PSA: Check your chicken feed for mold after a wet week

I noticed my girls weren't touching their feed last Tuesday and found a patch of mold in the bottom of the metal feeder. Took me 20 minutes to clean it out with hot water and vinegar, now they're back to eating normally. Has anyone else dealt with mold in their feeders after heavy rain?

2 comments

2 Comments

webb.val25d ago

Totally agree with you on the vinegar trick. I had the same issue last spring after a solid 4 days of rain, found mold in the bottom of my plastic feeder and it was nasty. I switched to a galvanized steel one after that, haven't had a problem since. Also started only filling it halfway during wet weather so it gets eaten faster and doesn't sit around getting damp.

jamesmason24d ago

Totally get what you're saying about the galvanized steel swap. Another thing that helped me was putting a small cut up piece of screen mesh over the drainage holes. Stopped the seeds from washing out when it pours, plus it keeps the air flowing so nothing gets that swampy smell. Also noticed the birds don't kick as much stuff out when the feeder isn't packed full. Little tweaks like that add up over a wet week.