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Best Chicken Feeder to Prevent Waste (Reviews and Buyers Guide)

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Chicken feeders are handy tools for small and large scale chicken farmers to feed their chickens with far less involvement. A feeder is also suitable for small flock chicken herders who love to have fresh eggs readily at hand.

For this, you need a sturdily built chicken feeder that will not make a mess or waste your expensive chicken feed. So here are the best chicken feeders to prevent waste, along with a few pros and cons of each one.

The Best Chicken Feeders to Prevent Waste (Reviews)

1. The 20 Pound Automatic Chicken Feeder From Grandpa’s Feeders

Grandpa’s Feeder will help to reduce the wastage of chicken feed which in turn will save you a lot of money. It is also well designed to keep the feed dry in most cases and help to prevent spoilage of the feed. This automatic chicken feeder is the result of years of research to protect the chicken feed.

Excellent at Preventing Other Critters From Accessing Chicken Feed

While it is economically feeding your chickens, it also prevents other birds from gaining access to your chicken feed. This will significantly reduce the chance of other birds eating the food and unnecessary wastage because of contamination. And it also gives clear access to the food with basically no chance of harming your feeding chickens.

Feed Accessible Only When Chicken Wants To Eat

This chicken feeder is cleverly designed to train your chickens how to get access to the food when they need to. With this design, the lid of the feeder is closed all the time and open when a chicken steps on the plate. It is also designed to stand firmly on the ground and cannot be tilted to waste food.

Keeps out Moisture

With the elements in mind, this automatic feeder is well-designed and made from a strong weather-resistant type of material. The high-quality galvanized finished steel it is made of, helps make it very tough and water-resistant. It means that you can use this feeder outside even in areas with high annual rainfall.

Deters Rodents, But Not 100% Rodent Proof

However, it is not 100 percent rodent proof and will require some interference and effort from your side. This means that you need to find a way to deny small animals, such as an innovative raccoon, access to the food. Inspections will have to be done on a daily basis, so it is not very fool proof.

This may cause some problems if you want to go away for a few days and need somebody to keep up your task. Simply put, this is not a 100 percent peace-of-mind automatic chicken feeder.

Pros

  • Helps to reduce waste
  • Fairly waterproof
  • Mostly bird proof
  • Strong and sturdy

Cons

  • Not raccoon proof
  • It is not suitable for large flocks

2. The Little Giant High Capacity Feeder From Miller

Attached To Wall or Hung

This large-capacity feeder can be mounted on a wall or hung on the wire coop for ease of access. If it is attached to the wall at the right height, it may deny most rodents access to the chicken feed. And it may, on the other hand, prevent spilling the chicken feed and reduce unnecessary waste. 

Large Capacity

The large capacity of this chicken feeder will prevent regular feeding of the chickens all day long; you can have a hands-off approach to feeding your chickens and not interfere with their feeding time. It will also help you if you forget to feed the chickens so they won’t miss feeding time. 

Already Assembled

You get this chicken feeder completely assembled upon delivery to save you the effort and time. It is made from high-quality and tough galvanized steel and is well-designed to last for quite some time. It can be used inside or outdoors but does not protect the food from rain, so you need to cover it.

Prevents Waste and Spillage

The grid that is installed over the feeding space helps so the feeder will not be overfilled with grain or food. It also helps to prevent the birds from making a mess and sweep the food from the feeder. This will help reduce any waste of your costly chicken feed.

Cannot Be Tipped Over

The overall design and the weight of this chicken feeder will prevent it from being tipped over. If the feeder is standing on the ground, it helps to reduce the chances of unwanted food waste and contamination. This unit is mostly designed for pet birds more for feeding flocks of chickens.

Steady Flow of Feed

The chute of the feeder is designed to keep a steady flow of the feed, so there will be no shortage. The large capacity of this feeder may count against it if it happens that the feed is somehow contaminated. The problem is that a lot of feed will go wasted in case of water or other spillages. 

Pros

  • Can be mounted
  • High-capacity storage
  • Strongly made
  • Tip-over proof

Cons

  • More suitable for pet birds
  • Not 100 percent rodent proof

3. The RentACoop Automatic Chicken Feed Bucket

All Weather Feed Protection

This chicken feeder is waterproof and can be used inside or outdoors for feeding your chickens day and night. The feeder will help to keep the chicken feed dry at all times, so you have no waste from the food getting wet. This is a real money saver in reducing waste.

While the chicken feeder is spill-proof, it will help to keep the feed inside the feeder and not all over the place. If the feeder is left outdoors, it will allow them to feed at random whenever they are hungry. This will give them a healthy portion of food.

