Make your own - No waste - 5 gallon (25# feed) bucket feeder for about $3

[pegm]

Yes, they look like little blue glasses, but the hen she was picking severly now has a nice fully feathered tail and back. I won't leave them on forever, but will leave them on for 3-4 months to hopefully change her cannibalistic behavior. .....she adjusted to the peepers very quickly, 20 minutes or so, even uses the nipple waterer. And after about 3 days she never looked at the other hens butt again. A member here offered to send me some peepers after blood was drawn. Really a BUNCH of very knowledgeable and helpful folks on this site. Actually, she did look pretty funny to me at first, but she and I have gotten used to it.

 

[McKinneyMike]

I beats her going to the stew pot!

 

[pegm]

Yep, and she's my best layer....so I had to find a better option than that!

 

[Mountain Man 60]

How about a 55 gallon drum with the street elbows? Drums are available for about $10. You could use a funnel to fill thru an existing hole that has screw top and make it water tight.

 

[McKinneyMike]

Not sure if you could get the feed to the extreme edges in a 55 gallon drum, but if you could fabricate a large cone to fix in the bottom middle of the drum, that might ensure that the feed migrates towards the edges much better. Sure could feed a large quantity of birds that way more easily and feed should be reasonably safe from contamination.

 

[TheGeekySheep]

I saw a YouTube video here (I can't find the original post now) of someone who made a giant one of these:

The parts he used are available through this site:

http://www.aquabarrel.com/product_poultry_equipment.php

Pricier than a $3 elbow but maybe less hassle.

 

[jimmywalt]

Not sure if you could get the feed to the extreme edges in a 55 gallon drum, but if you could fabricate a large cone to fix in the bottom middle of the drum, that might ensure that the feed migrates towards the edges much better. Sure could feed a large quantity of birds that way more easily and feed should be reasonably safe from contamination.

People have also expressed concern with just the 5 gallon bucket and the feed getting old around the bottom edge. I counter that by shaking mine a lot when it gets near the bottom as I slowly fill it again. I believe that probably mixes the old and new food enough. Not sure how you would do this with a large drum though.

 

[McKinneyMike]

People have also expressed concern with just the 5 gallon bucket and the feed getting old around the bottom edge. I counter that by shaking mine a lot when it gets near the bottom as I slowly fill it again. I believe that probably mixes the old and new food enough. Not sure how you would do this with a large drum though.

Good point.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: when I used barrels for my horse feed, I would simply up-end it before filling it up again, to make sure we got all the old stuff out...

so unless you're adding new food to old every time, just dump out the leftovers before putting new in...

 

[jimmywalt]

Someone PM'd me about this so I figured I'd bump it back again. I hope this helps some other BYC members. This feeder is PRICELESS and I've had absolutely NO WASTE. Not even one darn pellet!!!!!

Priceless!!!!!