Best Chicken Feeders for Backyard Flock to Prevent Wastage

A chicken feeder is essentially the vessel which holds the chicken food. With it, you do not need to hurry home to feed your chicken. They will feed themselves on demand whenever they want. Chicken feeders not only protect the food from birds or mice stealing. but protect the food from the weather as well – so no more spoiled food. Basically, it is a product available in different types of materials, shapes and sizes, and you can buy according to your choice and need. From the endless options online, we will help you sort some of the best products and make a swift purchase.

Types of Chicken Feeders

Chicken feeders Australia are mainly divided into 3 types. They all serve the same purpose but there is a difference in their construction and mechanism.

Hanging Feeders

These feeders have to be hung up in the coop or from the top a chicken run. They confine the activity of the flock as they rush towards the food which is only available at one certain place. Also, you can separate the feed of healthy chicken from that of chicken with health concerns. These chicken supplies have to be hung with a nylon cable to restrict extra bounce of the feeder. Make sure you hang the hanging feeder on sufficient height to avoid most rodents jumping and climbing inside.

Treadle Feeders

Treadle chicken feeders are relatively complex but once your chickens get used to it, they will completely love using the treadle ones. These feeders are good to keep vermin and non-poultry birds away from the chicken feed. But you need to watch out the rats that can figure out a way to open the lid by bypassing the treadle.

Automatic Feeders

Automatic chicken feeders are comparatively a bit expensive because they have an automatic mechanism. They are generally treadle-operated but they work only on a certain time. These feeders are good for the free-range chickens to look for natural additions to the diet and improve the intelligence and behaviour of the chicken to make them healthy. They do not attract rats and you can set a timer and release the flock for feed.

What Makes the Best Chicken Feeder

Capacity

Obviously if you only have a small number of chickens you should go for a low capacity feeder; otherwise, there is still a choice to be made. For some, it can be worth buying a medium capacity feeder rather than on large capacity feeder, which means that you can make sure your poultry feed is distributed more evenly. However, most will find a large capacity feeder to be more cost effective and less labor involved.

Materials

Generally, chook feeders are available in two different types of materials: plastic and galvanized metal. Plastic feeders are cheaper and lighter in weight. some of them also come with UV protection to last long. Metal chicken feeders are more durable as they are made of heavy duty material. They not only cost more but offer great benefits to the users such as better quality and more security.

Top 3 Automatic Chicken Feeders – Reviews

1.  XL Size Durable Rustproof Aluminium Auto Chicken Feeder

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Features:

Aluminum construction

48cm x 21cm x 67cm/19L capacity/weight 3.3kg

Easily assembled

Rats & feral pests & water & rust proof

Feed on demand & prevent wastage

Effective chicken self-feed training

Suitable for chickens, ducks and geese

2.  9kg Automatic Chicken Feeder Galvanized Poultry Chook Treadle Self Opening Coop 

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Features:

Galvanized steel construction

29cm x 43cm x 51cm /9kg capacity /weight 3.8kg

Rats & birds & water & rust proof

Rain board to keep feed stay dry

Built-in anti-flick grill to prevent wastage

Feed on demand & chicken self-feed training

3.  DIY Durable Rustproof Aluminium Auto Chicken Feeder

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Features:

Aluminium construction

56.5cm x 36cm x 18.5cm /8.2L capacity /weight 2.4kg

Rats & feral pests & water & rust proof

Feed on demand & prevent wastage

Effective chicken self-feed training

Suitable for chickens, ducks and geese

4.  10kg Automatic Chicken Feeder Galvanized Poultry Chook Treadle Self Opening Coop 

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Features:

Galvanized steel construction

51cm x 23cm x 41cm /10kg capacity /weight 3.93kg

Rats & birds & water & rust proof

Rain board to keep feed stay dry

Built-in anti-flick grill to prevent wastage

Feed on demand & chicken self-feed training

Conclusion

Regardless of the size of your flock, an automatic chicken feed system makes sense if you are looking to reduce labor costs, minimize waste, and eliminate a source of rodent infestation.