High Quality Materials

The chicken feeder from RentACoop is made from high-quality materials that make it strong and durable to last in all kinds of weather. The materials it is made of is 100 percent food-grade plastic and safe to use with chicken feed. The plastic is also BPA-free and contains none of the related chemicals.

Spill Proof and Won’t Tip Over

It is virtually impossible for the chickens to tip this feeding bucket, making it spill-proof and reduces the chance of waste. This feeder will not require you to refill regularly, saving lots of time and effort on feeding time. You have two ports on this feeder so that more chickens can feed at the same time.

Unfortunately, this chicken feeder is not meant for young chickens or the smaller types of chickens, and they may need a smaller version to feed. This is not good if you have a mixed-sized flock that needs to be fed at the same time. The smaller chickens may crawl in the port.

Excellent For Crumble. So-So For Pellets

Though it is a great and waste-reducing chicken feeder, you may still have another problem with the dispenser. The fairly small space at the bottom of the dispenser may get clogged up when you are using pellets. This may leave the chickens without food. 

Pros

  • Feeder is waterproof
  • It is spill-proof
  • Nice and strongly built
  • The feeder is tip-proof

Cons

  • Not meant for young chickens
  • Pellets may not dispense properly

4. The Hanging Poultry Feeder From Harris Farms

You get this hanging poultry feeder with a very low price tag for a very economical purchase. This is further enhanced in the fact that it is constructed from heavy-duty and strong galvanized steel for durability. With this product, you get long years of excellent service.

Can Be Hung or Placed On The Ground

The poultry feeder can either be hung from the ceiling or set flat on a platform for easy access to smaller chickens. Where you have larger chickens to feed, the safer way is to hang it and keep it out of reach of rodents. This will prevent contamination of the chicken feed and also reduce unnecessary waste of expensive food.

Great Choice For Large Flocks

There are lots of space available for chickens to feed with this poultry feeder and makes it suitable for large flocks. It is quite suitable for broiler feeding where you need constant access to the feed for the chickens.

You have excellent spillage reduction with this feeder, and it will save you money on feeding costs. The feeding space is large enough for access to the feed, but it is too small for the birds to get into it.

Lid Not Included. Designed for Indoor Use

There is one drawback from this poultry feeder, and that is that it does not have a lid included with the feeder. This means that the feeder is open at the top, and falling rodents may have access from the top.

The feeder cannot be used outdoors on rainy days, and you may have a problem when the wind is blowing. If the feeder is nearly empty, it may be quite lightweight, and if the birds get on top of it, they may spill it. 

Pros

  • Low price tag
  • Can be hanged or set down flat
  • Chickens can feed all around
  • Reduces waste

Cons

  • No lid is included
  • Can be knocked over

5. The Miller Corner Design Hanging Poultry Feeder

This poultry feeder is made of high-quality galvanized steel to give a sturdy and well-built feeder that will last for some time. This is good if you use it inside the coop and out of the weather for the safety of the feed.

The special design of this corner poultry feeder from Miller makes it a great space saver and keeps it out of the way. It is quite small and not really good for chicken flock feeding, but it is great for supplements. It can easily be hung with the strong and durable built-in hooks to keep the food safe.

The rolled edges of the feeder will help to keep your chickens safe from harm while they are feeding. This feeder is also great for reducing spillage when it is not flat on the floor where wastage can take place. A low access feature to the feed will prevent chickens from making a mess with the feed.

You get these little corner poultry feeders at a very low price. And on top of that, the price includes two units for more feeding space of your chickens.

It cannot be used outside because of the design and also because it is not closed on the top. It is also not waterproof, and it is not designed to be used with wet feed because it cannot hold water.

Pros

  • Made from high-quality materials
  • A space saver
  • Great for supplemental feeding
  • Safe to use with chickens

Cons

  • Not waterproof
  • For small flocks only

What to Look For in a Chicken Feeder to Prevent Waste (Buyers Guide)

There are a few things that you need to look for when buying a chicken feeder. If it is your intention to prevent wastage and save money in the process, here are the things to look for.

  • The chicken feeder must be sturdily built and in such a manner that it cannot be tipped over by the feeding chickens
  • If you have a large flock of chickens, they all must have easy access to the chicken feed for a healthy diet
  • The feeder must be able to feed the food to the chickens without the interference of anybody, and it must feed automatically
  • It also must not be easy for the chickens to make a mess or cause spillage while they are feeding
  • The automatic chicken feeder must be waterproof as well as rodent-proof to prevent contamination and wastage when it gets wet

Additional Considerations

  • Design should be such so that rodents or other birds do not have easy access to the chicken feed in the feeder
  • While the chickens are feeding, they must not be able to tip the feeder, so it must not be lightweight or be easy to push over or fall when the chickens get on top of it
  • If the chicken feed is not easily accessible to the chickens, they will not use the feeder
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