Choosing poultry drinkers and feeders isn’t the hardest decision a chicken keeper will have to make but it’s worth bearing in mind the following information:
See also:
Keeping Chickens Comfortable in Hot Weather
Chicken Housing
FEEDERS
Both wall-mounted and free standing feeders available for the back garden poultry keeper in either galvanised or plastic material. Many of the considerations needed will be shared by your choice of drinker; easy to clean, stable, durability and size. You have to also be aware that the feed will be a vermin magnet so you have to take all precautions necessary to deter them. Mice and rats are a big problem. Rats are a major health risk plus you don’t want to upset any neighbours who may be a bit ‘challenged’ shall we say, about chickens in an urban setting.
WALL MOUNTED FEEDERS
BECS Wise Mountable Feeder is ideal for every type of poultry and game – as long as you have a suitable ‘wall’ or ‘net’ to mount it on. It can go on a fence post, coop wall, tree or any wire mesh or cage wire and the feeder comes with brackets and hooks so that it can be easily removed for cleaning. Available in grey or green it is designed so that it takes all types of feed and prevents vermin – and rain – getting into the feed.
The Wise Mountable Feeder
STANDARD FEEDER
The standard feeder ticks most of the boxes for the average back garden poultry keeper but has to be removed or covered at the end of the day to reduce the risk of vermin.
The standard feeder
DRINKERS
Poultry drinkers are two a penny and you are spoiled for choice, although when it comes to it the choice is actually limited, for drinkers anyway, to just the material, plastic or galvanised being the main ones available. The galvanised ones tend to be on the large side making them great for commercial operations but over the top for the average back garden set up. The plastic ones are smaller and obviously cheaper. Buying a drinker isn’t one of the major decisions facing the poultry keeper but it’s useful to be mindful of the following:
EASY TO CLEAN
Make sure that there are no hard to get to rims where the nasty green algae can collect. Little nooks are yet another place which red mite feels at home in – particularly around the legs if your drinker has them. It is essential for your chickens health and well being that you keep the water fresh and clean and change daily if possible, certainly in the summer when the water is a magnet for the nasty algae stuff. It is also your duty, as poultry owner, that you make sure your chickens have access to water at all times.
WILL IT BE STABLE
All it takes is a chicken to flap it’s wings and your drinker will be over – with possible tragic consequences on a very hot day and you are out, unaware that their only source of water has trickled away. Make sure that the drinker can stand on the ground without tipping over.
DURABILITY
The smaller drinkers are not a huge outlay – even so you don’t want to have to shell out for another one within 12 months. I have heard that you should replace your drinker every 12 months. I’m not convinced by this. If you’ve bought wisely to begin and include your drinker in a strict hygiene regime it should last far longer than this. Do check regularly for cracks.
SIZE
Make sure that your drinker will hold sufficient water to keep you flock adequately supplied on the hottest of days? Also make sure that your chickens can drink out of it comfortably. If you have bantams and chicks then smaller sizes are necessary.
THIS IS A SPONSORED POST
This is a sponsored post sponsored by BEC. BEC, originally known as the Broiler Equipment Company, is a great British success, and is credited with developing the very first round plastic drinkers with which we are all so familiar today. Formed over 50 years ago, the company has developed an enviable reputation for reliability and imaginative solutions with poultry keepers of all sizes the world over. The company became a part of Osprey Ltd., another British company and a world leader in plastic injection moulding, in 2004, a development which has enabled the company to extend and develop its range of products while keeping its design and the vast majority of all its manufacturing processes here in the United Kingdom. Today all game and poultry rearing equipment production is carried out to audited procedures, ensuring reliable, quality products, alongside a wide range of items for everything from vacuum cleaners to the deep sea fishing industry and fish farming. In addition to drinkers and feeders the company now also manufactures plastic nest boxes and egg trays, together with a vast range of spare parts for its product ranges, increasing the longevity of its product range for both the hobby keeper and the commercial producer. All materials used in the company’s products are also Food and Drug Administration approved and European food contact compliant – reassuring in these times of increased biosecurity, traceability and environmental concern.
Visit www.bec.uk.com to find out more about this great British success and its innovative solutions for the poultry sector.
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