Supa Poultry & Bird Feeder

Hens are wasteful eaters. Given an open bowl they will flick as much feed out of it as they swallow, and once it is on the ground it is rat food rather than chicken food. Most of what a decent feeder does is simply refuse to let them do that.

This one is gravity fed: you lift the lid, fill it, and feed drops into the tray as the birds clear it. Inside the tray are integral fins that break up the sideways flicking motion and keep more of the ration where it was put. It holds 6kg of feed, measures approximately 34.5cm wide by 34.5cm deep by 32.5cm high, and it can either sit on the ground or hang. The handle is shaped for carrying a full one, and the base twistlocks off so the whole thing comes apart for cleaning. It is made in the UK.

• Gravity-fed feeder, 6kg feed capacity
• Approximately 34.5cm (W) x 34.5cm (D) x 32.5cm (H)
• Integral fins to cut down on feed being flicked out
• Ground-standing or hanging
• Twistlock base, so it takes apart for cleaning
• Made in the UK

The 6kg is what it holds, not what it weighs. It is the feed capacity on the label, which trips people up when they are comparing feeders on a list. Supa also give no material and no weather rating for it, so if it is going to live outdoors in the open rather than inside a run or a coop, that is a question for them rather than something we can answer. Their own advice is to clean it occasionally with warm water and a mild detergent or a disinfectant solution to stop bacteria building up, and to make sure the birds always have a separate water source.

Who it's for: back-garden hen keepers with a small flock, and anyone keeping game birds who is tired of sweeping up spilt pellets — particularly if you would rather fill a feeder every few days than a bowl every morning.