Automatic Chicken Feeders
An automatic chicken feeder should mean one thing: your hens always have clean, dry feed in front of them without you topping up a bowl every morning. Dine-A-Chook automatic feeders do that with gravity and good design, not batteries, timers or moving parts. Fill the hopper, and feed flows down into the feeding bay as the birds eat. Australian made, and delivery is a flat $22.95 NZ-wide, any size order.
Two sizes of automatic feeder for New Zealand flocks
- Small Automatic Feeder 3.5L: holds about 2.6kg of pellets or mash. Suits lower coops, chicken tractors and small flocks, and works for chicks from around 5 weeks.
- Large Automatic Feeder 4.7L: holds about 3.7kg. The pick for most backyard flocks where the coop has the height for it, because it needs filling less often.
Both come in white, or in red and red base versions of the same feeder. One feeder serves up to 8 hens. For larger flocks, two or more feeders spaced apart keep the bullies from guarding a single bay. For a complete setup, our feeder and drinker kits add a matching automatic drinker.
How often will I need to fill it?
That depends on your flock and what you feed. A laying hen eats roughly 120 to 150 grams of pellets or mash a day, so divide the feeder's capacity by that and by your number of birds. The point of the larger hopper is fewer trips to the coop, and the point of the enclosed design is that the feed you put in is the feed your hens eat, not the feed the sparrows and rats find on the ground.
Why gravity beats gadgets
Timed and electronic feeders have batteries to flatten, motors to fail and openings that jam with damp feed. A gravity feeder has none of that. The Dine-A-Chook design keeps feed moving and keeps it contained:
- Recessed feeding bay: hens eat with their head inside, so raked feed falls back into the feeder rather than onto the ground
- Vertical divider and horizontal paddles: limit the sideways raking and forward flicking that empties an open tray
- Angled rain hood: sheds rain away from the opening, so feed stays dry through a wet winter
- Wall mounted on steel brackets: no swinging, tipping or feet in the feed
Built for the outdoors, made in Australia
Every feeder is moulded from commercial-grade ASA in Brisbane and assembled by hand. ASA is UV-stabilised and certified BPA-free, so it will not fade, crack or yellow in the sun the way cheaper plastics do. The parts click together with no screws, glue or joins to leak, and there is no metal in contact with the feed to rust.
Installation
Brackets and screws are in the box. Mount the feeder vertically on timber, sheet metal or masonry, with the feeding bay level with the back of your hen's neck when she stands naturally. Fitting takes about five minutes. If the feed looks low in the bay once the birds start eating, that is normal: as long as you can push a finger in and move the feed, they can reach it.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a treadle feeder?
No. There is no step plate and nothing that moves. Feed is held back by the shape of the bay and the paddles, not by a lid, so there is nothing to seize up or for a hen to learn.
Which feed should I use in an automatic feeder?
Pellets or a mash flow evenly and give the least waste. Scratch mixes and whole grains encourage birds to hunt for favourites and flick the rest. Do not use molasses-coated or sticky feeds.
Will it keep rodents out of the feed?
It removes most of what attracts them by keeping feed contained and off the ground, and the recessed bay is far harder to reach than an open tray. It is not a sealed barrier, so an existing rodent problem still needs dealing with alongside it.
Do I pay for shipping in New Zealand?
One flat fee: $22.95 per order to any New Zealand address, however many items you order.
Looking at the wider range? See all our chicken feeders, or contact us for help choosing.
An automatic chicken feeder should mean one thing: your hens always have clean, dry feed in front of them without you topping up a bowl every morning. Dine-A-Chook automatic feeders do that with gravity and good design, not batteries, timers or moving parts. Fill the hopper, and feed flows down into the feeding bay as the birds eat. Australian made, and delivery is a flat $22.95 NZ-wide, any size order.
Two sizes of automatic feeder for New Zealand flocks
- Small Automatic Feeder 3.5L: holds about 2.6kg of pellets or mash. Suits lower coops, chicken tractors and small flocks, and works for chicks from around 5 weeks.
- Large Automatic Feeder 4.7L: holds about 3.7kg. The pick for most backyard flocks where the coop has the height for it, because it needs filling less often.
Both come in white, or in red and red base versions of the same feeder. One feeder serves up to 8 hens. For larger flocks, two or more feeders spaced apart keep the bullies from guarding a single bay. For a complete setup, our feeder and drinker kits add a matching automatic drinker.
How often will I need to fill it?
That depends on your flock and what you feed. A laying hen eats roughly 120 to 150 grams of pellets or mash a day, so divide the feeder's capacity by that and by your number of birds. The point of the larger hopper is fewer trips to the coop, and the point of the enclosed design is that the feed you put in is the feed your hens eat, not the feed the sparrows and rats find on the ground.
Why gravity beats gadgets
Timed and electronic feeders have batteries to flatten, motors to fail and openings that jam with damp feed. A gravity feeder has none of that. The Dine-A-Chook design keeps feed moving and keeps it contained:
- Recessed feeding bay: hens eat with their head inside, so raked feed falls back into the feeder rather than onto the ground
- Vertical divider and horizontal paddles: limit the sideways raking and forward flicking that empties an open tray
- Angled rain hood: sheds rain away from the opening, so feed stays dry through a wet winter
- Wall mounted on steel brackets: no swinging, tipping or feet in the feed
Built for the outdoors, made in Australia
Every feeder is moulded from commercial-grade ASA in Brisbane and assembled by hand. ASA is UV-stabilised and certified BPA-free, so it will not fade, crack or yellow in the sun the way cheaper plastics do. The parts click together with no screws, glue or joins to leak, and there is no metal in contact with the feed to rust.
Installation
Brackets and screws are in the box. Mount the feeder vertically on timber, sheet metal or masonry, with the feeding bay level with the back of your hen's neck when she stands naturally. Fitting takes about five minutes. If the feed looks low in the bay once the birds start eating, that is normal: as long as you can push a finger in and move the feed, they can reach it.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a treadle feeder?
No. There is no step plate and nothing that moves. Feed is held back by the shape of the bay and the paddles, not by a lid, so there is nothing to seize up or for a hen to learn.
Which feed should I use in an automatic feeder?
Pellets or a mash flow evenly and give the least waste. Scratch mixes and whole grains encourage birds to hunt for favourites and flick the rest. Do not use molasses-coated or sticky feeds.
Will it keep rodents out of the feed?
It removes most of what attracts them by keeping feed contained and off the ground, and the recessed bay is far harder to reach than an open tray. It is not a sealed barrier, so an existing rodent problem still needs dealing with alongside it.
Do I pay for shipping in New Zealand?
One flat fee: $22.95 per order to any New Zealand address, however many items you order.
Looking at the wider range? See all our chicken feeders, or contact us for help choosing.
