6 Best Chicken Feeder For Your Flock (2023 Buyer’s Guide)

Chicken feeders might seem a little like a pointless purchase for your flock, as surely you can just use a regular dish or scatter food on the ground?

If you have that same impression, read on and learn why chicken feeders are essential for a flock.

Not only do they prevent less mess and vermin attraction, but they also keep your chicken feed clean and dry, which means healthier birds!

Choosing a Chicken Feeder

There are a lot of different types of chicken feeders available, so finding the right chicken feeder for your flock can be a bit of a head scratcher.

As someone who’s gone through a lot of chicken feeders over years of chicken keeping, I hope I can simplify your search and save you a bit of confusion.

So, let’s get started finding the best chicken feeder and look at what your chickens need from a feeder.

In a Rush?

If you simply want to know the best feeders for your chickens, then my top picks are the Little Giant Hanging Poultry Feeder, Harris Farms Galvanized Hanging Poultry Feeder, and Rural365 Galvanized Chicken Feeder.

Top 5 Chicken Feeders

Here’s a summary of the top 5 chicken feeders from the lineup sorted by category…

Top Pick

Little Giant Hanging Poultry Feeder

A great choice if you need an affordable but effective feeder for chicks or small flocks.

Little Giant Hanging Poultry Feeder

My overall recommendation is the Little Giants feeder as it’s inexpensive, easy to use, and suitable for small or large groups of chickens.

Best Hanging Chicken Feeder

Harris Farms Galvanized Hanging Poultry Feeder

An effective and inexpensive hanging feeder. It features a heavy metal construction and prevents pests from accessing feeds.

Harris Farms Galvanized Hanging Poultry Feeder

An effective and inexpensive hanging feeder.

It has a heavy metal construction and prevents pests from accessing feeds.

Best Treadle Chicken Feeder

Rural365 Galvanized Chicken Feeder

A sturdy and robust unit that protects and dispenses chicken feed.

Rural365 Galvanized Chicken Feeder

My top pick if you need a trough chicken feeder for your coop is the Rural 365 Galvanized Feeder as it’s robust, sturdy, and keeps nuisance pests out of your feed.

Rat Proof Feeder

RentACoop Chicken Feeder

Prevent waste and mess with this rat proof feeder designed to keep 99% of your feed inside the unit.

RentACoop Chicken Feeder

The RentACoop feeder for chickens is a solid choice if you want to stop rats and rodents getting into your feed.

The device features a port design, which is not only different from a lot of other types of feeders, but also helps make it inaccessible to vermin.

No Waste Automatic Chicken Feeder

KEBONNIXS Automatic Feeder Set

Save feed and time spent cleaning with this automatic chicken feeder.

KEBONNIXS Automatic Feeder Set

One of the best feeders for chickens that minimizes waste is the KEBONNIXIS Automatic Chicken Feeder Set.

It comes with both a waterer and a feeder, making feeding and hydrating your small flock simple.

Best Chicken Feeders – Top 6 Reviewed

Here are the full reviews of all the products from the lineup…

Top Pick

Little Giant Hanging Poultry Feeder

A great choice if you need an affordable but effective feeder for chicks or small flocks.

Little Giant Hanging Poultry Feeder

Although simple in design, the Little Giant feeder for chickens is a great pick if you need an affordable but effective way to keep your birds fed.

Build

It’s made from sturdy plastic to increase its longevity, while the base minimizes food spillage. A great feature about this feeder is that it can be adjusted to multiple heights, making sure your hens can eat in comfort.

Size

As the feeder can only hold 2.866 pounds of feed, I think it’s a good option for chicks or small flocks

However, this plastic feeder can be a bit frustrating to assemble as the provided instructions are a bit vague.

The washer can also fall off occasionally when the container is filled with feed.

Specs

  • Product Dimensions: 8.25” x 8.75” x 8.25”
  • Product Weight: 6.4 oz
  • Material: Plastic
  • Capacity: 2.866 lbs

Pros

  • Simple design
  • Made from sturdy plastic
  • Ideal for chicks or keepers who don’t have many chickens
  • Can be adjusted to many heights for any size chicken

Cons

  • Washer can fall off from time to time
  • Can be a bit hard to set up

Best Hanging Chicken Feeder

Harris Farms Galvanized Hanging Poultry Feeder

An effective and inexpensive hanging feeder. It has a heavy metal construction and prevents pests from accessing feeds.

Harris Farms Galvanized Hanging Poultry Feeder

If you’re looking for the perfect hanging feeder for your backyard chickens, this one from Harris Farms is a great choice as it’s effective and relatively inexpensive.

Build

It has a heavy-duty galvanized metal construction so it will supply your birds with food for a long time.

The design allows you to position it to multiple heights, which is a good feature as it makes it suitable for game birds, chickens, and young chickens.

