Automatic Chicken Feeders - Thoughts?

[ChickAsThieves]

My schedule has become very busy in the past few months, which is leaving me less time to tend to my flock of 25 in the morning. I am considering an automatic feeder, but I'm worried that an automatic feeder won't accommodate all of my birds and that the ladies that are lower on the pecking order might get pushed aside.

Does anyone have an auto feeder with a big-ish flock? What type? Is it working for you? Thanks!

Picture for cuteness!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Are you talking about the pest proof type that they step on the pedal to make it open? Or just a large gravity fed feeder?

 

[ChickAsThieves]

The pest proof kind that they step on. We tried a gravity style feeder a few years ago and it wasn't successful.

 

[thecluckeryeggs]

I have a fairly large flock and use homemade gravity feeders for both food and water (we have multiple coops). We go away on the weekends and while our neighbor lets them out into their run for the day, I don't like relying on someone to feed and water. I've found that as long as you have enough of them, everyone gets a chance to eat and drink. I've attached pics of one of our feeders and our "baby" waterer. The adults have similar waterers but they are 5-gallon buckets with multiple cups.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Not successful because they were throwing it everywhere? I believe that can happen with those, too, since they can still scratch it all out as long as one is keeping it held open.

Something with grates like this will help with that http://hogslat.com/high-capacity-double-sided-metal-chicken-feeder?gclid=CPD1qKz1v9MCFVtYDQodp9QFeQ

How often are you able to fill the feeders and waterers?

In any case (even now) I would recommend at least three feeders and two waterers.

 

[ChickAsThieves]

Not successful because they were throwing it everywhere? I believe that can happen with those, too, since they can still scratch it all out as long as one is keeping it held open.

Something with grates like this will help with that http://hogslat.com/high-capacity-double-sided-metal-chicken-feeder?gclid=CPD1qKz1v9MCFVtYDQodp9QFeQ

How often are you able to fill the feeders and waterers?

In any case (even now) I would recommend at least three feeders and two waterers.

It was not successful because the gravity feature wasn't strong enough to keep the food moving into the mouth of the PVC pipe. The hens would eat what they could reach and then it wouldn't refill properly.

The one you sent a link to is PERFECT. The price is great too. Does it mount? Or sit on the ground?

Our waterer is a PVC pipe type of thing with about 7-8 nipples on it, and that works well for us. I can fill everything every afternoon when I collect the eggs, but they want to eat in the morning, and that's when I have the least amount of time to tend to them.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I have not seen that one in person, though there is a dealer not too far from me. I like that it is double sided, which lets it serve more birds at once. I was going to make some sort of covers to put over the open area at the bottom at night to keep from attracting and feeding rodents. That particular one will hold 59 pounds of food so it is quite large, thus not able to be hung but you could make a low table of some sort to set it up off the ground to keep them from kicking dirt and such into it.

 

[ChickAsThieves]

I have not seen that one in person, though there is a dealer not too far from me. I like that it is double sided, which lets it serve more birds at once. I was going to make some sort of covers to put over the open area at the bottom at night to keep from attracting and feeding rodents. That particular one will hold 59 pounds of food so it is quite large, thus not able to be hung but you could make a low table of some sort to set it up off the ground to keep them from kicking dirt and such into it.

Thank you for the info. I'm going to show it to my other half and see what he thinks!