[sarap]

Hello, can anyone please explain why my girls might be throwing their food around?I have 6, 28 weeks old chickens, about 3 weeks ago they started flicking their food out of the feeder all over the floor emptying the feeder completely.
They live on my allotment and I leave the food available for them, topping it up each evening before I leave. my job doesn't allow me to visit them in the morning and they have a f*x proof run so they have plenty of space to play in until I can let them into a bigger run in the afternoon, they also get plenty of veggies from the plot. sorry this is a bit long for a first timer, oops!

[joyfull]

often birds will do this - they seem to think that something nicer will be at the end    .
You could try hanging a feeder so they can reach in with their beaks only or perhaps get feeders with anti scratch rings fitted 
Oh and welcome to the forum by the way 

[Caralou]

Mine still flick from the hanging feeders  I had to put a tray under to collect the spills and keep them clean so they were not wasted. Now the ducks just hoover up the spills (far less fussy than chooks  ) so I don't worry about the fact that at 9am half the food is on the floor as I know the greedy muckers will sort it for me! So, to save waste get ducks 

[rachelr]

  I am still working on the ducks very ery hard lol. ps my chicks did the same and i was really paranoid that they were going hungry so i had to start weighing their food how sad am i

xxxx

[pigeonpie]

I once watched one of my girls taking out each pellet, putting it on the floor, inspecting it, moving it around a bit and then deciding whether to eat it or not.  I think perhaps she sees herself as a food critic!!!

[sarap]

Thanks to you all for your help, I was getting a bit worried that the chicken police might tell me off for causing distress to the girls, so from today I will stop worrying so much. I know they are happy or I wouldn't get so many delicious eggs, they just need to learn table manners!