I appreciate that the metal feeder has rolled edges for safety – you don’t need to worry about your chickens injuring themselves on jagged bits of metal.

It’s easy to set up as it has spring loaded clips, so you should have it up and running in no time.

Portability

Another aspect I appreciate about this galvanized steel hanging feeder is the convenient handle located on the top, allowing you to easily and quickly transport it.

The galvanized steel hanging feeder is best used for medium and large flocks as it can hold up to 14.9 pounds of feed.

This should be plenty for between 15 to 30 birds, so it’s one of the best choices for either a small flock or big one.

My only gripe with this galvanized steel hanging feeder is that it doesn’t come with a cover.

To avert your feed from getting soaked from rain, I’d advise using a lid with this feeder.

Specs

  • Product Dimensions: 11.63” x 11.63” x 11”
  • Product Weight: 2.5 lbs
  • Material: Steel
  • Capacity: 14.9 lbs

Pros

  • Made from heavy-duty galvanized steel
  • Can be adjusted to a wide range of heights
  • Rolled metal edges for safety
  • Easy to set up and carry
  • Holds enough feed for 15 to 30 hens

Cons

  • Doesn’t come with a lid

Best Treadle Chicken Feeder

Rural365 Galvanized Chicken Feeder

A sturdy and robust unit that protects and dispenses chicken feed.

Rural365 Galvanized Chicken Feeder

Next up is the Rural 365 Galvanized Feeder, a sturdy and robust trough unit to dispense feed to your chickens.

Build

It’s made from galvanized steel that’s built to last and water resistant, the latter of which helps prevent it from rusting when used outside.

The trough makes it difficult for rats and rodents to access your hens’ feed, a feature that I always look for in the best feeders.

You can mount the trough with ease as it has pre-drilled holes on the back panel.

Design

The trough comes with an attachable awning to keep the feed dry in wet weather too, which is a nice design feature!

I think the Rural355 is perfect for both small and large flocks as it can hold around 11.5 pounds of feed.

However, the opening at bottom of the trough is a bit tight, which can restrict the amount of feed the unit dispenses.

Specs

  • Product Dimensions: 8” x 6” x 13”
  • Product Weight: 3.12 lbs
  • Material: Steel
  • Capacity: 11.5 lbs

Pros

  • Made from water-resistant and long-lasting steel
  • Prevents vermin accessing your feed
  • Can be mounted easily
  • Holds enough feed for both small and large flocks

Cons

  • Opening on bottom of trough is a bit small, restricting the amount of feed it dispenses

No Waste Automatic Chicken Feeder

KEBONNIXS Automatic Chicken Cup Waterer and Port Feeder Set

Save feed and time spent cleaning with this automatic chicken feeder.

KEBONNIXS Automatic Chicken Cup Waterer and Port Feeder Set

The KEBONNIXS Automatic Chicken Feeder is a great choice for your chickens as it minimizes spillage, saving you both feed and time spent cleaning your chicken coop area.

Dual Purpose

One of the best aspects of this feeder is that it comes with an automatic cup waterer, so you get two items for the price of one!

The cups automatically refill when they’re empty, which is convenient for those busy days when there never seems to be enough hours in the day.

I appreciate that the feeder has a rain hood to ensure your feed is kept dry outside – no bird wants to eat wet and mushy feed.

Assembly

Both the automatic waterer and feeder are easy to set up, and can be installed or outside your coop using the provided screws and metal hooks.

The waterer holds 2 gallons of water and the feeder holds 10 lbs of feed, so they’re a perfect fit for a small or medium flock of hens.

It’s hard to find a fault with this automatic chicken feeder and waterer set – the only slight issue is that they’re not the best option for large flocks as they don’t hold enough water or feed.

Specs

  • Product Dimensions: 16.75” x 12.75” x 7.5”
  • Product Weight: 4.06 lbs
  • Material: Metal
  • Capacity: 10 lbs

Pros

  • Minimizes feed waste around your coops
  • Comes with a waterer
  • Feeder has a hood to keep your feed dry when used outside
  • Holds 10 lbs of feed – best used for a small or medium flock

Cons

  • Not the best chicken feeder for big flocks

Rat Proof Feeder

RentACoop Chicken Feeder

Prevent waste and mess with this feeder designed to keep 99% of your feed inside the unit.

RentACoop Chicken Feeder

Need a type of feeding device that is rodent and rat proof? 

The RentACoop Feeder is a great pick for you as it’s designed to keep 99% of your feed inside the unit, not on the ground.

Design

The feeder looks different than some of the other feeders I’ve looked at as it has a port design.

This requires your hens to slide their heads inside these holes to access the feed. It might look rather strange, but this design is what makes the feeder inaccessible to pests.

