****** DIY chicken feeder pipe! ******

[mat2dong]

Here are some better pictures I took today:

The food gets stuck in the grey bend. I have to bang agianst it to get it to go into the orange part. Now I understand a chicken is supposed to peck at it and it will roll forward for her sisters?
Since the whole feeder part is tilted I thought there would be no problem.


As for the mice - I have 3 dogs and I am allergic to cats so, no. I have traps ( I release them out of town), but I would rather not feed them in the first place.
The sprinklers need to go off - this is my lawn!
I was thinking of something that would cover the feeder, that I could lift up in the morning and cover at night without entering the coop.

The two 90 degree pipes is the problem. You can't have it turn the corner like that...




This is how you can fix it. Make sure it is strait so the feed will flow better as well.



As for the water getting into the feed, you can try and building something like a little roof over the feed area or move your coop out of the way of the water. I can't help you there.

 

[Sondacop]

I see what you mean by having the feeder straight, but because of the coop's design it can't go straight. I was thinking of a plunger, and my neighbor suggested some type of vibrator, because banging and shacking the pipe helps.

As for the water and mice I was thinking of a cover made of the extra pipe (cut open wouldn't it be wider) that I could lift up in the morning and let down at night. It would have to be on a rope so I could pull it up and down from above, from out side.

 

[Sondacop]

Had the pipe, bought the elbow and 2 caps about 6 bucks. Had the wood it is mounted on(dumpster picking) and lags.Will hold about 10 pounds of feed to accompany this next thing. $5 for the bottom pan.

Just looking and the angle of this elbow I can see it is better than mine, maybe I just need a different elbow.

 

[mat2dong]

I see what you mean by having the feeder straight, but because of the coop's design it can't go straight. I was thinking of a plunger, and my neighbor suggested some type of vibrator, because banging and shacking the pipe helps.

As for the water and mice I was thinking of a cover made of the extra pipe (cut open wouldn't it be wider) that I could lift up in the morning and let down at night. It would have to be on a rope so I could pull it up and down from above, from out side.

Sounds good

 

[mat2dong]

Just looking and the angle of this elbow I can see it is better than mine, maybe I just need a different elbow.

This is a 90 degree elbow. I am almost sure that is what you have as well so if you are going to set it up the way you had it with just two new 90 degree elbows and you don't stand the pipe up strait then you will have the same issue.

You need it set up just like this one to work right.

 

[barnaclebob]

I see what you mean by having the feeder straight, but because of the coop's design it can't go straight. I was thinking of a plunger, and my neighbor suggested some type of vibrator, because banging and shacking the pipe helps.

As for the water and mice I was thinking of a cover made of the extra pipe (cut open wouldn't it be wider) that I could lift up in the morning and let down at night. It would have to be on a rope so I could pull it up and down from above, from out side.

For 5 chickens (or even 6-7) you probably only need 3 holes for them to get to the food. The feeder can be zip tied or hose clamped to the hardware cloth if the main weight of the hopper is supported by the frame. Also the feeder tray can just hang in space if you have it built solidly enough. In any case there is no reason for that second bend based on your pictures. Another option is to have the entire vertical portion of the hopper inside the coop and then just use a 45 degree bend or something like that to get an access hole outside to refill it.

The smaller your holes the less food that will be wasted too. I had a chicken that would just sit there and shovel food out eating only 1 out of 10 pellets before i made the hole smaller.

My feeder is something similar to the OP's design but with corrugated drainage pipe hose clamped to the hardware cloth.

Just looked at your pics again... if you angle the feeder tray downwards more (assuming the elbows arent glued) then that might help the feed flow too. In any case a plunger or vibrator is probably going to be more difficult than just building a new feeder that works without any help.

 

[Sondacop]

I bought 2 45 degree angle bend but I won't try to set it up since I filled the tube with food, I am going away for a few days. You are right about the amount of holes, in retrospect 2 would have been enough. As a newbie I knew nothing of chickens and I thought each would need a hole. I didn't expect that they would all want the same hole and chaise each other away, or wait patiently for the alpha to finish. The food they shovel out just lands on the wood beams and they eat it from there too. I might just cut the feeder smaller. I see chickens pecking at the bend to get the food flowing, I will continue observing when I get back. My neighbor has instructions on what to do while I am gone.

 

[barnaclebob]

One more option. Cut holes into the bend for the chickens to get the food. There's no reason you cant have them eat from there.

 

[mat2dong]

One more option.  Cut holes into the bend for the chickens to get the food.  There's no reason you cant have them eat from there.

Well said

 

[mat2dong]

Here is the video I did on the feed pipe if you guys just want to watch that