Basics??

[doubleatraining]

I'm starting construction on my chicken tractor this week. I plan on buying 2 standard hens and 1 bantam hen. I'm going to have the food/water mounted to a door in the center of the coop(covered). I really want to make my own containers that are easy to remove/clean. Besides water...how many feed containers do I need? I was planning on getting a chicken feed and offering it 24/7 but I see so many other options, scratch, oysters, etc. What do I really need for my girls?

I'm planning on building a dusting box and offering DE for my girls to bathe in.

 

[ChickiKat]

you will only need one food bin, and dependant on where you are, you may need to get a heated waterer...... have fun!

 

[doubleatraining]

So the Tractor Supply bag of chicken feed is all I will need?

Whats the best way to make a container?

Chickikiat, I'm planning on adding a heater/light for the winter.

 

[chicken_noob]

Im not sure about making a custom feeder, but something I did with my brooder feeder was drill a hole in the top, cut a round hole in the hardware above the feeder, then took a long funnel (auto parts store) now I can fill the feeder without having to pull out the feeder. When done you can drop a tennis ball in the funnel to "seal" it. Just my 2cents.

 

[dsqard]

Similar idea to what chicken_noob was describing. You won't need a heater for your coop in the winter IMO.

 

[doubleatraining]

OOOOH I like those feeders....is that just PVC? How did you hang them? Are they easy to remove?

 

[dsqard]

Yes made out of PVC. I actually wound up getting larger bottoms for them so that the food could come down easier and the chickens could get at it easier. I found the bottom needs to be two inches bigger in diameter than the pipe. To hang them I just drilled two holes in the back towards the top of the feeder and then used the drill bit to elongate the hole at the top. That way I could use screws to hang them. Leave about a 1/4 inch of the screw out of the wood, align the holes over the screws and slide the feeder down over the screw head. I hope that makes sense. I bought the pipe precut so it took me maybe ten minutes to make each one of those feeders. I don't have to take them down to fill them, just pop the tops off and fill.

 

[doubleatraining]

I understand, I'm going to look at the PVC choices tomorrow to see what I can make. Do you put water in them too?

 

[dsqard]

It probably wouldn't work too well for water. I think the water would just run out of it. Maybe could work but I would be filling them constantly if they were for water. I have quite a few chickens and they go through a lot of water this time of year. I just stick to the three gallon waterers in the run.

 

[doubleatraining]

I was thinking I could caulk the bottom of the tube...then drill 2 small holes about 1/2" up from the bottom and the water would run into the other larger top. I'll only have 3 hens so a decent sized tube should work.....famous last words right?? LOL