Which feeder

[EddieSalita]

I have what may be a pathological dislike of food wastage.

Need help choosing a feeder. I've narrowed it down to 3. All 3 are hanging type and come in a 18kg version. For soon to be 15 hens. But I like the ring type.... they allow maximum number of chooks to feed at once. To go the pvc elbow/socket type I would have to make 2.... so buying one 18kg one isn't much dearer, and I only have to deal with a single feeder rather than two.

I don't have rodent issues. Local kookaburras, owls and our cat take care of that.

The first pic is what I have now. They manage to flick out a fair bit. So drawing on the experience here which one woukd you recommend?

 

[RojoMarz]

I vote the yellow one that has the grey base. I like it's dividers better than the other yellow one (that has chooks in the picture).

I have one like this and it hangs. I don't see much flicking waste on the ground.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

With 24 hens, you really should have at least two feeding stations, just to be sure everyone gets a chance to eat. In a flock that size there are certain to be flock dynamics in which some hens of lower status are not allowed access to the feeders and don't get enough to eat. The feeders should not be visible to one another.

My favorite feeder is home made and consists of a five-gallon bucket and four 90-degree PVC elbows fitted into 4" holes drilled into the sides of the bucket to form feeding ports. Sorry I don't have a pic handy. You may find one here on BYC somewhere by typing "no-spill feeder" into the search bar. Not only can the birds not spill or waste food from this feeder, but my dog cannot steal their food out of it, either, and she was driving my feed bill up considerably when the feed was in an open container.

Good luck finding the right feeder to meet your needs!

 

[EddieSalita]

With 24 hens, you really should have at least two feeding stations, just to be sure everyone gets a chance to eat. In a flock that size there are certain to be flock dynamics in which some hens of lower status are not allowed access to the feeders and don't get enough to eat. The feeders should not be visible to one another.

My favorite feeder is home made and consists of a five-gallon bucket and four 90-degree PVC elbows fitted into 4" holes drilled into the sides of the bucket to form feeding ports. Sorry I don't have a pic handy. You may find one here on BYC somewhere by typing "no-spill feeder" into the search bar. Not only can the birds not spill or waste food from this feeder, but my dog cannot steal their food out of it, either, and she was driving my feed bill up considerably when the feed was in an open container.

Good luck finding the right feeder to meet your needs!

It's 10 now. Soon to be 15 when the week old chicks we are raising grow up a bit.. I'm hoping to get away with one feeder.
Reckon I could get away with one feeder for 15? They will ultimately all live in the same coup. With a secure run. Let out in the morning and free range all day in a large electric netted food forest area. The feeder and drinker live in the run which has the door left open all day.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

It's 10 now. Soon to be 15 when the week old chicks we are raising grow up a bit.. I'm hoping to get away with one feeder.
Reckon I could get away with one feeder for 15? They will ultimately all live in the same coup. With a secure run. Let out in the morning and free range all day in a large electric netted food forest area. The feeder and drinker live in the run which has the door left open all day.

I don't know. I'm not sure they'll go back into the run to feed throughout the day, once they're out foraging. Most keepers seem to think they need that balanced, commercially prepared feed for 90% of their diet for top egg production, nutrition and health. We put the feeder out in the run during the day to encourage the hens to eat from it. We do have another feeder in the coop (8x10 walk-in hen house) for insurance and wet weather, but they don't go through it as fast. It's really up to you.

@Ridgerunner may give us some insight on this.

 

[EddieSalita]

Ah OK.

They use the run feeder for the first hour or two of the day until they are let out. When they are let out they get a half ration of fermented layer mash or layer pellets in the free range area. Which they usually eat by lunchtime. They readily return to the secure run for feed and water throughout the day. The only water is in the run, right next to the feeder.
The other half of their ration they have to get themselves by free ranging, digging in their compost piles (we throw kitchen scraps and some molasses enhanced scratch grain on one of the 3 piles every couple days), or using their permanent feeder.
They have lots of opportunity through the day to return to the permanent feeder alone, eat from the fermented feed and dig in compost and graze grass.

They are spoilt little buggers.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

They are spoilt little buggers.

Nah, I don't think so. They sound well-cared for, well-loved and well-managed. As is their just due.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Most keepers seem to think they need that balanced, commercially prepared feed for 90% of their diet for top egg production, nutrition and health.

The 90% comes from set-ups where you control all of what they eat. You want to keep the non-feed portion (the treats) to 10% or so to maintain a balanced diet. That is a rough estimate (how do you measure 10%) but it should keep them healthy. They should thrive on that. If you want to maximize egg production you need to do what the commercial operations do, don't give any treats, nothing but their feed. And they use techniques to assure that all hens eat the same amount, the food hogs don't get more than their share while other hens get less than optimum. I personally like to give them treats, it just seems right. If you let them forage for a substantial portion of what they eat they still manage to get a balanced diet (there are studies that show they can do that) but you have lost the ability to micromanage what they eat.

They use the run feeder for the first hour or two of the day until they are let out. When they are let out they get a half ration of fermented layer mash or layer pellets in the free range area. Which they usually eat by lunchtime. They readily return to the secure run for feed and water throughout the day. The only water is in the run, right next to the feeder.
The other half of their ration they have to get themselves by free ranging, digging in their compost piles (we throw kitchen scraps and some molasses enhanced scratch grain on one of the 3 piles every couple days), or using their permanent feeder.
They have lots of opportunity through the day to return to the permanent feeder alone, eat from the fermented feed and dig in compost and graze grass.

To me it sounds like you are doing great. I have multiple feeders and waterers since I almost always have immature chicks in with them and that assures they all have access at any time.

 

[EddieSalita]

I vote the yellow one that has the grey base. I like it's dividers better than the other yellow one (that has chooks in the picture).

I have one like this and it hangs. I don't see much flicking waste on the ground.

View attachment 3523849

Well I got the one you suggested. It was the one I was favouring also. It seems great. Holds about 15kg (33lbs) of feed. I can adjust the depth of the feed coming out.
I've discovered it's only two hens that are the serial food flickers. This has stopped them in their tracks. They can't flick it sideways, they can't flick it towards themselves.
It's got quite a bit of diameter. 10 hens can get around and eat at the same time. So I'm figuring it will likely be fine for 15 hens when the chicks are added.

Goodbye waste. Happy day.