Throwing food onto the ground - good or bad??

[ErnieBerley]

We usually do that here in the Philippines, yeah... They seem to prefer that, but it doesn't harm to put it in a feeding tray aswell..

hey Phillipines...do you feed bamboo leaves to the chickens??

 

[ErnieBerley]

I don't know. Sometimes I think the chickens here must be a different species.
The chickens here spend a major of their lives with their beaks in the ground, in the donkey shite, the sheep shite, the compost heap, every pile of anything that looks remotely interesting. I put commercial feed in bowls for my convenience and to some extent, to help discourage rodents.
They scratch it out more often than not and eat it off the ground.
I was discussing the feed bowls with barking Bracket one day; she's a scratch it far and wide fan. She happened to mention that she isn't a woodpecker and the bowls give her a headache.
My belief is that if eating from the ground posed such high health risks the species would have died out centuries ago. Of course, if you have contained chickens in small areas then the ground needs maintaining.
It is also my belief that chickens build up immunities to many of the pathogens in their environment if they are allowed to explore that environment. If you keep chickens in a scrubbed stainless steel box and then let them out onto natural ground many will die within weeks because they haven't built any immunity.

I concur !! very well "spoken" (typed!)

 

[Peppercorngal]

I'm just now getting confused. What "food" are we talking about here? Layer feed, pelleted or crumbles should be in a feeder, I find that obvious. Treats, such as grapes, cabbage, meal worms, etc. I throw out on the ground for them. Is this what we are talking about? The only other treat I put in "dishes" is the yogurt I give them. I have the layer feed feeders inside the runs where I lock the chicken in at night. Water too. That way I'm not feeding racoons and other predators at night. I'm a late riser and the chickens get up and eat and drink in their runs until I let them out (around 8am -8:30am) to free range for the day.

 

[oldhen2345]

My boss puts her chickens food into aluminum tray, and my mom does with our chickens when she feeds them. I toss the feed onto the ground, because if i keep it in a tray they knock it over, get all the food out, and let the wind take the tray away. I had a cool feeder (for my chicks) once, but I left it outside for one night and coons stole the bottom. So now I have the top part of a feeder. What the chickens don't eat, dogs, cats, coons, possums and probably others finish up for them. They get a big scoop of layer crumbles and scraps from last night's dinner every morning, and sometimes a snack when i come home after school

I use a heavy aluminum meat loaf pan to feed mine in their run. they do knock it over on occasion, but I often have to dump out the dust that accumulates ( the pellets leave dust). I put that in a grocery bag and put in the trash. I give their snacks by strewing on the ground- they get those before bedtime and I only give what they can eat pretty quickly.

 

[Chickassan]

Oh lordy, I know!
The ground here is so saturated it sounds like a toothless dog eating a milkbone every step you take.
The tiniest speck of food is fuzzy in a day or less.

I agree 100%. I'm in NC, same as OP, and the weather has been messy. So much rain and temps all over the place. I'd definitely suggest a feeder of some sort over letting them scratch it around and waste so much. Mold is a HUGE problem with the amount of rain we've had and will be getting. I figure something out Stat or be sure to stay on top of any moldy feed.