They keep spilling out their food!

[jeria]

When I increased the brooder size last week I set the water and feeder on a 12x12 x1 patio brick. Helps to keep some of the bedding out of both. It's made me decide to get a nipple water container and a hanging food container for the coop when I get it done.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

If they have wasted a lot, i just take out the feed, and let them clean it up. Also, it probably is happening more because they are bored. I moved my chicks out into a chicken tractor at 6 weeks.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

It is also good to have the feed on a board so not so much of it goes on the shavings.

 

[debid]

I have mine in the coop from day 1, they had run access at 7 days. I had the feeder hanging at chest level from the beginning and adjusted it as they grew. I filled it with crumble. Guess what happened? They still billed it out! I don't know why they do it but they stopped as they got older so perhaps it's a phase. I dumped their litter in the big coop and the grown hens thought it was great fun picking through that litter.

 

[gregblackburn]

I had this problem with both their water and food. Either they spilled it all over the place or filled with pine shavings. Yesterday I hung them both by a chain in their coop and now the feeder/waterer sit about chest level and so far they have stopped doing it.

 

[Sara Ranch]

My chickens use to do that too. So I went to a hamster/rabbit water bottle (put up three in their inside room) and the water mess stopped. Now that the chicks are outside in the coop, I give them a plastic water container that is wedged in place by rocks. So they don't tip it over. I also have a large hamster/rabbit water bottle in there for them. As for the food? I got tired of their stepping into the food, etc, so I started dumping it on the floor. They loved to scratch and hunt for their food. Problem solved. Living outside, they get their food from free ranging. I don't take food to them at all. (I am still watching them to make sure they LOOK healthy and continue to grow.)