Build

The feeder is made from food grade and BPA free plastic, so it’s completely safe for chickens. What’s better than simple assembly? No assembly!

The plastic feeder doesn’t need setting up, which means it’s ready to be used as soon as it arrives. As someone who isn’t great at even the most simple DIY, this is a feature I can get onboard with.

Size

My main complaint with the RentACoop plastic feeder is that it can be hard for tall breeds of chicken to feed from.

This means it’s best used for smaller or bantam varieties.

Another minor issue is that the lid on the unit isn’t very easy to open. This makes refilling the container a bit of a hassle.

Specs

  • Product Dimensions: 10” x 14” x 10”
  • Product Weight: 2.5 lbs
  • Material: Plastic
  • Capacity: 20 lbs

Pros

  • Great for keeping rodents, wild birds, and any other type of pest out
  • Large capacity which holds 20 pounds of feed
  • Made from food grade plastic
  • Unique and design to most other feeders
  • No assembly – this means it can be used straight away!

Cons

  • Lid is not very easy to open
  • Not the best chicken feeder for tall breeds

Royal Rooster Chicken Poultry Feeder with Rain Cover

A unit designed specifically to prevent feed wastage as the divisions located on the base discourage your birds from swiping their food onto the ground.

Royal Rooster Chicken Poultry Feeder with Rain Cover

The last chicken feeder I recommend is by Royal Rooster, which is constructed out of durable PVC and ABS plastics.

It’s UV resistant so it keeps your feed dry even in hot weather. It’s also super easy to clean and easy to fill.

Design

The unit is designed specifically to prevent feed wastage as the divisions located on the base discourage your birds from swiping their food onto the ground.

It’s easy for your chickens to feed from – all they need to do is peck at the feed and the device will flow into the tray as they eat.

Rain Cover

I think the cover on the Royal Rooster Feeder is a fantastic feature as it not only keeps your feed dry, but it also makes it hard for pests to access.

You can use most feed types in the unit, including grain mixes and pellets, but it’s not the best choice for moist food such as crumbles.

Capacity

The feeder is adequate for up to 6 chickens as it has a feed capacity of 6 pounds. It comes with 2 brackets so you can easily mount onto a solid wall or your coop.

Unfortunately, this feed from Royal Rooster cannot be used freestanding – it needs to be attached to something such as mesh or a wall. If you will be using pellet type feeds, they can also easily clog the device.

Specs

  • Product Dimensions: 5” x 9” x 20”
  • Product Weight: 2.64 lbs
  • Material: Plastic
  • Capacity: 6 lbs

Pros

  • Design helps reduce feed waste and deter pests
  • UV resistant to withstand the elements
  • Made from durable PVC and ABS plastics
  • Easy for birds to feed from

Cons

  • Cannot be used freestanding
  • Pellet feeds can clog the unit

What Is a Chicken Feeder?

Chickens Around a Feeder
Chickens Around a Feeder

A feeder is a container that dispenses food for your chickens. While you could simply scatter feed on the ground or in a shallow bucket, it would create a lot of waste and attract vermin.

Poultry enjoy scratching their food around (and generally making a bit of mess), so a feeder designed for chickens will help decrease feed wastage, helping you keep your coop area clean and tidy.

Advantages – Why Use a Feeder?

Although chicken feeders might seem like an unnecessary piece of equipment for your chickens, there’s a lot of benefits to using them.

Here I’ll be explaining the many advantages of using a feeder for your chickens.

It Can Help Reduce Waste

The biggest benefit of using a feeder for your backyard chicken flock is that it helps reduce waste.

You’re more likely to waste food if you feed your chickens by hand, which not only means you’ll have to purchase feed more frequently, but it also creates more mess that you’ll have to clean up.

Using chicken feeders results in less spillage so your feed will last longer, as well as keep your flock’s environment hygienic.

It Keeps Feed Safe From Pests

Pests and unwanted intruders such as rats, racoons, and even other birds can be a nightmare to deal with when you own chickens.

Your hens’ feed will attract uninvited visitors such as these, especially if you leave it scattered on the ground.

Dealing with rats, mice, weasels, or any other type of critter in a chicken coop is frustrating as it puts your hens and chicks at risk. And those fresh eggs you were hoping for dinner will be long gone!

Protection

Most types of chicken feeders provide a safety net or cover around the food, making it much more difficult for pests to access.

Better yet, choose a hanging, automatic chicken feeder, or similar type of feeder to make it even harder for other animals to steal your flock’s feed.

It Keeps Food Clean

Feeders for a chicken coop are designed to keep your hens’ feed protected from all weather conditions.

This helps your flock’s food stay dry and free of germs, and also means it won’t blow away in windy weather.

Furthermore, chicken feeders stop your flock from standing on their food and soiling it. Before I got a feeder for my flock, this was an unpleasant issue I always had to deal with.

