feeders and drinkers....what size???!

Hiya, I'm getting some hens soon, 3 of them but am unsure what size feeder and drinker to get, i've seen them range from 3kg to 20 something kg, and so I thought before going out and buying one that is too small or too big i'd better ask people who know!...a little help please  :roll:

Better to get a feeder the right size and keep filling it up regularly than to get one too big and find your food going stale/mouldy.  The other thing to watch is how weather proof it is, unless you are able to keep it in their house; I made a mistake and got one that I think was designed for indoor birds, it has a tiny little hole in the top but with the torrential rain we've had recently let in lots of water - turned the pellets into a soggy mess very quickly  :?

General advice seems to be to allow 150g-180g of food per hen per day, and around 250ml of water per hen per day (more if it's really hot obviously).

I'll let Rob do the maths from that lot, though  

You'll also need something to hold their grit/oyster shell; though after lots of trial and error (trying not to spend too much money all at once  :shock: ) I'm finding a flower pot working really well  

I was thinking of a cat litter tray or something similar and maybe burying it so its level with the grass, would this be an ok plan or would it be better to just get something like a flower pot?

I started with a dog bowl which didn't get knocked over but did get full of bark chippings/soil/whatever else they happened to be scratching around (they are the MESSIEST eaters ever   ).  More to the point though it didn't drain - so every time it rained the grit disappeared under an inch of water  :roll:

The flower pot is working well because the small hole at the bottom gives it drainage and I've been able to put it deep enough in the ground for it not to be knocked over but leaving it high enough up that they don't kick quite so much stuff into it  

I'm not going to expand from anymore than 3 hens, my garden couldnt take it! It's already got to hold 3 children a resident giant rabbit, and also foster rabbits too, so unfortunatly 3 is the magic number!
So a 3kg feeded will be fine for them then

One of the special benefits of membership of the forum is that, along with your username and your photo album, you also get a special expandable garden for all the extra chickens/ducks/peafowl/turkeys that are heading your way right now

Welcome, by the way