Best chicken feeder and waterer????

[Outer limit]

Those damn birds....they do eat their share for sure. They absolutely do not care that you are standing right there! Freeloader sparrows!

We call them demon birds! Never had them when I lived in the sticks, but we live closer to town now and they are into everything! Another invasive species!

 

[TexasTurkeyMama]

Any waterer that looks likethis with a lid and cap I highly reccomend. The last one I had lasted me ten years. It takes getting used to,but I strongly prefer it over ones where you fill it up from the bottom. Absolutely hate it when they spill everywhere.

I do prefer these because they still work long after the metal drinker cans have rusted apart. I have replaced the O rings and small caps because they do wear out...or mysteriously sublimate. I order directly from Miller Manufacturing.

 

[Devorah]

For water I have a couple 5 gallon food grade buckets.

Where did you get those buckets? I’m sure they’re ubiquitous!

 

[Ais]

Where did you get those buckets? I’m sure they’re ubiquitous!

I've bought them from Lowes and Home Depot. Yes, you can find them in quite a few places - I just found the best prices to be at the hardware stores. Just be sure get the ones labeled food grade.

 

[Gearhead846]

I think Walmart sells them for only a couple dollars as well

 

[Devorah]

For water I have a couple 5 gallon food grade buckets.

Is that a regular top or a gamma lid?

 

[Ais]

Is that a regular top or a gamma lid?

Regular

 

[Al Gerhart]

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.

it is that overhead door, what a clumsy design. But they have a two year return policy so box that thing up and ship it back and get your money back. No one likes returns but it is a huge spur to a company fixing a crappy product. Grandpa makes these feeders in China, they can afford to improve the design. What you want is a feeder with an narrow and distant treadle step, an inward swinging door, a heavy counterweight, and a spring to pre load the door. Then make sure the feeder is solidly secured to a wall or post so it is rock solid and make sure the treadle step bottoms out on the ground or on a brick or something dug into the soil. You want those birds feeling safe, not wobbly. Then it is just a matter of getting them hungry for a few hours and one will figure it out and teach the others.