Auto Feeder

[Redley]

I came across this post and have found a cheaper method! Simply use a cheap drill bit bought from any hardware store ($4.99 in this case) in the same way that you would use the auto-feeder! I'm using a plastic gallon milk carton, just make a hole in the top using a soldering iron or other method and put the drill bit in! Works a charm!

How do you use the drill bit "the same way that you would use the auto-feeder"?. Do you have pics to demo? I just purchased 2 of the auto feeders...I'm downsizing from 20 chickens (waaaaaaaaaaaay to many), glad I'm allowed to make my own decisions on MY chickens and MY chicken coop...finally!!!

 

[aart]

I have been to the site. They offer a package of five for the same shipping as one. I needed to see a picture of the thing in order to justify purchasing one So I am glad someone posted a picture. Because I wont buy something if I can make it. Five would make all the feeders I need for my breed pens.

Your flat bottom idea is spot on too. I have a problem with blowing wind so May put a rubber boot on the bottom The kind used to join two PVC pipes with a Strap clamp. The rubber would seal out capillary action of the water plus having an inch or so over hang will keep water from being blown in.

deb "who was a mechanical designer in a past life"

I too am "...a mechanical designer in a past life" actually I still am, that's not something that just goes away, I just don't get paid for it very often any more!

When I first saw this device I just wanted to get my calipers on it....so got calipers Deb? Did you actually buy some of them?
Care to work up a dimensioned sketch maybe??? or I could draw it and you can get the numbers?

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: LOL..... Actually i can get all I need from the photo. I was one of the first women Tool Designers in San Diego Aerospace once. I have calipers and good steel rule as well as Micrometers and height gauges and dividers.... Can even work a slide rule in a pinch..... LOL.

From the photo I am seeing wire about Nine or ten Gauge. From there you can get the scale for the length of the cross pieces. Nine or ten gauge is around appx 3/16 diameter or .1875 The old fashioned way is to take dividers and set them to the diameter of the wire in the photo then measure the dividers to give you the scale factor. once you get the scale factor you can then use a scale to measure out the length of the parts. Then you multiply the length of the parts by the scale factor and you will get an approximate length I than take that and round up or down to even increments.

So if by doing that process I come up with a figure that is say..... 2.476..... I round it to 2.5. The other way is to take the photo and bring it into a CAD system and blow that photo up to meet the nine or ten gauge diameter. After that its a simple matter of tracing.

But the Manufacturing Engineer in me says..... Get an old Soup spoon flatten it out on a Vise and play with it till it works. ..... and if it doesnt work try a Fork flattened out bend two tines out to mimic the cross members. As an after thought I think a fork would work best.

deb

 

[aart]

Yeah, yeah....so did you make one, buy one?

 

[perchie.girl]

I will make one when I build my next feeders.... I have to have feeders that can hold fifty pounds of feed. The trouble with that is the virtual weight of the feed will stop the action of the dispensing tool. I have a solution but it will involve some time that i dont have right now.


I have other things going on that take priority. My philosphy is if an item costs you say five bucks and even if you can make it for ten cents the amount of time it takes for you to make that item HAS to be worth less than 4.90. The only reason I would over ride that would be if it werent available.

deb

 

[MelissaTXRn]

Hmmm mine is like this..
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...lvanized-garbage-pail-pics/0_40#post_11716508

 

[Rawdy]

QuantumG thats a great idea with the wood bit...

I made one awhile back with an inverted milk jug to give it a grain hopper effect
i cut the bottom out of the milk jug.an then cut about a 5/8" in hole in the plastic cap.
an used couple of tywraps to secure the jug to a piece of wood.
for the bump agitator i used a piece of grounding wire twisted into a ball like
A small cake mixer.the agitator slips thru the hole in the cap an i folded the wire
over an hammered it flat with a large washer on it,for a bumper.

to fill it up. i use a piece of pvc pipe thru the fence as a grain chute.

so i dont have to go into coup.
i had been mixing some crack corn in with there pellets . but rudy the rooster emptyed the bump feeder in short order, ate
all the crack corn an left 6 cups of pellets on the ground . so now i just put pellets in it, an they are i little more behaved.

depending on the feed size you may need to experiment with the size of the hole in the cap
heres a short video of it in action. hope this helps enjoy
God Bless You