Trigger Happy Feeder

Trigger Happy Feeder

Trigger Happy Feeder

$10  on their website     $7.00 shipping

A very simple product, basically a bolt with a T head welded on it with a plastic  blob on the end.  You drill a 7/8″ hole in a bucket, drop the bolt in, and add the plastic end that the chickens peck on to move the bolt around.  That allows some feed to leak through the oversized hole.

Or you can make your own if you are handy and can weld a short rod across the top of a bolt.  Others have used faucet re-seaters that can be purchased for under $10.00.

Pros and Cons

• It is certainly cheap to purchase
  
• Pretty bullet proof once you have it adjusted right
  
• Wild birds and mice quickly learn to bump the trigger to steal feed
  
• Scatters feed, worse on a windy day
  
• Nothing to stop wild birds and mice from eating with the chickens
  
• Spilled feed will attract mice, rats, and wild birds
  
• Such a small amount of feed comes out that it can really cause a drop in egg production unless you hang multiple units
  
• Requires hanging and wind can cause a non stop flow of feed unless you use guy wires
  

Well you get what you pay for and kudos for the people that figured this out on the cheap but it leaves a lot to be desired as a chicken feeder.

And yes, mice quickly figure out how to use the trigger.  Watch this video of a small mouse leaping up to get some dinner.   

 Needless to say we would give a poor rating for this feeder other than as a last resort if you were too poor or too cheap to purchase a good treadle feeder.