self-feeder

[ self-fee-der, self- ]

noun

1. an apparatus or machine that automatically discharges a supply of some material, especially one consisting of a hopper and a trough for feeding livestock.

self-feeder

noun

1. any machine or device capable of automatically supplying materials when and where they are needed, esp one for making measured quantities of food constantly available to farm livestock

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-feeder¹

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

“You never have to use a shovel for coal. It’s a self-feeder. Look, see?”

From Literature

It is a self-feeder, and requires only a man and two boys to guide its operations.

From Project Gutenberg

We left ours open between the poles as a self-feeder through which Pinto could eat hay without any work or responsibility on our part.

From Project Gutenberg

The self-feeder may be used all through the life of the hog, beginning when the pigs are still nursing and continuing until they reach market weight.

From Project Gutenberg

The latter, I incline to think; for come-back needs no facts, it is a self-feeder, and its entire absence in the anti-Englishman looks as if he had been a German.

From Project Gutenberg