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

[6of6chicks]

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.

Thanks - I remember seeing your pictures in the thread. And I'm sorry I sound so negative about this - I am just SO frustrated with it! I swear building the entire coop & run was easier than this one stupid feeder!

My nasty concoction of cayenne powder, garlic powder, & blue food coloring seems to be doing the trick to hide the caulk. I didn't see anyone pecking at it after the stinky stuff went on. But with my silly birds, who knows! If they peck at it again I will definitely do what you suggested and caulk the inside instead. I guess I should have done that right off the bat - it just never occurred to me they would eat the caulk!

Do you have problems with sharing? I'm hoping my girls will get used to taking turns - is that even possible with chickens? Because so far the three that get in there first try to stuff their whole bodies in to PREVENT anyone from getting their "prize," while the three outside girls panic that they're missing out and starting nipping the first three in the butts! I swear tonight one of the three that was chowing down was doing donkey kicks to the chicken behind her! So the whole time I could hear squawks from inside the feeding tubes (by those getting their backsides nipped) and yelling outside the tubes from the three desperate to get in. I guess the whole thing would have been really funny if I wasn't already in such a bad mood, lol!

And...I may have messed it up even more by drilling extra holes on top of the tubes (inside). It just didn't seem like there was enough food and that the food was so far away from the opening. But I think now I have too much in the tubes and they WILL be able to scatter it around. *Sigh* - oh well, that's what duct tape is for - the universal fixer of everything!

Thanks again, and sorry I was so grumpy!

 

[henless]

Do you have problems with sharing? I'm hoping my girls will get used to taking turns - is that even possible with chickens? Because so far the three that get in there first try to stuff their whole bodies in to PREVENT anyone from getting their "prize," while the three outside girls panic that they're missing out and starting nipping the first three in the butts! I swear tonight one of the three that was chowing down was doing donkey kicks to the chicken behind her! So the whole time I could hear squawks from inside the feeding tubes (by those getting their backsides nipped) and yelling outside the tubes from the three desperate to get in. I guess the whole thing would have been really funny if I wasn't already in such a bad mood, lol!

And...I may have messed it up even more by drilling extra holes on top of the tubes (inside). It just didn't seem like there was enough food and that the food was so far away from the opening. But I think now I have too much in the tubes and they WILL be able to scatter it around. *Sigh* - oh well, that's what duct tape is for - the universal fixer of everything!

I do notice the occasional peck when someone is eating and another one wants to eat out of that very same hole! But on the whole, there is no all out war over the feeder holes. I would just let them work it out. The 3 that are eating, will not be able to eat all the food, and the 3 that are waiting are not going to starve to death. Once everyone eats their fill, everything should calm down.

Watch and see if they scatter too much feed. You might have to cover the holes if the tubes are filling up to much. I put an extension on my ports. I cut about a 2-3" extension off of a straight piece of pvc and inserted it into the feeder tube. They have to put their heads further into the holes, which keeps them from flinging any out while they are eating.

Mine also cost more than 3 bucks. I had to buy the pail, and I put 3 ports in it instead of just the one. If you can find free buckets with lids, it would help on the cost. I still think it works much better than the pour feeders. I use deep litter in my coop/run, so any food that gets pulled out is mostly wasted in the litter.

 

[beallfarms]

Thanks - I remember seeing your pictures in the thread. And I'm sorry I sound so negative about this - I am just SO frustrated with it! I swear building the entire coop & run was easier than this one stupid feeder!

My nasty concoction of cayenne powder, garlic powder, & blue food coloring seems to be doing the trick to hide the caulk. I didn't see anyone pecking at it after the stinky stuff went on. But with my silly birds, who knows! If they peck at it again I will definitely do what you suggested and caulk the inside instead. I guess I should have done that right off the bat - it just never occurred to me they would eat the caulk!

