What am I doing wrong? Or am I just being paranoid?

[ajay]

So, we don't have run. Our chickens free range around our backyard. Inside our coop, we have sand. We raised the food in the coop a bit to help with spills, but apparently not enough. The chicks billed out most of their food from the feeder spilling it all over the sand coop floor. Less than ideal, but no big deal, except for the fact that the sand is getting wet. Nothing is being spilled on it, it's just wet from the ground. Now I have wet food all over the sand floor. I'm thinking that wet food=mold=sick chickens. Is that right? How do I solve this? The floor of the coop is ground, pavers, sand.

thanks for your help.

 

[Frost Homestead]

I also have (limestone based) sand in my run/coops. I wouldn't feed them inside the coop. If you're letting them free range during the daylight hours I simply wouldn't put feed in there at all, I'd put it outside. If you don't want to do that you could also add MORE sand, that way the moisture from the ground doesn't reach the food that's dropping down.

How do you clean out your coop, is it like playground sand or pebbly sand? I actually feed my chickens on the ground in the run, but I have an area where there is no sand. It gets wet from time to time when I spray them to cool them off and sometimes it gets nasty. I just spray the area down with the hose more and after it dries it's just hard packed clay ground again. I don't know if you could do this in your coop, you'd have to experiment.

 

[ajay]

It's playground sand. I clean it out with a little rake. It's been great as far as the poop goes, it's just the food has been such an issue.

 

[welasharon]

What do you have the feed in? Are they scratching it out?

 

[Grillmaster33]

Hmmm....so, feed shouldnt be in the coop?

 

[Frost Homestead]

Quote:
exactly

 

[ajay]

The feed is in a baby pig feeder. I think it was overfilled, which I am sure contributed to the huge amount being billed out, but still. I need to find a solution that allows the food to be in the coop. I don't want to haul food in and out every day and I need a solution that would work if we are gone for a few days and the girls stay in the coop.

 

[ajay]

So after talking with the hubby, we are going to try pulling up the pavers, putting down a water resistant plastic sheet and then trying it again. Hopefully it will work better that way.

 

[msbee]

You'll have to try a different kind of feeder where they can't scratch it all out.

I used to hang a feeder in my coop, but they would peck it all out - they went through 10lbs of feed a day until I learned they were just dumping it.

I feed mine a handful outside each day now, and then they free range.

If you do a search for feeders, you'll find all kinds of neat ideas with PVC pipe where they can't scratch it all out.
There are also some neat ones that only open when the chickie stands on it. Hopefully something like that will help.

 

[ThinkingChickens]

We don't have feeders in the coop. Our girls eat when they are outside, which they also currently free range the yard. Once we build the walk in run we'll have hanging feeders in there, but the girls will still often free range.