Can you use this style feeder for day old chicks?

[Doc7]

i really like these style feeders. It seems like the safest option for leaving new chicks with accessible food while at work and not worrying about them messing in it etc.

Are their necks etc capable of using this style? I can buy whatever size pipe I need and cut off any length I need to with a hacksaw.

Photos not mine. They are from other posters in BYC. Thank you!

 

[Dmontgomery]

Yeah, the coffee can idea would work for chicks but not the big buckets. But as they grow, the holes would need to get bigger. It would take a couple months, I think, before they could eat from the buckets.

 

[Doc7]

I may be misunderstanding but the physics of extending their neck to stick their head through a PVC elbow is likely the same no matter what sort of structure of the PVC elbow is installed into. You may just be referring to the height of said it PVC elbow?

 

[blackdog043]

I use 5 gallon no waste feeders, but never made a smaller chick one. I'm gonna make one before next spring, when I get chicks again. If you use smaller elbows 1 1/2" - 2" and cut them to stick out from the bucket less and a shorter distance to the bottom, it should be fine. You may still need to use a chick feeder for the first week though. I'm not sure they would catch on or be big enough at a few days old, to use this style. Below is the thread link that the coffee can set up is on, but you could use any container or bucket that works for you.
Also, this might be of interest, I made a smaller horizontal nipple waterer for my brooder(smaller foot print). I introduced this at 2 weeks, just make sure they all know how to use it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chick-feeders-no-waste.1019230/

 

[Doc7]

Thanks much. I already made vertical waterers with plans to switch them to horizontal at 2 weeks old.

I also sent messages to two posters in that old thread!

 

[Doc7]

I would appreciate any more input on this topic. I am really curious how people go to work with a 4 day old chick given all the recommendations to “check their food for poop in it every couple of hours” without a feeding solution that is poop free. Thank you!

 

[Doc7]

I went ahead and chopped up 4 1 1/2” elbows and stuckem in a Folgers canister. My Bag of Purina start and Grow I picked up has a lot of really fine particles so at first I wasn’t happy with the flow as I scooped out some from the elbows. So I cut big pour slots on the back (inside) of each elbow and now it flows great. It won’t be “mess free” but chicks aren’t mess free. All I wanted was a poop free solution for them. I’ll build a cleaner version in a 2 Gal bucket in a few weeks.

 

[Doc7]

Photo attached

 

[blackdog043]

That will probably be better for the chicks to start with. It will get them used to sticking their head inside and it will be easier. When you make your next one, I would have the elbow 3/4" - 1" off the bottom, the feed will flow fine and there will be less mess. If you start using pellets when they are laying, it may have to be a litter higher. I use Starter/Grower crumble from day one and never change, I have oyster shell In a separate container for the ones that are laying. It's simpler to only have one feed for the whole flock.

 

[Doc7]

Henless, a poster in the older thread, told me that they would be concerned about chicks getting stuck in this before they are a couple of weeks old. Now I am not so sure again, maybe I will use a pre-manufacture tray style feeder, just worried about them fouling it while I am at work.