten husbandry habits, pun intended. Maybe it's because I have so many chickens so they don't feed on mold for a week.

Crows, coon, possum, chickens, buzzards, hogs, coyote, fox, bear etc.... all eat rotten meat at times. I suppose even mankind has as well.

I was not advising to do as I do, only that the poster didn't need to go to all the extra work of raking, tilling, etc... It was a couple handfuls of feed from what I understood.

Come to the farm and see my healthy animals.

Of course, I don't have a bunch of sanitizer thingy's at my home either. Sometimes, I think, we humans spend so much time trying to eradicate bacteria, that we stop our own immune systems from getting the right kinds of bacteria.

Ever had a flu shot? What's in that? I believe, correct me if I am wrong, that it has small doses of Flu virus in the vaccine that allows the wondrous human body to build immunity to a stronger virus by fighting the little bit of virus.

 

[speckledhen]

Of course, I don't have a bunch of sanitizer thingy's at my home either. Sometimes, I think, we humans spend so much time trying to eradicate bacteria, that we stop our own immune systems from getting the right kinds of bacteria.

Ever had a flu shot? What's in that? I believe, correct me if I am wrong, that it has small doses of Flu virus in the vaccine that allows the wondrous human body to build immunity to a stronger virus by fighting the little bit of virus.

I don't believe in hand sanitizers, either. Never had a flu shot. I've just had dead hens from eating stuff off the bottom of the fenced off compost pile (shavings with feed mixed in, wet and packed down from rain). It had gotten large enough to bulge against the fence and they stuck their heads through. Caused crop stasis in two hens, one died. Also, another time, feed was wet from co-op flood, but bag was plastic so no one knew it had seeped up through the bottom seam--didn't find out till most of the way through the bag that it has mold in it. Crop stasis in hen in heavy molt. Lost her. I'll stand by never feed moldy feed after all that. Chickens are not pigs so they can develop sour crop from eating moldy whatever.​

 

[loanwizard]

I'll stand by never feed moldy feed after all that. Chickens are not pigs so they can develop sour crop from eating moldy whatever.

Fair enough.

Have a Merry Christmas!​

 

[speckledhen]

You, too, lw.

 

[roxyblue]

my big run used to grow mold a little bit here and a little bit there. I had NO idea what was going on, so I locked the girls up in the smaller run for a few days (they get to free range, and there is enough space for four chickens in there) I got out the shoval, scooped out all the bedding and dumped it in a garbage bag. I didn't throw food down on the ground for a few days after that, no mold. SO....... never again will I throw down layer pellets for the safty of my girls, just scratch.

Getting to the point, I would never give the chickens anything rotten or moldy. Just like it's bad for our health, it is also bad for theres. I have eaten mold (by accident) and have gotten awfull stamch pains. even though the chickens seem to be able to take more then humans, I wouldn't force them to eat anything that I wouldn't.

If you see mold pop up in your run, just pick up a shoval and pick up everything. no biggie, unless your chickens eat a lot of it.

 

[indi]

You could try 1 of 3 things:

~ buy a bag of soil and spread it medium thickly all over the floor of the coop

~ if you can move the coop move the coop somewher else until the food dust disappears.

~ move the coop sweep the ground the replace the coop and run