Spilled feed gets moldy in the run after rain

[kittyacid]

What do you do about the scattered food in the run that grows fuzzy mold after a rain? I have been trying to scrape it up with the hoe, but there is grass in there and I can't get it all. Is this dangerous to my chicks? They are almost five weeks old and are in an outdoor run during the day and inside at night until I get the coop and permanent run finished. I put their feeder out with them and food gets scattered onto the ground and then molds.

 

[ranchhand]

It's very dangerous, I lost a rooster a month ago. He had gotten into some moldy food and had permanent neurological damage. I ended up euthanizing him.

Try putting the feed inside, where the spillage can't get wet, or a saucer/pan under the feeder and empty it every day.

You might also consider a different feeder, one they can't climb into.

 

[HennysMom]

You need to get the moldy food out as best as you can, use a rake to get up all that you're able to; moldy feed can make them very sick and, can kill them.

maybe you need to get a different feeder or put just enough food daily so it doesnt sit. Perhaps making something to cover their feeder so it doesnt get wet as well will help with that issue also.

 

[lilchick]

I used a garden hose with sprayer on it to wash my pen clean.... The water blasted the spoiled feed and mold right out the side of the pen.
In this hot weather it is really a chore to keep the pens clean.

 

[Oopoo]

Can you put a tray that the chicks can climb into and then reach the feeder so that when they spill they and the food are all inside the tray? Then all you gotta do is pull up the tray and dump it. You could even make one out of plywood or 1X's and window screen. Good luck

 

[elmo]

I had the same problem and concern. I still bring my chicks inside the house at night, ferrying them back and forth with a wire travel bird cage. So I just leave their feeder inside the travel cage. It has a wire grid floor, and the spilled feed just lands in the tray. I change the cage tray paper at the end of the day.

You could rig up a similar thing with a pan covered with some wire hardware cloth, and just put their feeder on top of this.

 

[Jenski]

I keep the chick feed inside their travel crate as well, for the same reason. That moldy feed is very toxic, and I can't risk any of that getting into the lawn.

 

[louloubean]

i had our chick feeder up on bricks (so feed was at height of their backs) and have been raising it as they grow.

it's a hanger feeder now, and i have much less problem with waste doing this.
good luck!