end walls 42 with the opposite ends of the gates 48 terminating closely adjacent end walls 42 a small clearance remains necessary between the ends of the gates 48 and the end walls 42 so that the gates 48 may pivot freely in their described adjusted positions the gate 48 which functions to regulate the amount of food into the trough is shown as a flat rectangular plate it is envisioned that gate 48 can take the form of other shapes such as circular or conical another element of the prior art feeder 40 is the feed drop tube holder indicated generally at 60 as shown in fig1 the feed drop tube holder 60 is a generally flat rectangular structure having a circular opening 60 a in the center thereof holder 60 includes a plurality of tabs 60 b integrally formed on opposite ends thereof at predetermined intervals tabs 60 b are adapted to engage a plurality of cooperating slots 61 which are disposed about the upper peripheral edges of side walls 41 at regular intervals one of the principle advantages of the feed drop tube holder 60 is that it does not require brackets for additional hardware to install holder 60 is manufactured to an overall length.