I am coming up to a week long vacation, and while I LOVE my man I'm not sure he's too tickled about feeding the flock while I am away. I had a HUGE problem with rodents (and a wonderful Possum) this summer in my coop (and them under my house) and this combined with my use of Agrid3 (amazon.com--it's a non secondary kill rat and mouse bait--if you have cats, dogs, wildlife I highly recommend it. We have a mouser and hawks and it will not hurt them if they eat a mouse/rat that has died from the bait) I am now vermin free.
I've done a lot of research and looked at pre-made products and finally went on a trip to lowes to see if I could find similar items. I would have purchased pre-made (which would have been more with international shipping) but I don't have time for them to get here.
I also own a spring style feeder which does well but was pretty pricey and I had to get it shipped from Australia.
You can add these to ANY SIZE bucket or tub. Watertight top is needed to keep feed from spoilage, and I tend to use food grade everything. You can find larger buckets on craigslist for cheap (blue is typically food grade) and I will be doing the same thing to a 13 gallon one I bought very soon. Remember your WEIGHT when you are doing this. A 5 Gallon bucket can hold about 35-40 lbs of feed depending on what you are using. Mine supports it just fine, but the larger the bucket the heavier you will be going---to a point I would recommend making a stand alone platform.
I have 40 chicken on 2 buckets now and it lasts me 4-5 days. You can also place a metal pan/lid/bowl under the bucket to keep it from going in the dirt but honestly my chickens just eat it all up without.
For the holes start SMALLER if you use smaller feed 1/2 drill bit. Then go larger if needed. I needed a 5/8 in the end for larger pellets and corn. You only want a few pellets to fall at a time. They will work for it.
Materials:
Drill/high power screwdriver
1/2"-5/8" Drill bits
5 gallon food safe bucket (TSC is where I got mine cheap!) with LID or a sealing bucket or container.
E6000 or some type of metal glue.
Professional Faucet Reseater Kit (Lowes is where I purchased mine)
(depending on how you mount these it might be a few $ more, direct hang vs. side mount hang)
Total Cost (If you already have the tools and glue)
5 Gallon bucket: 3.99
Lid: 1.89
Professional Faucet Reseater Kit: 8.89
Total:
14.77 plus tax.
On to the Photos!
Materials:
Bucket:
This is what you need out of kit:
Glue on the handle make sure you push the glue through, set aside and let dry:
Drill bottom of bucket with SLOW EVEN PRESSURE (or it will crack) Start at 1/2" then move up if you notice not enough food falling out.
Place DRIED trigger inside:
Screw on nut, then gasket, then LARGEST drill tip from package. (you do NOT have to use gasket, it will just make a larger target if you are just starting, it also adds more weight) THIS IS IMPORTANT to add the weight at the end to make it return to center after pecked.
You can paint the white gasket end RED if you'd like to get them interested quicker---mine are used to gravity feeders already and went right to it.
I'll add more photos as they use it. Expect it to take a few days. You may need to "teach" them to use it by swinging it when they are near. Typically once a few learn, they all will.
Hope that helps anyone wanting to try a new way of feeding your chickens!! Now if I could get a direct line for eggs to the house I would only have to mess with cleaning! I definitely enjoy my chickens more without having to lug food out everyday.
I also use top refillable 3 gallon buckets with nipples and heat tape for the winter for my water source and my back is so thankful and happier!
I've done a lot of research and looked at pre-made products and finally went on a trip to lowes to see if I could find similar items. I would have purchased pre-made (which would have been more with international shipping) but I don't have time for them to get here.
I also own a spring style feeder which does well but was pretty pricey and I had to get it shipped from Australia.
You can add these to ANY SIZE bucket or tub. Watertight top is needed to keep feed from spoilage, and I tend to use food grade everything. You can find larger buckets on craigslist for cheap (blue is typically food grade) and I will be doing the same thing to a 13 gallon one I bought very soon. Remember your WEIGHT when you are doing this. A 5 Gallon bucket can hold about 35-40 lbs of feed depending on what you are using. Mine supports it just fine, but the larger the bucket the heavier you will be going---to a point I would recommend making a stand alone platform.
I have 40 chicken on 2 buckets now and it lasts me 4-5 days. You can also place a metal pan/lid/bowl under the bucket to keep it from going in the dirt but honestly my chickens just eat it all up without.
For the holes start SMALLER if you use smaller feed 1/2 drill bit. Then go larger if needed. I needed a 5/8 in the end for larger pellets and corn. You only want a few pellets to fall at a time. They will work for it.
Materials:
Drill/high power screwdriver
1/2"-5/8" Drill bits
5 gallon food safe bucket (TSC is where I got mine cheap!) with LID or a sealing bucket or container.
E6000 or some type of metal glue.
Professional Faucet Reseater Kit (Lowes is where I purchased mine)
(depending on how you mount these it might be a few $ more, direct hang vs. side mount hang)
Total Cost (If you already have the tools and glue)
5 Gallon bucket: 3.99
Lid: 1.89
Professional Faucet Reseater Kit: 8.89
Total:
14.77 plus tax.
On to the Photos!
Materials:
Bucket:
This is what you need out of kit:
Glue on the handle make sure you push the glue through, set aside and let dry:
Drill bottom of bucket with SLOW EVEN PRESSURE (or it will crack) Start at 1/2" then move up if you notice not enough food falling out.
Place DRIED trigger inside:
Screw on nut, then gasket, then LARGEST drill tip from package. (you do NOT have to use gasket, it will just make a larger target if you are just starting, it also adds more weight) THIS IS IMPORTANT to add the weight at the end to make it return to center after pecked.
You can paint the white gasket end RED if you'd like to get them interested quicker---mine are used to gravity feeders already and went right to it.
I'll add more photos as they use it. Expect it to take a few days. You may need to "teach" them to use it by swinging it when they are near. Typically once a few learn, they all will.
Hope that helps anyone wanting to try a new way of feeding your chickens!! Now if I could get a direct line for eggs to the house I would only have to mess with cleaning! I definitely enjoy my chickens more without having to lug food out everyday.
I also use top refillable 3 gallon buckets with nipples and heat tape for the winter for my water source and my back is so thankful and happier!
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