Update on my pipe feeder:
Everything is just fine. The 45 degree angle worked just fine, neither more nor less feed dropping than with the 90 degree turn on my original. However, there IS something that I now know I have to do. The chicken wire on the original cage, the one with the peaked roof, is NOT doing the job of keeping wild birds out. They are getting in between the wires, and eating the food. I also have to put some sort of cap on top of the pipe, even as close to the roof as it is.
I was checking out the entire run last night to see what I could do better, or rather than, what I have already done, and I glanced into the pipe to see how much food was in there. Guess what I found on top of the feed, about 12 to 18 inches below the top of the pipe.
A WILD BIRD !!!!
It got in ... but couldn't get out.
I had to reach in there and actually grab hold of the bird, and lift it out of the pipe. I also had to take out a few inches from the top of the feeder, where the bird had let it's displeasure be known on how it felt about the world letting it get trapped inside a feeder. It had plenty to EAT, but probably wanted something liquid to wash it down, but in the mean time, it still defecated inside the pipe and THAT would not be healthy for my chickens.
And all this really surprises me. I am feeding pellets, not something small, and from the looks of these birds, the size of the pellets doesn't seem to effect the fact that my chickens food is as good as the wild bird feed I used to put out. I don't feed the wild birds any more, because I felt that since they came in suck large numbers, it may be detrimental to my chickens. Hey, what do I know from nothin', right?
Anyway, I guess my next project, even more important than replacing the pallet/door, will be to put more chicken wire over the old, to make the openings smaller, hoping to deter the wild birds.
Does it EVER end? (sigh)
Skip