Do you have problems with sharing? I'm hoping my girls will get used to taking turns - is that even possible with chickens? Because so far the three that get in there first try to stuff their whole bodies in to PREVENT anyone from getting their "prize," while the three outside girls panic that they're missing out and starting nipping the first three in the butts! I swear tonight one of the three that was chowing down was doing donkey kicks to the chicken behind her! So the whole time I could hear squawks from inside the feeding tubes (by those getting their backsides nipped) and yelling outside the tubes from the three desperate to get in. I guess the whole thing would have been really funny if I wasn't already in such a bad mood, lol!

And...I may have messed it up even more by drilling extra holes on top of the tubes (inside). It just didn't seem like there was enough food and that the food was so far away from the opening. But I think now I have too much in the tubes and they WILL be able to scatter it around. *Sigh* - oh well, that's what duct tape is for - the universal fixer of everything!

Thanks again, and sorry I was so grumpy!

You just need to be patient. It's what chickens do. Throw one treat out there and they all go crazy. Give everyone a treat and throw another out and they all drop what they have and fight over the new one.

It's just life in the chicken world. They always seem to work it out!

 

[6of6chicks]

UPDATE - well, my nasty blue garlic concoction failed. Everyone's running around this morning with blue beaks, lol!

So now it's dismantle, scrape all that caulk off, and re-do it. *Sigh* - stupid feeder. Stupid chicken momma for even starting this project. What a headache! Well, at least I get to wash all the blue off while I'm scraping away...

 

[henless]

How'd it go today?

Once you get the caulk on the inside, you will like the feeder. I really like mine.

 

[6of6chicks]

How'd it go today?

Once you get the caulk on the inside, you will like the feeder. I really like mine.

I'm feeling a little better about it, and feeling a little ashamed of my bad behavior!

There's nothing wrong with the feeder. I just for some reason REALLY struggled to get this thing to work! But I'm stubborn, hate to waste money, and was so mad at it that I was determined to win, lol!

I got all the old gunk scraped off and re-caulked it. It took three layers of caulk inside to get the elbow joints secure, but I set it in the sun all day, so that helped speed up the curing. It's dry, so I'll put it back in there tomorrow morning for breakfast.

You know, it's almost ironic - this go round I got a MUCH better position on the elbow joints. They're a little higher off the bottom, and I've got about 1/2 inch more pipe sticking out than before so hopefully I won't need extenders. I was SO mad that it was BETTER after the re-do that I actually busted out laughing when I was done! Crazy, right? I built a whole coop by myself but one little bucket feeder sent me over the edge!!

I'll post a pic of it in the morning. After all this stress I almost don't want to put it in there with the chickens. They'll just mess it up, lol!

 

[6of6chicks]

How'd it go today?

Once you get the caulk on the inside, you will like the feeder. I really like mine.

Here it finally is! I'm looking at the pics and realize my girls look a little ragged. Hmmm - I'm not liking that. They're 9 weeks old today and just got off 5 days of Corid. They didn't seem this skinny & scruffy yesterday - hopefully it's just the morning light! Anyway, they were more interested in chowing down on mosquitoes this morning than feed, but I'm okay with that, lol!

 

[iwiw60]

I'm glad to see you got it all worked out....phew!!!

I liked that last pic of one of your girls staring into the camera lens!!

 

[jetdog]

Here it finally is! I'm looking at the pics and realize my girls look a little ragged. Hmmm - I'm not liking that. They're 9 weeks old today and just got off 5 days of Corid. They didn't seem this skinny & scruffy yesterday - hopefully it's just the morning light! Anyway, they were more interested in chowing down on mosquitoes this morning than feed, but I'm okay with that, lol!

You might want to put another block under it to raise it up,I had to for mine I actually have it 3 blocks high, they just have to stretch a little more.

 

[iwiw60]

You might want to put another block under it to raise it up,I had to for mine I actually have it 3 blocks high, they just have to stretch a little more.

X2 !! They need it a little bit higher...