DIY Thread - Let's see your "Inventions".

[PetRock]

Eggcellent.... VBG.

I had thought of filling the bottom with a bit of concrete like the kind for fence posts. But I am a plastics kind of gal... LOL. Long story.

Once I get my poultry started again I HAVE to come up with a reliable feeder that will hold enough to feed for 7 days at a time. With no inspections or checking to see if its doing its job.

With 35 or more chickens and about the same amount in guineas... I have to be able to fill with at least 50 lb bag of feed and walk away.

The PVC feeders may not work... but its worth an experiment or two.

deb


deb

Are your birds in separate pens? Are they allowed to free range? I have quite a few birds in my layer flock with 5 tall PVC feeders and 2 short ones. I fill my feeders once a week and rarely will one be empty. I just added the 5th feeder but when there were only 6 of them, one 50 lb bag would fill them. I do give my girls sprouted grain in the morning and they are allowed to free range my backyard (1/3 acre lot). I guess that they have learned to take turns with the feeders because they don't squabble over them and all of them are big & healthy. I do have them in separate areas. The 2 shorter ones are in the coop, 2 tall ones are in the run, 2 tall ones are in the aviary pen which is open to them during the day, and 1 is in a temporary hoop pen which is also open during the day. We purchased the supplies at Lowe's because Home Depot didn't have what we needed. The cost was $25 total in supplies for the last 2 DH made. The glue is not included in that because we already had it. After trying several different kinds of feeders, I have been very happy with my PVC ones and we are using them in our breeding pens at the farm where my breeding stock lives. 1 of the pens has 1 feeder and 8 birds with no problems.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
In my case I will be raising Sumatras Guineas and some barnyard mixes.... Hopefully a blue egg layer or two. But my main goal is the Guinea fowl. There will be a few pens.... My Coop rebuild will have three main pens with a couple of broody pens. I will have netted yards where they can go out for the day. i have about a quarter acre to mess with for predator proofing.

My place is in the desert so free ranging at first works but then the poultry eats up everything and has to go a little further and further out. Once poultry arrive then the Predators arrive. My last flock was taken in three days because I had to let them out to access water.... (long story)

Once I move back to the house I will free range the Guineas and Sumatras.... and switch over to Fermented feed. Better Calorie conversion Less waste and lower feed consumption over all. But its a hands on feed.... you cant just fill the hopper up and go away for a week at a time. Though I am considering some automatic feeding options....

But in the meantime I need to be able to shamble down the aisle in the poultry house and dump a whole bag of feed in each hopper and be done with messing with it. So I am leaning toward a tall kitchen trash can of sorts and building a v in the bottom that just drops in. Then cutting a few holes in the side bottom to allow the chickens access to the feed. They can reach right through the chainlink in the coop to access. Or i could build bars that will only allow them to get their heads through.

Liike I said I need to build a couple to work out the details. The PVC feeder would be excellent for a Broodie.... I could even feed the Keets with a smaller version.

I am dragging this morning.... Up late. but I will sketch up my ideas and post them later.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Yep Bruce. I am liking feeders that are independant.... everytime you get into distribution it gets tricky and more chances of failure. Ideally I would love to devise a home grown Screw fed system of feeding something that has one BIG hopper fill it up from a tote gravity fed to the screw drive and send it off to each pen. I already know how to fill the hopper using a Leaf blower and a trash can delivery setup. But that is a WHOLE LOT of moving parts... LOL

The less walking I do the better for me and the more work I can get done. Most times I use a walker to get about my place... Arthritis and a couple of other health issues. So climbing UP or Kneeling is out for me....

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

You could pet a big plastic box to go at the top of the PVC pipe and put in some angled pieces of plywood or plastic board in the bottom the make sure all the feed will go down the pipe and not get stuck in the corners.

That would work Everytime you go from square to round becomes an issue.... You could set the box up on some bricks and rig the pvc out the bottom.

deb

 

[chad-o]

Or you could just put one of these on any sized container. Problem solved!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221436438711?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

 

[PetRock]

Or you could just put one of these on any sized container. Problem solved!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221436438711?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

I think that my birds would sling the food out of that container in no time. I've tried similar style feeders and within a few hours, the birds have emptied it on the ground even with the container raised up off of ground level.

 

[chad-o]

The fins deter them from slinging food out.

 

[PetRock]

If you used a 3 in to 4 in adapter piece, you could then use 4 in pipe to hold the feed and you could go longer between fillings. The amount that might get stuck on the rim between the two sizes would be minimal.

 

[PetRock]

The fins deter them from slinging food out.

I don't think that the fins would deter my birds. Maybe they just have a talent for wasting feed. Mine can sling food out of a 3 in pipe opening. If you look at the pic of the girl holding one, there is quite a bit of room to sling between the fins. Maybe if it had 8 fins instead of 4 it would work for my birds.

 

[Irishhenman]

Yeah, mine would waste a lot of feed from one of those too. mine can throw feed out of one of the red and white feeders with the little slats every inch.