Can I free choice feed/feeder suggestions

[tigger19687]

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[Finnie]

I was going to order a large plastic can like that as well as the elbow ports and make my own feeder until I happened across the "Little Giant" at a local feed store. It holds up to 60 lbs of feed and does a great job of keeping dirt (and worse) out of the feed. The only issue I had with it initially was it not effectively keeping the tray (that the birds eat from) full, but after I trimmed about 1" off the bottom of the funnel spout (where the feed drops out of the barrel into the feed access tray) it worked like a champ. I picked it up for $65 locally, which was a good buy once I factored in the cost of the ports, plastic can and other materials required for a do-it-yourself version, not to mention the time and effort saved.

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This looks like it would do a pretty good job in an inside location. I made two of the DIY kind with 5 gallon buckets and elbows. Mine can be outside 24/7 in all kinds of weather, and the feed stays dry and unmoldy for the most part. Occasionally there will be some clumping inside around the port holes. I probably just need to seal it better with silicone, but even unsealed it hasn’t been a problem.

I do wonder how this feeder will stand up to “billing out”. Every time I use one that has those kinds of head holes for the chickens to eat from, they bill out lots of feed that gets wasted. I don’t see much of that around the bucket feeder elbows.

If anyone has experience with this $65 feeder, I would love to hear how they like it.

 

[Finnie]

100 posts on this subject, please do a search

Gee. If the thread bothers you, feel free to pass on by without clicking on it.

@The ChickInn egg supply , I find this thread informative. Thank you for starting it.

 

[DParker75089]

This looks like it would do a pretty good job in an inside location.

It does an excellent job in outdoor locations too, so long as you keep it out of the rain. Mine is in an outdoor run with a tarp over the top of where the feeder sits.

I do wonder how this feeder will stand up to “billing out”. Every time I use one that has those kinds of head holes for the chickens to eat from, they bill out lots of feed that gets wasted. I don’t see much of that around the bucket feeder elbows.

If anyone has experience with this $65 feeder, I would love to hear how they like it.

I've been using it for just over 2 months now and see virtually no feed being spilled on the ground. It's been quite effective at preventing that.

Like I said, I like the idea of the bucket/tub+elbow ports feeders and was going to go that route myself, but the prices being charged for the elbows and other materials by most vendors, plus time and effort just made it a less compelling alternative to this one given that it does everything I need it to do.

 

[The ChickInn egg supply]

Awesome. Thanks for all your feedback. I have finished the feeder with 5 elbows and so far it has worked out great. I would recommend this to anyone looking for less work and happier chickens. BTW tigger19687 I did search this question before i posted a thread, but I needed answers that were relative to my situation. Thanks all!