There’s a power struggle happening in the chicken feeder business between two emerging chicken feeder backyard manufacturing “giants” called Royal Rooster and Dine-a-Chook. Both chicken feeder manufacturers have a large presence on eBay because there’s no better place to test out a home-made idea or invention and see if a market can be created.
If you go to the chicken feeder section on eBay (AU) you’ll see why I call them feeder manufacturing giants because the products of Royal Rooster and Dine-a-Chook dominate the listings. It wasn’t always like this though, only a few years back their products were virtually unknown and amongst all the generic chicken feeders were scattered prototypes of home-made PVC feeders trying to get noticed.
So now the eBay chicken or poultry feeder listings are a sparring match between these two sellers with their main product line being chicken feeders made from PVC piping and attachments. Both manufacturers sell a similar type tube feeder (but different) with the Royal Rooster design having a divided feed platform and the Dine-a-Chook going with a deep recess.
As far as performance goes (with respect to these feeders) I don’t see a big difference as both designs of tube feeders have tried to negate the common problem of chickens dragging feed out of the feeder onto the ground and making a mess. Overall, both do a reasonable job of keeping the feed in the feeder and not all over the ground but all feeders will spill some feed.
What’s amazing about these PVC feeders (both brands) is the versatility and ease of use for chicken owners. Honestly, I wish I would have thought of the idea of a PVC feeder but then again I’m not that creative and certainly not very handy with plumbing materials, which is essentially what these feeders are made form. Actually, I’m pretty sure the guy behind Dine-a-Chook is a plumber by trade so his familiarity with these building materials would have obviously helped with his design.
Back to the designs of the feeders, I’ve found them easy to set up and mount anywhere from a wall to a post inside or out in the weather. These feeders are easy to fill and take a good amount of feed (depending on the size of the feeder) so time between refills is required less often. Chickens like using the feeders and rats or other rodents can’t get to the grain. Overall, these PVC feeders are well made, work as they say, and are excellent inventions.
I may be wrong here but from my following over the past few years it seems both Royal Rooster and Dine-a-Chook started their online eBay trade with the humble chicken feeder – it sure looked like it from my observations. However, these days they have expanded their shops on eBay and their own websites into many other products – several of which I am now using myself (well, my chickens are).
Royal Rooster has branched out into other drinker set-ups, chicken coops, and laying boxes. Dine-a-Chook has drinkers (called We
t-a-Chook) and pressure drinker kits to run of mains, plus a whole range of different sized feeders and drinkers for almost any need, and they even sell aviaries.
I don’t know if one chicken feeder manufacturer will eventually win out over the other – personally, I hope there’s always room for both on eBay and online generally because they both make quality products, have good reputations, and you can’t go wrong with either for your poultry needs.
If you are looking to buy a chicken feeder or other related products be sure to check out Royal Rooster and Dine-a-Chook on eBay even if it’s just for a sticky beak to see what clever things can be made from common plumbing materials!
It seems what started from backyard tinkering has turned into a business so well done and good luck to them…
Mark Valencia – Editor SSM
Look, and see the Earth through her eyes…
