Built new feeder

[ray2310]

Used the same design as many others I have seen on this site. Bad weather day project yestrday and installed in the coop today. We were using a small round feeder and I was getting tired of filling it every day and wanted something to hold more feed. Less work means more enjoyable chickens. I estimate this feeder should hold at least 200#.

Wet chickens seam to like it.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Fantastic! I love it!

Great idea to caulk the corners.

 

[LynneP]

You have bolted that to the wall, right?
Nice job.
Try it with 50 pounds first, to see if it remains insect and rodent free. To deter insects, you can sprinkle a bit of food-grade diatomaceous earth in on tope of the feed before loading more.

 

[ray2310]

Yes it is secured to the wall. Never had any problems with rodents or bugs with the old feeder and don't expect any with this one. However, we do have diatomaceous earth and use regularly. Already got a 100# in it.

 

[LynneP]

The food-grade DE is amazing, I agree. I wouldn't be without it ....coop is looking great...

 

[JanieMarie]

That's a beautiful feeder and a beautiful coop! I was just thinking I should build something like this and lo and behold here is this thread! Gotta love BYC! Thanks for the plan!

 

[CANDLE98]

we have one like that and yes it can hold 200 lb of food! We don't have a lot of problems with bugs with all the chickens around! I also use DE. I think ours has a bigger base, we have never had to bolt it to the wall though, it takes a lot for me to tilt the thing over!

 

[Barred Rocker]

Yeah, I love mine. Fill it and you don't have to worry about hungry chickens for weeks. Mine holds about 200 lbs too but mine is double sided. I'm planning to build a single unit for my other coop and for a new one that's going up in the spring.

 

[briteday]

I have a similar set up and found that when the weather got cold I was losing some feed to mice that come in after dark (when the chickens can't catch them!) and ended up setting out traps. But for the minimal loss of feed to rodents I like the less than monthly trip to the feed store! My next project is to build a feed hopper that will be outside the coop and feed into 3-4" pvc pipe feeder troughs inside the coop.

 

[Barred Rocker]

I really doubt there's any such thing as a rodent proof feeder. If your chickens can get at it you can bet your bottom dollar that mice can too. That's another reason I like to build my coops up high. Gives the little varments less places to nest and they run the risk of being a chicken snack. The advantages to the self feeder far outnumber the disadvantages imho.