Need recommendation on a turkey feeder

[tankerman]

We're got one of these feeders. The turkey's knock most of the food out with their heads while they're eating. We end up with a huge pile of feed on the ground everyday, and the turkey's won't eat it off the ground.

It's a huge waste.

Please recommend a good turkey feeder.

 

[frank53061]

Try feeding them just enough that they empty the box each day and they will clean up what is on the ground as well that's what I did and that worked for me.
I feed them enough that when more than 3/4 of the day has gone by the box is empty its trial and error.
Believe you me they are not starving not as fat as mine are.

 

[harriedhomemaker]

I use this feeder for my turkeys and chickens. http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=78693&cat_id=143
I bought the matching rain hat and have it outdoors during the day. It works well and holds a lot of feed. You can adjust how much feed flows into the pan at a time.

 

[Sandrachx]

i use the feeder below along with a large hanging round feeder. it is a goat feed trough i picked up at TSC. i mount it on one of the walls in the coop area and it has helped give everyone a place "at the table" when they are hungry. also, because of it's depth, it does not let the turkeys flick out the feed they don't want. when the feed gets down to just the dust from the pellets, i take it off and dump it outside the coop on the ground and rehang it. (i remove the wire divider) i have it at the height for adult turkeys.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have had different feeders built. The feeders in the stores just don't do what I need for them to do. Here are a few pics.

 

[tankerman]

I like the simple design.

Thanks

 

[frank53061]

I like the simple design as well it looks like an old fashion tool tote modified and the length allows for more Chickens and Turkeys to feed at one time.
The all wood looks like it would hold more feed than the PVC design does.
would there be a problem using treated lumber to make it last longer.
I guess a person could get a larger thick wall PVC pipe to make the other style.
KUNTRYGIRL You have a nice looking flock of Birds there.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Very pretty birds in deed.. I use a trough feeder with the spinning reel on top for all of mine. One is raised higher for the turkey but they prefer to feed out of the lower one so back on the floor it will go. I have had no waste. They only issue is when they get rowdy and knock it over. I put it up against the wall and havent had a problem.

 

[tankerman]

My turkey's don't get rowdy, they're a lazy bunch.

Heck, they are about 4 months old and still won't even get on the roosting perches we built for them, sun goes down and they just sit on the ground wherever they happen to be.
Pretty sure they're the dumbest animals we've ever had.

 

[Celie]

Feed does not last long enough, around here, to put it into feeders.

As soon as I open the bag, they come running and would probably eat me, too,

if I would just lay down! I put 5 unopened bags of pellets in the barn yesterday and went back to the house for a scissors, as the pull strings were messed up. When I returned about 10 minutes later, Those turkeys had the bags open and most of the feed was already eaten ! Sometimes I think I am feeding pigs and not poultry.

Birds will eat continuously. Their crops were so big, they looked like they swallowed basketballs. The chickens and ducks all looked the same way!
I don't even bother with a feeder. I take the feed to their barn and wherever they are in the fields, foraging, they all come running as fast as they can. I scatter the feed around the barn on the ground and they eat their fill. Very little remains, when they are finished, and they all have bulging crops in their necks. Within the hour, they cram what little is left into them, too, and then go take a rest under an old oak tree. They are fed twice a day, plus forage and snacks, right off the ground and don't waste a morsel. Why buy a feeder?

I have a deer feeder, my husband bought that holds about 300 pounds or so of pellets and it has a timer that can be set to broadcast feed up to 4 or 6 times a day. I forget which. Well that worked for about 3 days and the birds found out where the food was coming out and pecked at the opening until they learned to empty it in 2 hours flat.

Who ever said turkeys were "stupid", never met Mine! I cannot store any feed where they can get to it, or they will help themselves, even in closed medal container. It has to be behind a locked door. They will even come onto the porch beside the dogs' door and bully hem out of their feed. The young birds, that hide in the tree branches to avoid being locked into the barn at night, will sneak up to the porch and finish off any uneaten food out of the dogs' dish, early in the am before dawn!

One morning my husband woke up about 5 am to find a young turkey in the kitchen eating out of the cat feeder!

A cricket or bug doesn't have a chance around here, either !

They also fly up on he golf cart with me, untie my shoelaces and squeeze the dogs out. LOL ! I tell them they cannot drive until they grow arms and get their license! Let them figure out how to do that? LOL