Scattering Chicken Feed/Crumbles All Over Chicken Run

[JifferChic]

Hello, I'm looking for advice on this matter. My mom lives with me and she scatters the chicken crumble feed all over our run. It's everywhere. I'm not sure this is a good idea. I feel this leaves the run a crumbly mess. Please share thoughts on this.

 

[chick-adee]

Hi! Ya it can get messy, and smelly sometimes depending on what the floor of the runs made of. If its dirt that gets muddy or mushy alot then it'll get really bad really fast.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I think it is better to keep the food in a container of sorts. I personally feed the crumbles or pellets dry as I do not have time to set up for fermented feed. I have mine in the standard metal feeders that hang inside the coop. I lift them each night and hang them up high from the metal handles they have. This helps keep rodents from thinking it is a good food source.

I would think anything in the run that is not consumed would potentially attract mice or wild birds and both things are bad to have around.

I would agree that if the run gets wet it will cause a lot of issues. If things smell bad there is usually a reason. Smelling bad can mean mold and mold is not good for chickens health. They have delicate respiratory systems and I certainly would not want them eating mold either.