Old feed question

[sara1226]

Hi everyone, I've only had chickens since May, so I'm still learning, and I have a question about uneaten chicken feed.

No matter what feeder I use the chickens seem to spill some of the food out, and some of it seems to stay on the ground for awhile. When I rake or shovel the run out, I toss out the old debris. I noticed that the old food within the debris starts to mold after awhile. I read that mold can cause infections in chickens, so now I'm concerned about the uneaten food in the run that is broken up and is too small to rake out. Every few months we do add fresh dirt to the run, which would help bury old food particles, but what else should I be doing?

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, I just don't know how concerned I need to be, or what I should do about old food that remains on the ground.

Any advice is greatly appreciated! Hope you all had a good weekend!

 

[Gunlover57]

Spray bleach then rinse with water hose

 

[Den in Penn]

Is the food on the ground in the run dry then and only molds when you rake it out and then it gets wet outside? If so I wouldn't worry about it. Still the amount of feed they leave on the ground would. You need a feeder that has at least an inch or more of depth above the feed in the bowel or trough so the chickens can't easily bill their feed out. Most feeders you can buy today don't have that depth.

 

[Folly's place]

I bought a yellow plastic feeder from premier1supplies.com that works great, no spilling. It's the only one I have that doesn't dump food like mad, and I plan to get another one next year. Mary

 

[sara1226]

I bought a yellow plastic feeder from premier1supplies.com that works great, no spilling.  It's the only one I have that doesn't dump food like mad, and I plan to get another one next year.  Mary

Thanks! Can you tell me what it is called on the site exactly, or post a picture so I know what to look for? So far the spilled feed hasn't gotten mold in the run, because it was summer, and I think it dried out preventing mold. Now it has been raining a lot, and unfortunately for me it snows a lot here so I need to fix this issue ASAP!

Thanks again,

Sara

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have lost chickens due to moldy feed on the ground. Make sure they cannot access it would be my advice. I like the black fortex rubber tubs or you can use an oil pan under a regular feeder to catch the stray feed. I set the feeder into the pan. This helps eliminate waste.

 

[sara1226]

I have lost chickens due to moldy feed on the ground. Make sure they cannot access it would be my advice. I like the black fortex rubber tubs or you can use an oil pan under a regular feeder to catch the stray feed. I set the feeder into the pan. This helps eliminate waste.

Great! I have one of those rubber tubs! Thanks for the idea, I will rearrange the run first thing tomorrow morning.