The waste! Oh the wasted feed...

[kate2008]

This is brilliant! I have this same feeder and was feeling reluctant to build something new despite the waste. I went right out and added a duct tape lip to my feeder and now - no waste!

 

[larissap112]

This is brilliant! I have this same feeder and was feeling reluctant to build something new despite the waste. I went right out and added a duct tape lip to my feeder and now - no waste!

Glad to hear it worked for you!

Another hint - before I put in the food, I used a little epoxy to hold the top to the bottom part. It comes apart way too easily.

 

[RonP]

Many are big fans of PVC feeders, no waste.

I posted this on another thread:

2014 started off badly for me health wise, in and out of the hospital, sometimes for days straight.

Flock had enough supplies to last a week without maintenance, thought they would be fine, and they always were, except once, when I was confined for 9 days straight unexpectedly.

Had to have my daughter travel 2 hours just to feed my birds...

With all my down time, I came up with this idea for an extended indoor feeding station.

Mind you, the flock spends their waking time, and eats, 90% outdoors, in an enclosed secure run.
I feed them fermented feed whenever possible...

I built this mostly for peace of mind, and as a backup.



Three stations, 3" PVC pipes with Y fitting. Concrete 16" paver block for nail and beak maintenance. It is sitting on 2 8" cinder blocks, I use deep litter.




Middle station is for feed. Picture shows the reserve, a 5 gallon reused water bottle with the funnel, a cutoff of another 5 gallon water bottle for extra reserve. It will easily hold 30+ pounds. It probably will last well over a month, if used exclusively. This reserve empties straight down into the middle feeder.



Above shows the 3 stations. Far left holds Grit, middle holds Feed, far right holds Crushed Oyster shells. Far left and right are capped. 2 foot pipe probably holds over a years supply of grit and oyster shell.



Another picture of the feed reserve, I'm pretty sure I put close to 40 pounds in there.
The reserve just sits in place, no nails or glue.
Everything can come apart easily if needed.

I have since added 2" extenders on each of the outlets. NO WASTED FOOD.




Just thought I would share in case someone else needed ideas.

 

[SpaceCowboyT48]

Apologies Napa, I think what you're calling a gutter, I'm calling 'The Bowl', so it took me awhile to imagine what you were querying about:




Pieces of 2x3 board on top of the plank wood floor. Why planks of wood and 2x3s? Because that was the scrap left behind after the last project. Anything will do. I have to measure the space some time between the pillars and the base of the feeder, and maybe the base of the feeder to the edges of the bowl. It seems to be an unintended sweet spot, where the hens can easily get to the food, but they can't get in and defecate in the feed that's in the bowl. I've got some Black Austrolorp pullets that still seem to manage, but not nearly as bad as it could be.

 

[tomynoks]

edit delete

 

[Data]

This...is the holy grail of spill free feeders. THANK YOU.

I built one like this for my first flock with crumbles, then layer pellets. Cheap and works great, no waste easy to adjust the the ideal height as they grew. The handle broke loose and I set it on top of an inverted bucket. It's been 7 years and I started a new flock. The old bucket now had a hole in its side and I needed two heights and feeds for the old and new girls, so I built two new ones from cat litter buckets using the original elbows. Each one doesn't hold as much as the 5 gallon bucket but more combined and the tilt forward helps get the last little bit of feed to the girls if I'm remiss in refilling them.

 

[Suzz]

I havethe same feeder sitting on a little stool minimal waste sounds like you have a game of chicken tetherball going on there!

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

I don't use feeders anymore due to the freeloaders (squirrels & birds) eating most of it..... so I just feed them in the morning by tossing in their feed, and later in the afternoon. Save me a ton of money. I'm sure the squirrels and birds hate my guts for that but oh wells.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I have the same feeder and use pellets. There isn't much waste at all. I know the pellets look pretty blah to us, but they are really just a larger form of what the crumbles are made of. It's generally the same feed, just different form. It might be worth a shot to try the pellets.

 

[Data]

I don't use feeders anymore due to the freeloaders (squirrels & birds) eating most of it..... so I just feed them in the morning by tossing in their feed, and later in the afternoon. Save me a ton of money. I'm sure the squirrels and birds hate my guts for that but oh wells.

My flock would be long dead if they had to rely on me feeding them by hand. I have enough trouble keeping the automatic feeder and watering systems from going empty.

I have seen no sign of either wild birds or squirrels getting into the hanging feeders inside my fully enclosed run. Mice could get into them if they were on the ground, but I can't see them getting into them hanging from the rafters. If the occasional small bird gets through the chicken wire, power to them.