Which is the best pheasant and partridge feeder? The Manola or the Midi Feeder? We look at the pros and cons of both these popular outdoor gamebird feeders in this short blog.
The Manola Feeder and the King Feeder are similar in terms of look, capacity and construction but are made by different manufacturers. Most gamekeepers know the Manola better so that is the one we refer to here.
Capacity
The Manola has a capacity of around 22kg or 1 bag of pellets. The Midi feeder has a capacity of around 50kg or 2 bags of pellets.
Putting it together
The Quill Outdoor Midi feeder is just 3 plastic parts which stack together and put together in mere seconds – the tray, tube and top hat. First time construction of a Manola takes a bit longer because as well as the trap, tube and top hat, it is held together with 4 extra parts: a top cross, bottom cross, metal nut and washer and a metal rod.
Versatility
As well as being outdoor feeders, both the Manola and the Midi can be converted to an indoor feeder for rearing poults. For the Midi Feeder, leave off the big top hat and using an extra tray as a lid. For the Manola, you use a special little black indoor hat. Both need to be covered on the top when using them indoors otherwise when the poults start testing their wings, they will end up inside the feeders and you could end up with a pile up of dead birds.
The bottom tray of the Midi Feeder can be used as a chick tray, cutting down the number of specific red chick trays needed.
A unique divider is also available for the Midi Feeder which fits into the tube and allows several different food stuffs or stages of feed to be fed from one feeder. Some game farmers have found this to be extremely useful in helping growing chicks and poults transition through different sizes of feed, for example from crumb to mini pellet buy having both available at the same feeder.
Wastage of pellets
Both feeders can have anti scratch rings bought separately for them as an add-on. The Manola anti waste ring, although it cuts down a little on scratched out pellets, isn’t particularly effective, so we don’t stock it. It is also very prone to being broken. The Midi Feeder Tray has a deeper lip which helps to cut down on pellets being scratched out. If scratching out is particularly bad (such as during the transition from pellet to wheat or maize), a specially designed Midi Feeder Saver Ring can be used. This was developed and designed on a game farm and significantly reduced wasted feed, more so than traditional designed anti scratch rings.
Getting knocked or blown over
Manola feeders are notorious for getting blown over when empty, which could be quite often if you have a lot of birds and not enough feeders or enough time to constantly be filling them. The Manola lids are easily lifted off by even a roe buck looking to eat pellets, an expense few shoots can afford. The Midi Feeder, being larger on all counts, fairs much better against the wind and deer.
Hardwearing
Whilst both are made of hard-wearing plastic, they are made from different types of plastic. In time, the plastic of the Manola feeder becomes brittle much quicker and can be more prone to splits and cracks. Even brand new, if you dropped a Manola feeder you might end up with splits and cracks while the Midi Feeder would just bounce back. With far more little fiddly parts in the Manola, you also have more parts to break or lose (the spacers or crosses can be prone to snapping over time) although Manola spare parts can be bought at a reasonable price.
Sustainability and environmentally friendly
If high eco-credentials are important for the shoot, the Midi feeder can be made from an Eco-Flec plastic which is the same type of plastic as the normal Midi Feeder, just made from high-quality recycled material.
Price
What is cheaper, the Manola or the Midi Feeder? Per unit, the Manola is cheaper but, when you factor in that you need to buy more of them, how often you need to replace broken or split parts, the Midi works out as the longer lasting and more cost-effective buy.
