Removing billed out food from brooder

[BellaBelinski]

I was wondering if I should clean out the food that's been billed out or spilled (which is a lot), or can I just leave it so they can eat it when they scratch. My chicks are 3 weeks old and I keep the brooder pretty clean. I know that fecal matter would be a concern, however they manage to get feces in their food container as it is. I would appreciate any thoughts, opinions, advice, etc. Thank you!

 

[felidaet]

I only scoop it out when I completely clean the brooder. There are things that you can do to reduce waste/spillage. I found that there is less waste with a long feeder rather than a round one. I don't know why. I set the feeder on a 2" x 4" block of wood to keep it out of the bedding. I also set the waterer on a block of wood. This helps keep the bedding out of both. Some people but their feeder in a pie tin or some other similar type of shallow pan. The chicks then eat much of the food from the pan without knocking it into the bedding.

 

[BellaBelinski]

Thanks Felidaet! I put a long feeder in a couple of days ago. I left the old round one in until they get used to the new one. The feeder and the water container are both raised. It's good to know that I'm on the right track. Advice from seasoned chicken raisers is exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[ci_cyfarth]

I'm not particularly seasoned -- I'm working on my first flock and they'll be two weeks old tomorrow -- but I can vouch that putting the feeder and waterer on a cookie sheet or similar helps a lot in terms of keeping things tidy and reducing wide spillage. I just line it with a double covering of paper towels and clean it periodically.

(The spilled food goes into the compost along with bedding and other material at that point, if you're curious.)

 

[BellaBelinski]

The metal elongated feeder has really helped with the billing out problem.