Picky eaters?!

[Bram]

Is it normal for my girls to throw their feed everywhere in the run? The floor of their little run is covered with layer pellets and cracked corn from the scratch I give them. Am I over-feeding, should I try another brand/type of feed? Seems alot of what I spend money on for them, they waste. The scrapsw and treats I give them, they eat! I think they are getting enough, and they are laying, but I hate the wasted feed on the ground. Any suggestions?

 

[GiddyMoon]

They will eventually eat it. If you do a search for feeders you will find this topic discussed a lot with many different types of feeding systems suggested but honestly, chickens NORMALLY find their food on the ground. They like to scratch and dig. I have found that all the food they dump, they have fun searching for and don't peck on each other from boredom.

 

[Judy]

Is your feeder high enough that scratching feed out of it is difficult, like at their shoulder level? Interesting that you find corn; often they will scratch out the other stuff to get to the corn. You might want to put a piece of plywood or something below the feeder so what they scratch out is easier for them to find. And mine also will peck for the feed they kick out on the ground. I'm having a lot of this right now because i have young chicks in with the flock so there has to be at least one feeder low enough for them to reach -- so the big girls pull it out with their feet as well as their beaks.

 

[NCchickenmommy]

I'm having a similar problem! Mine just don't bother with the layer pellets at all

They used to free range our suburban backyard but now they are kept in their run since they were destroying our yard

I'm worried that they are not eating enough. They get treats several times a day - fruit/veggie/bread/dinner scraps which they devour, but it doesn't seem like enough for them to solely survive on. I've tried both the layena pellets and crumbles and they hardly touch either.

 

[Saltysteele]

how old are they?

they may not eat certain things until they reach a certain age (mine won't eat corn at 2 months of age, they scratch it out and leave it)

otherwise, like posted above, they like to scratch and look for food, and sometimes that means scratching through the feed in the feeder

 

[Bram]

Let me explain further....they scratch it out and then leave it in the run until I clean it out! That means it lays for months! They get feed in the feeders, and scratch on the ground later on in the day, and treats twice a day besides, but the layer pellets and scratch I mix is mostly wasted on the ground. The waste and the feed laying on the ground drawing in other birds to feed is what bothers me here. Do your chickens waste feed? Is that just part of the game? I understand they like to hunt and peck.....but am surprised they don't eat the corn especially. Any help???? Thanks fellow chicken keepers!

 

[Saltysteele]

i'd make a feeder that they are unable to scratch the feed out of, or feed more sparingly, so they would have to eat the stuff on the ground before getting more

that is just what i would do

 

[Fritatta]

when the weather warmed up, I let my ladies free range. Now they dont TOUCH their regular feed. As a result, the feed gets stale, etc and im sure it is less appetizing.
I've decided to only put out a small amount of fresh food each day.
Leaving food out overnight, or spilled in the run is an invitation for predators and pests also.

I'm learning. My chickens are teaching me.