Top off food or toss and refill?

[Tracyree]

I only have four chicks and am using a chick feeder (the kind with the holes and the plastic jar that screws into it. I fill just the part on the bottom, but the chicks don't eat that much, so I've been topping it off every day and tossing/refilling every other day. Seems like a lot of waste.

What others do?

 

[Roo on Harley]

I don't top it off, I re-fill, like to see what they eat

 

[centrarchid]

Checking three times daily I make certain all but fines are consumed, then fines are discarded and feeder cleaned. Uneaten feed over time degrades and potentially supports unwanted organisms (i.e. fungi) if moisture gets high.

 

[N&MSchroeder]

I have a long feeder, so I just pick out any shavings that may have been kicked in and then I tip it so the old feed slides to one end and I add new feed to the other end. Not sure if you can do this with a round feeder, but I hate wasting feed.

 

[6chick*start]

N&M, that is exactly what I did as a first time chick mom.
Seems like so long ago. 10 weeks now
However, all my shaking and shimmy-ing did not turn my favorite chick, Pierogi, into a girl!

 

[ajay]

I was tossing and re-filling, but I let it go this last time to see how long it would take. It took my 4 chicks 3 days to finish an entire jar. I probably won't fill it so high in the future and will just fill a little at a time so there is no waste and yet it's not sitting there either.

 

[dldolan]

6chick*start :

N&M, that is exactly what I did as a first time chick mom.
Seems like so long ago. 10 weeks now
However, all my shaking and shimmy-ing did not turn my favorite chick, Pierogi, into a girl!

[URL]http://inlinethumb20.webshots.com/45203/2768895560101606522S500x500Q85.jpg[/URL]

[URL]http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/33646/2073120210101606522S500x500Q85.jpg[/URL]

Same for me. And I love the name!​

 

[ll]

I was wondering this too ~ but I have three with a bowl.
(Their feeder is on order)
So sometimes I top off, sometimes I refill.
You could add the fines to yogurt or sprinkle on a treat maybe?

I love the name Pierogi too

 

[Fritatta]

thats a great idea - add the fines to yogurt or oatmeal, etc -

I try hard to only put in the feeder what they will eat in a day. leaving food in the feeder, especially when humid and hot makes a great place for microbes to grow. Id like to get to the point where there is NO feed in the coop at night, to reduce pests and reduce waste.

 

[Fritatta]

6chick*start :

N&M, that is exactly what I did as a first time chick mom.
Seems like so long ago. 10 weeks now
However, all my shaking and shimmy-ing did not turn my favorite chick, Pierogi, into a girl!

[URL]http://inlinethumb20.webshots.com/45203/2768895560101606522S500x500Q85.jpg[/URL]

[URL]http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/33646/2073120210101606522S500x500Q85.jpg[/URL]

handsome golden laced polish! here is mine at about 10 months old -