I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I started Revolutionary Chicken because I was being cheap.
I had one of those steel trough hanging feeders, and I swear my chickens were wasting more feed than they were eating.
So I went to the fount of all DIY knowledge (YouTube) and searched up “DIY no waste chicken feeder.”
And so began my quest.
I built a feeder. Tested it. Found a flaw. Built another. Tested again. Found a way to improve it. Over and over and over, for years. Somewhere along the way, I stopped trying to save money and became completely committed to building the best chicken feeder I could—no matter the cost.
these are not the same chicken feeder ports!
If you’ve shopped for feeder ports on Amazon, you’ve seen the popular style: a smallish port with about a 1-inch hood that screws into a hole in the side of a bucket.
When I tell chicken keepers about Revolutionary Chicken feeders, I hear a version of this all the time: “Oh, I already have a feeder like that.”
What they mean is: they already have a bucket or barrel with the generic small ports. And I get it—the generic ports are everywhere, and they are alluring. They’re dirt cheap and easy to install: drill holes, screw them in, done. But the rock-bottom priced ports create more problems for chicken keepers than they solve.
The 3 Problems small chicken Feeder Ports Create
Below are the three biggest issues I keep seeing (and the three problems my designs focused on solving). I’ll keep this short here—and then I’ll link to deeper posts and tests if you want the full nerdy details.
Problem #1: Feed Waste
This is the big one.
With these small ports, the feed sits very close to the opening. Chickens are enthusiastic eaters…and messy ones. As they peck and fling, feed spills out. And if you’ve ever seen a pile of feed underneath a feeder, you know what that means:
That’s money on the ground.
Cheap ports are inexpensive to buy — but expensive to use.
I designed Revolutionary Chicken feeder ports to reduce waste in two ways:
First, the feed sits farther away from where the chickens put their heads in. They have to reach a bit, which makes it physically harder to spill feed out onto the ground.
Second, the port includes a lip on the outside edge that helps keep feed from spilling out.
In a test pitting the Revolutionary feeder port against a small, generic port, Revolutionary Chicken ports wasted 12X less feed.
See more detail about the tests.
Problem #2: mice
Wasted feed isn’t just wasted money. It’s also an invitation.
Feed on the ground can turn into a mouse problem fast—and mice bring a whole list of issues chicken keepers don’t want.
Because Revolutionary Chicken ports dramatically reduce spilled feed, there’s less of a draw for mice in the first place.
But I also wanted to know something specific: can mice get inside the feeder through the ports?
So I ran two tests:
See more about the tests and the surprising results here.
Problem #3: Rain Getting in the Feed
Most generic ports rely on a simple hood that sticks out about 1 inch to block rain.
That might be fine for light showers.
But if you deal with real weather—wind, sideways rain, or heavy downpours—those short hoods often don’t cut it.
Water gets in, feed clumps, mold becomes a risk, and now you’re throwing away even more money.
Revolutionary Chicken feeder ports use a three-layer defense system to keep feed dry.
Learn how the rain-proof design works → here.
Engineered Through Real-World Testing
Revolutionary Chicken feeder ports aren’t just another bucket attachment.
They’re engineered—through real-world testing with real chickens, in real weather, against real pests—to do three things well:
1. Reduce feed waste dramatically
2. Discourage mice and keep them out
3. Keep feed dry and protected
Cheap generic ports are tempting because they’re dirt cheap up front. But if you’re tired of finding a ton of feed in the dirt, dealing with pests, or tossing soggy feed after storms, a feeder that actually protects your feed more than pays for itself.
Want the exact setup I use? Here are the Revolutionary Chicken feeder ports and the full feeder options. Either way, I hope this was helpful!