Advice for a newbie on raising robot chickens....automated food and water strategies for 2 week abse

[offthegridAK]

Hello folks, thank you for the wealth of advice already posted to this site!! I work a rotational schedule - 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, and am interested in raising perhaps a dozen meat birds at my home in Chugiak, Alaska this summer. Any help would be unreliable and I would like to set up some sort of automated system to feed and water the birds while away at work. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of operation? I would prefer to keep the environment as non-industrial as possible, I'm not looking to duplicate Tyson-style operations on a small scale. Any and all advice from specific mechanisms to thoughts on feasability would be appreciated.

Thanks!

ZinAK

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have a 55 gallon drum with drinking cup waterers.
http://www.strombergschickens.com/prod_detail_list/automatic-drinker-cup-system
It lasts a long time. Stops working below freezing.
I have feeders I made out of 4" pvc that hold about 20 lbs of feed, I have one in each coop and it lasts about a week for up to 8 birds.
You could make several. Keep in mind that the meaties will eat and drink about twice as much as other birds.
There are also range feeders that hold up to 300 lbs. of feed.

My biggest worry is that the water containers would get filled with debris over the course of 2 weeks.
Perhaps you could get someone to come by every 2 or 3 days to make sure the water is clear.
Nipple waterers are another option.