Still making a mess with port feeders

[Al Gerhart]

Thanks, good to know. I've been wondering about that since I separated my two big cockerels from the pullets. It seems like they've been eating very little since the separation.

It would be interesting to know exactly how much two adult roosters eat per day. Might help fine tune that rule of thumb. There will be variables, cold weather and all.

 

[Smokerbill]

My cockerels don't seem to like the port feeders much although the pullets do. I'm guessing the cockerels' combs make it uncomfortable to stick their heads into the ports.

For my chicks in the brooder I made a feeder out of some stuff I had laying around. They were wasting LOTS of crumbles before, but with the homemade feeder none is being tossed out onto the floor.

I made it using the bottom of a 2 gallon bucket, a dietary fiber container and some popsicle sticks. Also four screws to attach the lid of the container to the base. Crumbles spill out of 3/8" holes drilled around the top of the inverted container, next to the orange lid.

Without the popsicle sticks they were still slinging out the feed. The sticks limit the motion of their heads.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Clever! Chick feeders is an un-served section of the chicken feeder market. I think it is near impossible to make one rat proof but who in their right mind would be raising chicks where rats can get to them? But you have a nice idea that might make a small income. You can't be greedy though, gotta work hard to get the price down and keep it down unless you have a niche that others find difficult to copy. Hard to do with plastics with the Chinese manufacturers starving these days. If you price too high, they knock it off and undercut you. So stay small, stay off Amazon unless you have a five to one cost to selling price ratio, and try to make it the best you can do.

 

[MarkRainbolt]

I went with a Grandpa treadle feeder. I bought 1 then another because they work so well no waste what so ever.

 

[Al Gerhart]

I went with a Grandpa treadle feeder. I bought 1 then another because they work so well no waste what so ever.

That is a hard no for me. Back in 2010 and 2011 when I needed one they were $270.00 plus shipping....even as a cabinet shop owner I couldn't afford that or wouldn't pay such a ridiculous price. So I built one for at the time one fifth the price. Once I improved it to a metal design it was still one quarter the price, and post covid we are still half the price. That is mostly because they dropped their price by over $100 due to the Chinese that make their feeder started selling copies to other brands like Rent a coop.

People need to make a profit. People don't need to make a fortune off the misfortune of others.

It is an old, unsafe design, that requires three weeks of blocking it open not because of training, but because they are working on getting you past the 30 day return window on Amazon. And I get it, returned feeders should be destroyed, we do that, but we don't claim a two year return policy and then refuse to do it. To do so would add a significant cost to the feeder.

The biggest sin is their claim to manufacture in New Zealand when in fact they have been producing them in China for decades and decades. I heard that they might have opened a Mexico plant but the boxes I see do not state a country of origin which is a violation of Federal law. When we imported from the Philippines between 2015 and Covid, they required the country of origin printed on each and every box!

 

[pennyJo1960]

I made a easy feeder of PVC birds cannot through feed out.
4 inch pvc wood cut for cradles and wholes cut in top.
6 inch for covers with lengths of hardware cloth then the pvc cut in half.
Found this is the way to stop food loss or rats killing the wholes.

 

[Al Gerhart]

I made a easy feeder of PVC birds cannot through feed out.
4 inch pvc wood cut for cradles and wholes cut in top.
6 inch for covers with lengths of hardware cloth then the pvc cut in half.
Found this is the way to stop food loss or rats killing the wholes.View attachment 4287798

That is almost the same as the one I started out with except I used elbows on each end and a five foot tall 4" pvc pipe so it would hold a lot of feed. Little waste, worked fine till the rats found me about a year later. Mice first, then the rats move in.

 

[MarkRainbolt]

That is a hard no for me. Back in 2010 and 2011 when I needed one they were $270.00 plus shipping....even as a cabinet shop owner I couldn't afford that or wouldn't pay such a ridiculous price. So I built one for at the time one fifth the price. Once I improved it to a metal design it was still one quarter the price, and post covid we are still half the price. That is mostly because they dropped their price by over $100 due to the Chinese that make their feeder started selling copies to other brands like Rent a coop.

People need to make a profit. People don't need to make a fortune off the misfortune of others.

It is an old, unsafe design, that requires three weeks of blocking it open not because of training, but because they are working on getting you past the 30 day return window on Amazon. And I get it, returned feeders should be destroyed, we do that, but we don't claim a two year return policy and then refuse to do it. To do so would add a significant cost to the feeder.

The biggest sin is their claim to manufacture in New Zealand when in fact they have been producing them in China for decades and decades. I heard that they might have opened a Mexico plant but the boxes I see do not state a country of origin which is a violation of Federal law. When we imported from the Philippines between 2015 and Covid, they required the country of origin printed on each and every box!

To each his own!! I am very happy with them and that’s all that counts. Have a Wonderful Day!!!

 

[RPw1690]

We have a pair of these for up to 30+ birds, chickens & guinea fowl, and even ducks have used them. Only 2 adult or 3-4 Guinea keets can feed at a time, but lots less feed (crumble) on the floor. The level of the crumble is low in the trough so they can’t flip it out on to the floor, as they like to pick through every crumble.

3 seasons in use, fill every 3rd or 4th day. Free range birds seem to have no trouble in getting fed, time at the feeder, the level drops steadily. During the course of the day, not a steady stream of customers.
I don’t know how they think it’s rat proof, we have a goat who can stick her head in the chicken door and twist her head to snarf up the food.

 

[Al Gerhart]

People worry about how the hens will handle limited feeding space but they do just fine with maybe 7" of linear space for 16 hens. One feeder per 16 hens. It is the total capacity and the desire to be gone for a week on vacation that is the real decision maker in my opinion.

Having two feeders like you do is even better, each feeder could handle 20 hens.