6 Best Screw Conveyors for Chicken Feed

Lugging 50-pound bags of feed from the truck to the bin, then from the bin to the coop in buckets, is a farm chore that never ends. Every spilled handful is money on the ground, attracting pests and wasting resources. A screw conveyor, or auger, automates this process, saving your back, your time, and your feed budget.

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Why a Screw Conveyor Minimizes Feed Spillage

A screw conveyor is essentially a giant screw (the auger flighting) inside a tube. As the screw turns, it pulls feed along the tube from an intake point to a discharge point. It’s a simple, reliable mechanism that has been used for decades.

The real benefit is its enclosed design. Unlike shoveling feed into a wheelbarrow or carrying open buckets, an auger moves feed within a sealed system. This single feature drastically reduces spillage from wind, rain, or a clumsy misstep. Your feed stays clean, dry, and in the system where it belongs.

Furthermore, this containment protects feed quality. An enclosed tube prevents rodents and birds from contaminating your supply, which is a constant battle in any barn. It also means less exposure to moisture, which can lead to moldy, clumped feed that your chickens will refuse to eat and can even make them sick.

Chore-Time FLEX-AUGER: Flexible Feed Delivery

The Chore-Time FLEX-AUGER is a classic for a reason. Its main advantage is the "flex" in its name. The system uses a coreless auger inside a PVC tube, allowing it to bend around corners and navigate obstacles in your barn.

This is a game-changer for permanent installations. You don’t need a perfectly straight line from your feed bin to your coop. You can run the tube up a wall, over a doorway, and around a corner to deliver feed exactly where you need it, without major renovations. It’s designed to be part of an automated feeding system, filling hoppers inside the coop on a schedule.

The tradeoff is a lack of portability. Once a FLEX-AUGER is installed, it’s a permanent piece of infrastructure. It’s the perfect solution if you have a stationary coop and a bulk feed bin, but it’s not the right tool for moving feed between different locations on the farm.

KWS U-Trough Conveyor for Easy Cleanout

Most augers for farm use are fully enclosed tubes, which are great for containment but difficult to clean. The KWS U-Trough conveyor solves this problem with its design. Instead of a sealed tube, it uses a U-shaped trough with a removable cover.

This accessibility is its greatest strength. You can easily lift the cover to inspect the auger, clear out old feed, or wash the entire system down. This is crucial if you ever switch feed types—for example, from a starter crumble to a layer pellet—or if you’re concerned about fines and dust building up and turning moldy.

While highly effective, a U-trough conveyor is generally less flexible than a PVC tube system and is best suited for straight-line transfers. It’s an excellent choice for a central processing area where you might be mixing custom rations or need to ensure absolute cleanliness between batches of feed. It prioritizes hygiene over complex routing.

Farm-Tuff Portable Auger for Mobile Coops

For those of us with chicken tractors or multiple coops scattered across the property, a permanent installation doesn’t make sense. The Farm-Tuff Portable Auger is built for mobility. It’s a straightforward, often shorter auger with a motor on one end and wheels on the other, designed to be moved where it’s needed.

Think of it as a powered shovel. You can use it to unload bulk feed from a truck or wagon into multiple storage bins, or to transfer feed from a main bin into smaller containers for transport to pasture. It’s a tool you actively use for a task, rather than a system that runs automatically.

Its utility comes with a manual component; it doesn’t eliminate the labor, it just makes it faster and easier. You still have to position it and supervise its operation. But for moving hundreds of pounds of feed in minutes without spilling half of it, a portable auger is an invaluable back-saver.

Sudenga V-Series: Vertical Lift for Silos

Most augers are designed to move material horizontally or at a slight incline. But what if your main feed storage is a tall, upright silo? The Sudenga V-Series is a specialized vertical screw conveyor designed to solve exactly that problem.

These augers use a different intake and housing design to lift feed straight up, which is something a standard auger simply cannot do efficiently. They are the bridge between ground-level delivery and elevated storage. If you buy feed in bulk and store it in a proper grain bin, a vertical auger is non-negotiable.

This is obviously a niche application for a hobby farm. Not everyone has a silo. But if you’re scaling up and have the space for bulk storage, understanding that vertical lift requires a specific type of auger is critical for designing a functional system.

GSI Flex-Flo: Consistent Feed Flow Control

Similar to other flexible systems, the GSI Flex-Flo uses a coreless auger in a tube. Its reputation, however, is built on delivering a consistent, reliable feed flow that minimizes feed separation. This is more important than it sounds.

When feed moves, finer particles and heavier pellets can separate, a bit like how the nuts in a mixed jar always seem to end up on top. The Flex-Flo’s design helps pull the entire feed column along evenly, ensuring the ration that arrives at the feeder is the same one you put in the bin. This consistency is key for flock health and performance.

This system is another great choice for a permanent, automated setup. It excels at moving feed over long distances and around multiple bends without jamming or separating. It’s a workhorse built for reliability, ensuring your flock gets a balanced diet with every meal, not just the leftovers.

Val-Co Shaftless Auger for Specialty Feeds

A standard auger has a spiral flighting welded to a solid center pipe. A shaftless auger, like the kind Val-Co offers, is just a heavy-duty spiral with no central core. This simple change has big implications.

The open space in the center makes a shaftless auger much better at moving feeds that are difficult, sticky, or bulky. Think of wet mashes, high-molasses sweet feeds, or rations with large, fibrous ingredients. A standard auger can jam or pack with these materials, but a shaftless design moves them gently and effectively.

It’s also gentler on the feed itself. With no central shaft and hanger bearings, there are fewer pinch points to grind delicate pellets into dust. If you’re paying a premium for a specific pellet or crumble, a shaftless auger helps ensure it arrives at the feeder intact.

Key Factors in Auger Installation and Safety

Choosing the right auger is only half the battle; installing and operating it correctly is just as important. First, pay close attention to the recommended maximum angle. Trying to run a standard auger too steeply will drastically reduce its capacity and overwork the motor.

Second, don’t under-power it. Match the motor horsepower to the length of the auger and the density of the feed. A motor that is constantly straining will burn out quickly, always at the most inconvenient time. It’s better to have a little more power than you need.

Most importantly, augers are incredibly dangerous. Never operate one with the safety guards removed from the intake or other moving parts. Never wear loose clothing, and never, ever put your hand or a tool into the auger while it’s running to clear a jam. Always disconnect the power source completely before performing any maintenance. It only takes a fraction of a second to cause a life-altering injury.

Ultimately, the best screw conveyor is the one that fits your farm’s layout, feed type, and workflow. By moving from manual labor to a simple mechanical system, you’re not just preventing feed waste—you’re investing in efficiency, protecting feed quality, and reclaiming valuable time.