DIY bucket feeeder - how to stop them eating the caulking?

[6of6chicks]

I finally got around to making the DIY bucket feeder, but now they are eating the caulk from around the openings. I used the Eco-Bond Farm Safe, which is supposed to be okay for livestock. I don't think it will harm them (fingers crossed), but I want them to stop! Is there anything I can spray on the caulk to get them to quick picking at it?

 

[iwiw60]

Probably not...chickens...well, they're chickens. They'll peck at anything that peaks their interest. Here's what I did...problem solved and boy is it easy...mind you I'm a 70'ish single gal and took my picture to the hardware store.....and I did it! Just FYI in case you want to change out.





And the best part...NO WASTED FEED! Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[6of6chicks]

That's exactly what I put in the coop. Just one tube, not the whole row like you have (nice!!). I don't always get out there first thing to let them out, and with no food in the coop they were trampling each other to get to the feeder in the mornings. That feeder solved that problem.

Now I'm wishing I went with a system like yours in the run! There was a long thread about the bucket feeder that convinced me to try it. So far I'm sorry I did!

I got desperate and made a paste of garlic powder, chili powder, & chili-infused vinegar. Then added enough blue food coloring to make a nice shade of teal. I painted the caulk (and boy did that muck up my nice pretty bucket, lol!). It was funny when I put it back in there - the first girl walked up, took a whiff - then shook her head and walked off! It was definitely pungent - I could smell it 15 feet away. Hopefully the smell will wear off a little. I DID see one girl stick her head in to eat, so hopefully they will still use the bucket and just leave the caulk alone. I'll know in the morning when they thunder out there looking for breakfast. I'm planning to close the coop door so they have no choice but to eat from the stinky feeder, lol!

SO wishing I had gone with a row of tube feeders...

 

[iwiw60]

So what you're saying then is that you ARE using the tube feeders already???????????? If you are, why did you caulk them? NO NEED to do that! Yikes! All I did was twist/squeeze mine together real tight and that was it...all done.

 

[6of6chicks]

So what you're saying then is that you ARE using the tube feeders already???????????? If you are, why did you caulk them? NO NEED to do that! Yikes! All I did was twist/squeeze mine together real tight and that was it...all done.

I have one tube feeder in the coop - that doesn't have caulk. I wanted food in the coop, but also needed something that didn't take up a lot of space. That's why I only put one in there.

But for the RUN I made the bucket feeder. THAT feeder has caulk around the elbow joints to hold them in place. There were two basic versions in the bucket feeder thread, and depending on which style of elbow you bought you either needed caulk or you didn't. My Home Depot only had the smooth type of elbow, so I had to use caulk. If they won't use the feeder now, or keep eating the caulk, then I basically have two choices - to either scrap it altogether (which is total waste of time and money), or try to fix it somehow. That involves either finding a deterrent to pecking, OR scraping off all the caulk and trying to drill holes to hold the elbow in with nuts & bolts. Another pain and more money.

So that's why I was desperate to find something to deter them from pecking at the caulk. I was hoping someone would have a recipe or know of something that chickens wouldn't like. Basically I'm looking for the chicken-version of what Bitter Apple is to puppies. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[iwiw60]

Geez, if it was me in your predicament I'd ditch that bucket-style feeder. Why not just put up a few tube feeders in your run?

 

[6of6chicks]

Geez, if it was me in your predicament I'd ditch that bucket-style feeder. Why not just put up a few tube feeders in your run?

*sigh*

- because the only place to attach a row of rube feeders would be to the walls of the run. The coop is a stand-alone coop that is raised off the ground. The run walls are hardware cloth (click on my coop and you can see what I mean). That means every time it rains the feed would get wet. Not from the top, but at the bottom where the chickens eat. With rain blowing in there would be no way to keep it dry.

Your feeders are gorgeous, but they're attached to a solid wall. That's the primary reason why I went with the bucket feeder - I can put it in the middle of the run and even in a monsoon it stays dry. I just didn't count on them eating the caulk instead of the food!

So that's my dilemma. The people on the bucket feeder thread made it sound SO good, but I don't remember anyone talking about chickens as dumb as mine. I guess everyone else's birds had enough sense to stick to the feed and not to try to eat the feeder??

 

[iwiw60]

Ooooh, I see what your problem is now....I looked at your coop and your roofing on your run doesn't have any overhang so I can well imagine you have water probs....eek! Can you take a 2-foot wide piece of plywood and make a small "wall" of sorts and go from there?

 

[6of6chicks]

Ooooh, I see what your problem is now....I looked at your coop and your roofing on your run doesn't have any overhang so I can well imagine you have water probs....eek! Can you take a 2-foot wide piece of plywood and make a small "wall" of sorts and go from there?

I may have to do that if I can't get this bucket mess sorted out.

The run itself actually has fantastic drainage. It can be pouring and it stays dry in there - the corrugated roofing channels everything into drainage slopes built in around the run. But when wind blows the rain in the edges do get wet, and since that's where the feeders would be I'm pretty sure I'd have wet feed on a regular basis. It doesn't matter if the grass in the run gets damp around the edges - it dries really fast and my chickens are never in a wet run. But wet feed is another problem altogether. I don't think the feed would dry when it is essentially sitting in a little cup.

I went out and tried to tempt them to eat from the bucket (put feed on the edges). It got them to eat, but then I had a shoving match since there are only 3 feeder spots for 6 chickens. ARRGGH!! Almost everyone on the bucket thread swore that it wasn't problem for their chickens. I distinctly remember the ratio was 1 bucket for 10 chickens. Maybe my chickens are just exceptionally brainless???

Anyway, thanks for your help and suggestions. I don't know how other people are having such success with their bucket feeders. This was the thread - I'm not exaggerating the rave reviews. I should have known it was a crock right off the bat when it said make it for $3. Each elbow was almost $4 apiece and there's three of them in the feeder!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...te-5-gallon-25-feed-bucket-feeder-for-about-3

 

[henless]

I had that problem when I made mine.

When DH & I put in the first elbow, the hole was a little big (he enlarged it for the elbow to fit better) so we put caulking around the outside and inside. It was kinda messy. The more I looked at it the more I figured the chicks would peck/eat the caulking. So, I scraped it all off and just put the caulking on the inside of the bucket. I caulked the crap out of it and let it dry overnight. It worked perfectly! I cut the rest of the holes and I did NOT enlarge them. I did not have to use much caulking for those, but it went on the inside of the bucket also. Once everything dried, there was no problem with the chicks pecking the caulking since there was none on the outside for them to peck.

I have 2 of the pipe feeders in my coop, but I use them for grit and oyster shell. I just use the 2 buckets for my 15 chickens. They eat out of one more than the other, so when it is almost empty, I pour the rest of the feed into the other bucket and let them all eat out of the one till the food is gone.

I had 21 chickens, but sold 6 to cut down my flock.



You can see the caulking around the inside of the bucket. Click on the double bucket feeders and you can see that very little is on the outside. The bucket on the right is the one that had all the caulking on it. You can still see pieces of it when you enlarge the pic. I had to do a bit more scraping on it to get everything off.



These make great grit/oyster feeders. Better than bowls. My chickens were always turning the bowls over and wasting everything.

FYI: on all the openings, both bucket and tubes, I had to add about a 2-3 in extension to keep the chickens from throwing out feed.