List of Best Chicken Feeder

Overview

Chickens are intelligent pets with huge appetites. These fascinating creatures spend most of their time foraging and consuming food. For domestic poultry, their favorite past-time is usually pecking away at grain seeds in their feeders.

What is a Chicken Feeder?

A natural bounty-hunting instinct is supposed to be encouraged in these avian organisms, but most domestic chickens get fed through a chicken feeder. The availability of nutrient-rich high-quality chicken makes the feeding process easier. Chickens are not picky eaters, they would eat off of any surface, but a chicken feeder is the easiest way to feed your flock of poultry. A chick feeder trough is a vessel that stores food safely and securely distributes it among the chickens when they want to eat. They can be manual or automatic.

List of Best Chicken Feeder 2021

1. RentACoop Chicken Feeder

This chicken feeder is manual in nature, this feeder has a simple design and is very easy to use. It has a moderately high capacity of holding 10 pounds of chicken feed. It is completely BPA-free and is easy to clean and maintain. It is also very customer friendly, coming with its instruction and setup manual. It has two feeding points, making it possible for multiple chickens to feed simultaneously.

The RentACoop chicken feeder is only compatible with pellet feed. This is priced at around Rs 9000 on Amazon and is ideal for a moderately sized flock of 4-6 chickens. Although the plastic material is durable, but not ideal for an extended amount of time, as it can turn brittle and break.

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2. Grandpa’s Feeder

It is considered the best chicken feeder by many critics and chicken owners on the internet, grandpa’s feeder is an automated treadle feeder for your chickens. Despite being an expensive alternative, priced at nearly 117$ on amazon, it provides you with the most bang for its buck.

With an impressive 20 lb storage capacity, the feeder minimizes the need for frequent refills. It optimizes cleanliness and hygiene in the food by securing it against pests and rodents. It is weatherproof and keeps the food dry and moisture-free, negating the possibility of mold growth. Its metal structure gives it a high degree of durability, and it will last you for years. It also promotes sustainable feeding by reducing food spillage to the minimum.

It also helps in training your chickens as the treadle feeder is automated by your chickens stepping on the plate. Although it can heat up in the summer months due to the hot weather, it is advisable to keep it in a cool, shady area. Its automated yet simple design makes it the best chicken feeder on the market. 

3. Harris Farms Hanging Poultry Feeder

It is a chicken feeder with a galvanized metal structure and a storage capacity of 15lb. This chicken feeder is very budget-friendly, priced at 38$ on amazon. It has a durable galvanized metal body and hanging system, which allows it to function as both a hanging feeder and a trough feeder. It can easily feed small poultry of 6-7 chickens with minimal refills needed.

The edges are curved up to prevent injuring the chickens. The hopper height can be adjusted, and the structure is very easy to install. However, the absence of a lid increases the chance of pest infestations and reduces food safety. It also does very little to curb the wastage of chicken feed while the chickens are feeding.

4. Little Giant Plastic Fence Feeder

It is a trough-style feeder used as a hanging feeder with the clips provided. It has an ergonomic and simple design while being a cheap and effective choice. Priced at 19$ on amazon, it can hold up to 20 pounds of chicken feed. The trough-style design makes it easy to clean and maintain the feeder. It can also be used as a water trough when not in use. Its design makes it a sustainable alternative as it helps in reducing food waste. 

Benefits of Poultry Feeder

There are various benefits to using chicken feeders instead of buckets/troughs, some of them being that chicken feeders are more viable, they are easy to clean and maintain, they prevent contamination of the food pellets by pests and rodents, and they curb food wastage and overfeeding, thus being more sustainable in nature. 

Types of Feeders

There are a variety of chicken feeders available to chicken-owners in the market. The simplest and cheapest variety is an open bucket/trough. But the inexpensiveness of this option comes with the disadvantages of increased food wastage and heightened susceptibility to pests and rodents. Hanging feeders are a more practicable feeder option as they are relatively cheap and their floating/hanging nature prevents the entry of pests and rodents.

The provision of a feeder cover further ensures this safety. They have a higher capacity with lesser need for refills and their design reduces food wastage and guarantees against overfeeding with controlled release of feeder pellets. The treadle is by far the best type of chicken feeder, despite its higher prices.

They require technical knowledge due to their complicated automated designs, but once you learn how to use treadle feeders, it is the finest feeder type, with controlled food outputs, security against harmful rodents and pests, and a pet-safe system of feeding. It also helps in training your chickens as they need to step on the treadle to get food pellets. 

Things to check while buying chicken feeder

While buying a chicken feeder, you have to consider some important factors to ensure that your choice is the correct one:

1. Material- the material of the chicken feeder is vital to its hygiene and sustainability. Plastic feeders are easier to clean/maintain, but they are less durable and are not eco-friendly. Metal feeders can be difficult to clean, but they are durable against harsh weather, they are eco-friendly, and recyclable. 

2. Capacity- if you have a large number of chickens/ baby chicks, it is advisable to opt for bigger feeders with a high storage capacity, which will also reduce the need for refills. If you have a reduced flock, smaller feeders with moderate- small capacity are the go-to option, as capacity is not a major factor in that case. 

3. Cleanliness- if you prioritize heavily on cleanliness, opt for plastic/plastic-like materials that are easier to clean and maintain. They also have less chance of rusting, in the case of water-based cleaning.

4. Apart from the above factors, your chicken feeder should ideally be waterproof, budget-friendly, and easy to set up.

Chicken Feeder FAQ

1. Where should I put the feeder?

For small coops with tight spaces, you should go for a hanging feeder as it optimizes space without cluttering. You can opt for trough-style feeders or treadle chicken feeders that are weather-resistant and pest-proof for bigger outdoor spaces.

2. What should be my ideal budget for a chicken feeder?

An average budget for a smaller flock should be between 10 to 50 USD. For bigger comme