Why do they knock feed out of the feeder?

[Deb T]

My girls keep knocking their feed out of the feeder. Its wasting the feed. How do I prevent it?

 

[kingchickies]

Mine were doing the same thing and wasting sooo much feed. I looked on Pinterest for ideas and came up with this after trying a few different things, and reusing something so no cost. I left the handle side and cut panels out of 2 sides. Water lasts longer, stays cleaner and no more wasted feed..hope you can see the pic ok. Chicks wouldn't stay out of the way...lol
Better pic..

 

[lazy gardener]

They scratch their feed out of the feeder b/c they are looking for the nugget of gold at the bottom. The best way to prevent it IMO is to switch to fermented feed. Not only does it eliminate all waste, but it makes the nutrients in the feed more bioavailable in the fermentation process, and it improves the gut flora so the birds can extract more nutrient from the feed. Therefore, your feed bill goes down, and your chicken poo does not stink as bad, and is not as sloppy.

 

[dekel18042]

My girls keep knocking their feed out of the feeder. Its wasting the feed. How do I prevent it?

Because they can?

Seriously I think it is because they love to scratch and peck at food on the ground. If you have adult birds you can switch them over to pelleted feed (You might have to start with mixing this into their food and gradually increasing the percentage of pellets until they are stitched over. There is much less wasted food with pellets, I've found.

 

[coloradowildflower]

Treadle feeders are a lifesaver for this. We've got the Chicken Tender and have LOVED it.

 

[treefarmer42]

Switching to pellets and do not add any other types of food with the pellets. All other foods/treats give in moderation at a different location from the pellets. Years back I mixed scratch feed with mash and found 1/2 of all the food was scattered on the coop floor. I learned quick. Even to this day if I feed them mash, they will make a mess on the floor. With pellets they do very little and when it happens I take their food from them until they clean up the floor, which they do. Come to think of it chickens are similar to my children.

 

[Toyz]

A hanging type feeder cured that for my chickens. They cant stand on the narrow edge and cant get their feet in the food.

 

[Kellycbf]

I switched to fermented feed because of this. I like it much better. I think the chickens like it better, also.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

In nature chickens scratch with their tootsies and rake loose soil around with their bills. They act this way because.... well because they are chickens looking for overlooked morsels. Some good commercial style feed troughs will slow down the food wastage but there is little that can be done to halt it.

 

[jp57]

Getting it up off of the ground I found helps as well. A lot of times I would find one perched up on top of it which would eventually knock it over. When I moved them outside, I put the feeder on top of a cinder block and it doesn't happen anymore.