FAQs

How Many Feeders Do I Need?

How many chicken feeders you need for your flock depends on the number of chickens you own.

For smaller flocks, a single feeder should be enough as long as it can hold enough feed.

But for larger flocks, you should use a few medium-sized feeders to ensure each one of your chickens can access food.

Some owners advise that each bird should have at least 5 centimetres of space in a feeder once they’re over 6 weeks old.

Observe Your Flock

it’s best to monitor your flock when they eat to see if you need multiple feeders…

Personally, I think it’s best to monitor your flock when they eat to see if you need multiple feeders.

Some shy hens might be reluctant to feed if there is a lot of activity around the feeder, and some chickens could get a bit aggressive during feeding time.

In either of these cases, you might want to have more than one feeder to ensure each of your hens gets their fair share of food.

Do You Need to Teach a Backyard Chicken How to Use Chicken Feeders?

For galvanized or plastic feeders, your flock should be able to use them without training.

However, if you decide to use automatic or treadle chicken feeders, you may need to teach your chickens how to use them.

Check this video of a man trying to teach his flock to eat from an auto feeder.

Training Chickens to use an Automatic Feeder 🙂

What Size Chicken Coop Feeders Do I Need?

A standard-sized adult hen usually requires between 100 and 150 grams of chicken feed each day. You can select a feeder that will provide a smaller portion of food or one that is big enough to supply your chickens for several days.

Either way, I’d opt for a feeder with a feed capacity of at least 2.5 kg. This will make it much harder for your chickens to knock it over during feeding time or when they’re exploring free range.

How Large a Hole Should Feeders Have?

I’d recommend using a chicken feeder that features a 2-inch size hole to ensure your birds are able to easily use it.

Where Do You Place Feeders?

It’s best to place your feeder outside under some shelter.

Although most feeders will keep your food dry, putting them under cover allows your chickens to eat peacefully in wet or hot weather.

How High to Hang Feeders?

If you have a hanging feeder that works on the gravity principle, I’d recommend mounting it around 4 to 6 inches from the ground (it should be in line with the back of your hen’s neck).

If you have any nipple waterers (I’ve reviewed some here) they should, ideally, be at the same height.

Make sure the feeder can be accessed by all your birds, especially if you own bantam chicken types.

How to Prevent Feeders From Getting Wet From Rain

The best way to avoid your feeder from getting wet in the rain is to place it under shelter or in a dry place.

This might be inside your chicken coop or under a cover in your hens’ free range run.

How to Keep Mice Out of Feeders

Hanging or automatic feeders can be good options for stopping mice accessing your chicken feed as it’s harder for them to get into (or even know how to use!).

Otherwise, make sure you clean away any leftover food on the ground once your chickens return to their coop, and keep your poultry feed in a secure metal bucket.

When Do I Need to Upgrade to a Large Feeder?

If you’re raising chicks, it’s a good idea to use a feeder designed specifically for chicks. Chick feeders have tiny holes so young birds can easily peck at the food, and it helps prevent them from soiling it.

Once your chicks are around 6 weeks old and are ready to be moved to your chicken coop, you can upgrade their feeder to a larger unit.

NOTE

You can use any type of feeder for chicks as long as it holds enough feed, but I personally use hanging types. I find this type of feeder for chicks is more simple to use than some other types.

How to Clean a Feeder

I clean my feeder and waterer around once a week, sometimes more if they have gotten particularly dirty.

To clean your chicken feeder (this also applies for waterers too!), grab some white vinegar or dish soap, water, and a scrub brush.

You can also use a bleach solution of 2 teaspoons of bleach to one gallon of water to eliminate germs and bacteria.

  1. Step 1: Remove any leftover food from the feeder.
  2. Step 2: Add white vinegar or dish soap and let it sit for a couple of minutes, then scrub with a brush to remove any gunk or dirt that has built up.
  3. Step 3: Rinse well with water. The feeder should look and smell a lot fresher.

Final Thoughts

After looking at many different feeders for chickens, I think the top ones overall are the Little Giant Hanging Poultry Feeder, Harris Farms Galvanized Hanging Poultry Feeder, and Rural365 Galvanized Chicken Feeder.

Top Pick

Little Giants Feeder is a good choice if you need a simple but efficient way to feed chicks or small chickens, in addition to being budget friendly.

Hanging Chicken Feeder

The Harris Feeder is a fantastic hanging unit for chickens that’s sturdy, reliable, and easy to use.

Treadle Chicken Feeder

Lastly, the Rural365 Feeder is a solid choice if you need to feed a lot of chickens.

I hope I helped you find the best chicken feeder for your flock. Which feeders are your favorite? Be sure to let me know on our social media platforms, and check out our other guides like this waterer review or this automatic waterer review.

0 Shares:
You May Also Like