Questions about my flock

[glandeche]

I have a flock of about 15 or so hens, two questions i have are...
1. I feed from a hanging feeder in the coop, they seem to spill more on the floor than they eat, what do you do with the food on the floor, it is mixed with dirt and poop now?
2. flies in the coop, seems there is a whole lot, i hung some sticky traps and after a day there full, are there any secrets to fly problems in the coop?

 

[rainbowgardens]

Chickens are sure messy! Are you feeding them pellets yet. That helps some, but they still love to make a mess.
The spilled feed will mix with the litter and if you compost it, all will not be lost. It will nourish your veggies and eventually you! That's the great thing about gardening... no waste.
I have noticed the flies have really kicked it into high gear since it's warmed up. You may need to clean out the coop, or mix in lots of fresh dry litter. Try to keep things dry. I haven't tried the DE that everyone talks about, but it sounds like that would help.

 

[glandeche]

whats DE?

 

[rainbowgardens]

Oh great, you caught me. I was hoping not to have to spell it out. This will probably be wrong but here it goes.
Diatomatious earth.
It's a natural substance that I believe is from ancient sea creatures. It is a fine powder that people use to kill bugs naturally. It is actually razor sharp to insects and cuts them up. They bleed to death. Doesn't hurt humans or chickens.
I need to learn how to do spell check!

 

[kingmt]

They throw a lot of food out of the feeders. I fill my feeders daily so I let mine run dry & they scratch the floor to clean part of the food back up. It doesn't hurt them to get a little grit back in with there food.

 

[tdgill]

Stall Dry or Dry Stall has DE in it, I believe. (I would assume its the same food grade DE you can buy) In case you can't find the Codex Food Grade DE....

 

[Judy]

There are links on the FAQ page to threads about DE (diatomaceous earth.)

Also, here is a source:

http://www.custommilling.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=27

It seems to help with the flies here.

 

[Pug Momma]

I have three ladies. I put their feeder on a little round raised platform (the dish that goes underneath a big pot) I put it upside down and they spill alot on the platform and get a chance to eat it up a bit before it get's spilled on the floor. They also scratch around the floor by their feeder to get up the rest and it's not that bad if they do that. They eat worse things than their own poop when they are outside (slugs, worms, snails, ants......)

I use a flour sifter and sift Diatomaceous Earth all over their floor about every two weeks or so along with fresh shavings. No flies. Well, a couple of stragglers that come in the pop out door during the day. But no problem so far.

Good Luck!
*edited for spelling*