Automatic feeder!

[lilylittlerock]

First time I've heard about this feeder, I think it's fantastic! I'm having trouble with rodents eating the chicken food, day time and night time.....pack rats, kangaroo rats,chipmonks, mice and worse of all GROUND SQUIRRELS!!! I just got one of those automatic feeders where the chickens step on the platform and the lid lifts up, my chickens thinks its a trap to kills chickens, I stood off watching them and what do you think I saw setting on the platform chowing down? ....a ground squirrel!! For the chickens I tried setting a rock on the platform to hold the lid open so they would know that's where the food is and the box won't hurt them but their still afraid of it when the lid goes up. I am now going to ebay to check out this other feeder.

 

[we3chickens]

Quote:
Must be leaking in somewhere, I made mine out of PVC pipe and it's now been through it's first official "tropical storm" with four days of sideways wind/rain and absolutely no issues. It is exposed to the elements on all sides. Top is closed with a standard pipe cap.

I've recently installed a little bowl under it, TSC ran out of pellets so put crumble in it - worked like a charm. My roo likes to be manly and peck the trigger/call the ladies. Quite the gentleman.

Can you tell me how to make this? I am really interested and dont have alot of money to be buying alot of things. I couldnt find anything like this on ebay but what I did find I cant afford. Need to try to figure out how to make one at home on a low budget. This is so awesome!

 

[Redley]

Quote:
Must be leaking in somewhere, I made mine out of PVC pipe and it's now been through it's first official "tropical storm" with four days of sideways wind/rain and absolutely no issues. It is exposed to the elements on all sides. Top is closed with a standard pipe cap.

I've recently installed a little bowl under it, TSC ran out of pellets so put crumble in it - worked like a charm. My roo likes to be manly and peck the trigger/call the ladies. Quite the gentleman.

I too am getting one of these pull chains. I like the PVC idea...gives the girls a little more room to move around under the feeder. Can you tell us how you installed it inside the PVC pipe?

 

[Spoof]

Quote: It isn't a chain, it is a trigger.

There are more detailed pictures here -> https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/485925/auto-feeder/30#post_7255328 . It is still in use, only had water get into it once and had to wash it out with a hose.

They do let you know when it is empty and put up quite a fuss.

 

[canesisters]

I have one installed in a metal trash can. It holds about 75-80lbs of feed (pellets) and has never had moisture problems. It's been sitting on stacked blocks for several months, but I'm planning to mount it on a small table so that it will be more stable and (when empty) easy to move.
It took them about a week to learn to use it. The newer birds pick it right up.


This is from right after they started using it - the mess is from me putting feed in the bowl to attract them when they were first learning.


The trigger sticking out of the bottom of the can - I painted it red (nail polish) to help get their attention.

 

[fhstowe]

It's been a while since the last post here so I'm wondering whether anyone is making these in the U.S. now. I can't tell for sure but it looks as though most people here are using the one made in Ireland (Trigger Happy Chickens); there's another one (Nosloc) made in Australia. Both ship only from those countries. Am I missing anything?

 

[eryan7]

I just got mine from Ireland. So far I am not sure if the chickens are using it. They look at it and we have shown them but not sure. I think we are going to put some food on the trigger to attract them. Although they haven't had it but ~24 hrs. Hopefully we will be successful today! I don't know of any in the US though.

 

[eryan7]

Just an update...Our birds started using the trigger feeder very soon after the above post. We put peanut butter and some feed on it and that did the trick! So far this product from Trigger Happy Chickens has been great!! It is awesome when someone has to take care of the chickens in our absence. We have it on a 5 gallon bucket so the are good for quite some time. I highly recommend it!

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I've also been using one of these for over a year now and LOVE it. For my 8 birds a 5gal pail lasts 2weeks, so we can go away without worrying about them being fed.

One modification I made was to suspend the 'feed tray" from the bottom of the bucket. This reduced the waste that occured when they walked on the feed tray and tracked dirt/poop/straw into the feed. Now they can't walk on it, they can only hit the trigger and eat what falls.

Funny part, when first installed the hens took to it right away. This summer we added a rooster to the flock and it took him several weeks to figure out how to get more food to drop. He would just wait for one of the hens to finish at it then he would run over and clean up the leftovers. Every once in a while his head/neck/back would bump the trigger as he tried to reach across to eat something on the other side causing more food for him to drop. But now he's using it and I love it

Totally recommended to anyone that wants a waste free auto feeder. With a suspended feed tray the food not eaten stays clean and dry till the next bird comes by to eat from it.

The only problem with a large container is the food will form an upside down cone as it gets low so there will still be quite a bit of food left but it doesn't fall out unless you level it out now and then. Looks like the PCV models would not have this problem, but I can see through the sides to tell when it's getting low where I could not do that with pvc.

 

[Spoof]

Quote: Yes, it is called a 1" wood drill bit.

If you like the ball on the end you can get some molding clay (fimo?) and make a lump on the end. I picked several old bits up for free and they have the same action. I lost one of the originals from Ireland and the second one has rusted at the weld joint but is still going strong.