Feeders, the good and the bad.

[Kanga77510]

Let's talk about them.

I currently have a plastic feeder that I LOATHE. It's small and green plastic. I see it in a lot of brooders on this website. My problem with it is that it's always falling apart. The top part with the circles is always separating from the base. It makes a huge mess.

I've seen ones that are more like a trough, and ones that hang from the ceiling. Which is best? I have some good beams with giant hooks screwed in the chicken shed. It wouldn't be hard to hang a feeder.

 

[Mahonri]

I have all of my feeders, the metal hanging kind....

I also am going to start putting my waterers up on blocks.

 

[Tala]

I use the round Mason jar feeders for brooding babies: Eventually it doesn't provide enough room for bigger chicks, and/or runs out too quickly. Also it's tipsy on uneven ground, so works best indoors.

I use the trough type feeders for teenage chicks: Adult birds stand on it and flip it over, but babies don't weigh enough to flip it.

I use a homeade feeder for adults: Basic self-feeding style used almost everywhere. 3gal bucket with pan on the bottom, holes drilled in side, funnel in the middle to help the feed move down. I bought a new pan for the base - $3ish, otherwise free! I love it.

I had a metal one from TSC that worked on the same principle --- complete waste of money. It was flimsy and I never liked it.

 

[grullablue]

I use a feeder like this... http://www.enasco.com/product/Z09511N?ref=rel_item for my chickens. It isn't quite this big (nor was it this expensive) and I bought it from Tractor Supply. It was sold as a hog feeder. I can manage the flow of the feed, to eliminate wastage, and I have no wasteage from this feeder. I love it. I've used it for two years. I don't have a regular "chicken feeder", except for the smaller ones when raising chicks. I also have a smaller one of these I hang for oyster shell. I'm sold on these. The only thing, they're open on top and with my last flock of chickens, I did have one that liked to roost on the top. So I just cut a piece of plywood and set up a couple small hinges, and made a slanted, hinged door, slanted so she couldn't roost on it, and the door to protect the food inside. With the hens I have now, I don't have it covered, I've not had a problem.

With the size I have, I have to fill it about every 5 days, and I have 8 hens. Of course they have larger and smaller ones.

LOVE this feeder.
Angie

 

[Kanga77510]

Quote:
Do you bolt it to the wall of the coop? I'm just wondering how it hangs.

 

[grullablue]

It has two holes in the back, I put two screws into the wall and it just slides on there. Nothing to it!

Angie

 

[Rangely]

No pictures but this should be easy to envision.

1 - 5 gallon bucket with a 3" hole drilled into the bottom.
1 - 14" section of pvc pipe 3" diameter.
1 - standard dog bowl.

The bucket stands 16" off the base of the coop. It rests on a cross beam and on the end of the roost. Sturdy - can't fall down.
The pipe fits snugly enough to not fall out. I position it so that it is about 1" off the bottom of the dog bowl. The other end snugly fit into the bottom of the bucket.
Gravity feeds the food down quite nicely. The dog bowl is 4" high, but the food is only about 1" deep, so there isn't a big mess.
Bucket holds around 25lbs of feed.

On a side note, my coop has a clear polycarbonate roof and I painted the bucket black. 25 lbs of feed makes for some great thermal mass.

 

[PandoraTaylor]

good plan...i like that ...thermal mass....

 

[chookchick]

Yes I think a different feeder is best for each stage of chickieness. The small round ones work well at first--I use galvanized, and put a rock over the hole instead of the mason jar. Then as they eat more, add the "jar" (but I cut off the top so it would be easier to fill, and tuck it under a low area so they don't get stuck or knock it over). Then move onto the trough type like Tala has. I have two round feeders for the adults, one plastic and one galvanized. I prefer the galvanized, the plastic one sometimes loses the bottom nut, the red tray falls off and makes a mess! No issues with billing out of feed if the feeder is high enough. I am very tempted to try the 4-6" PVC pipe feeders that some have made here on BYC--very easy to fill from outside!

 

[ijon1]

I made a feeder out of a five gallon bucket. Drilled holes around bottom of the bucket. I put a plastic bottom from a flour pot on bottom of the bucket. I hung the feeder from the ceiling. They were still raking out the feed. I cut a round peice of hardware screen, slipped it over the bucket and down to plastic bottom. They don't waste feed now.