Best chicken feeder and waterer????

[Raptor Mountain Farm]

Thanks for the review! They never show pictures of these ports from the front so you can see how the edge/lip is, so I always hesitate to buy them. My old pipe feeder had a deep neck and a lip and my Wyandottes STILL stuck their head way in and scraped food out and then kicked it around! Brats

They get some out or it falls out of beaks or something. They can't get their feet in and the center of the hole is 5" from the bottom of the container. The chickens can reach to the bottom to get the food. Just keep the hole about chest height. I have some on the floor, cinder blocks, bed risers, and hanging.
To train them, just put food in from the front of it to let it spill out a little and so they can see it. They will follow the food into the port and learn to eat out of it. I use their DIY chick feeders too so they are raised with the same concept from about 1 week old. I raise the feeders as they grow with 2x4 and 4x4 blocks of wood, and pavers.
Also, because I hate waste, sometimes I put an empty feed bag under the container so anything that falls out is on there and someone will clean it up.

 

[Gearhead846]

Awesome THANKS

 

[HomesteadDeb]

They get some out or it falls out of beaks or something. They can't get their feet in and the center of the hole is 5" from the bottom of the container. The chickens can reach to the bottom to get the food. Just keep the hole about chest height. I have some on the floor, cinder blocks, bed risers, and hanging.
To train them, just put food in from the front of it to let it spill out a little and so they can see it. They will follow the food into the port and learn to eat out of it. I use their DIY chick feeders too so they are raised with the same concept from about 1 week old. I raise the feeders as they grow with 2x4 and 4x4 blocks of wood, and pavers.
Also, because I hate waste, sometimes I put an empty feed bag under the container so anything that falls out is on there and someone will clean it up.

Yes, I've been thinking about putting a tray or something underneath to keep what falls out from just getting buried in the sand. Also the Wyandottes have been vindicated... I'm pretty sure it is my one resident rat or ground squirrel that chewed the lip off the ports, as both are gone now and I found fresh tunneling next to the turkeys feeder.
How big is the hole you had to make for the DIY feeder ports? The ones I have are 2.5 inch, hoping to find new ones that fit the same hole and don't have to try to drill bigger.

 

[HomesteadDeb]

I'm surprised the Loosey tolerates Shed Cat, being a big beautiful goose and all.

She hisses and nips at her sometimes, but she's usually pretty laid back. Only time she gets riled is when someone messes with her water features!

 

[HomesteadDeb]

I have large PVC pipes that I put feed in so they all feed themselves. We also have a PVC system with water drip nozzles on it runs off of a pump and heater. It's the best thing you ever did everything's automated.

I used to have an automatic waterer with the cups, but I couldn't get my chickens to stop stepping on them and breaking them, the stinkers. Also, living in a very hot dry place I like having more open water for them to dip their wattles in when it's hot, which you can't get with the drip nozzles.

 

[Raptor Mountain Farm]

Yes, I've been thinking about putting a tray or something underneath to keep what falls out from just getting buried in the sand. Also the Wyandottes have been vindicated... I'm pretty sure it is my one resident rat or ground squirrel that chewed the lip off the ports, as both are gone now and I found fresh tunneling next to the turkeys feeder.
How big is the hole you had to make for the DIY feeder ports? The ones I have are 2.5 inch, hoping to find new ones that fit the same hole and don't have to try to drill bigger.

Not sure on exact size because they have a kit that comes with the hole saw. I think it's an odd size. They also have without the hole saw. They just got caps in for the ports to plug up at night. That way you won't be feeding anyone else.

 

[HomesteadDeb]

Not sure on exact size because they have a kit that comes with the hole saw. I think it's an odd size. They also have without the hole saw. They just got caps in for the ports to plug up at night. That way you won't be feeding anyone else.

You can close them at night?! Awesome!

 

[Raptor Mountain Farm]

You can close them at night?! Awesome!

https://rentacoop.com/collections/all-products/products/mouse-cap-for-port-feeders-1

Wish I could get paid for this review and market for them. LOL Just kidding

 

[TropicalBabies]

https://rentacoop.com/collections/all-products/products/mouse-cap-for-port-feeders-1

Wish I could get paid for this review and market for them. LOL Just kidding

K. I don't have the plugs and did find mouse poop inside my feeder this morning. Again, the least favorite feeder though it works perfectly well. May look for plugs and/or a new home for it.

Aloha all and happy holidays!

 

[Outer limit]

I currently have an open dish for food, and a bowl for water but I would like to upgrade. and needed some new ideas for a feeder and a waterer for about 30 chickens I also have a HUGE sparrow problem (those darn things I can't seem to get rid of them )

What is your favorite feeder/waterer?
And ANY ideas and photos would be great!

Thanks

I spent big bucks on a grandpas feeder to reduce waste and optimize rodent control. Money totally wasted. After doing the training as instructed for a week, my chickens were basically starving because they were terrified of the movement of the feeder. I was shocked, as they are super smart and have caught on to using different style waterers, as well as being very adaptive to coop, pen, and tractor modifications. They are also very laid back.
Being metal, the feeder is very shiny and very noisy, both of which startle my Orpington hens. They are very suspicious of any device/container unless it is red, white, and glass/plastic. Note that they normally are not scared of noise from farm machinery, shouting, or barking. I think the combination of sudden movement and noise as the feeder opens is the main problem. However, they just generally did not trust it, rarely even stealing a peck of their favorite feed when I had it open. Also, I have to have feeders in 2 separate areas because I have 2 or 3 shy girls at the bottom of the pecking order that are scared to eat together with the whole group (9 hens). I removed the second hanging mason jar feeder during the training, thinking I could get them all to eat from one feeder, but they still would not eat from the grandpas feeder. No such luck. I know the concept of the grandpas feeder is great and many folks have had success with it, just not us We are back to having 2 hanging feeders inside the run and the tractor.