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I’m glad you gave me the link to this thread. This feeder is just what I was hoping to put in my coop and it was helpful to read what you changed and why along the way. Crossing my fingers that I can make plans well enough for my husband to help me make it!
Thank you!
 
JT, I copied this and built one last week. Used half a sheet of plywood and might build another for my daughters coop. I didn't do the full long slopped roof like you. I mounted it on the wall under the poop boards so they can't poop on it as they stick out farther.

I made the front screw on and just used a long hole for the window. I didn't like the idea of plexiglass that big and the lexan at Lowes was only in small sheets. I made the gap on the front to the bottom 1 3/4" and the front lip 2 1/2" and no spillage yet. The feed slopes rom the 1 3/4" slot to the front lip. They are on a crumbles mix of 1/2 layer and meat bird until layer pellets later on.

20" high on the front and back sides and 6" wide sides. Thanks for the idea!
IMG_2207.JPG
 
Last edited:
archeryrob said:
JT, I copied this and built one last week.
Click to expand...

Looking good, the only reason I made the larger lid was to protect the feed from wind blown rain. Now that I have an extension on that side of the roof it's not really needed anymore.

I plan on making some smaller in width feeders for the new coop and have them in several locations just to see if it reduces the pecking at the feeder. And I know they will all have the same favorite one lol...

JT
 
Yea, I had to pull mine out and trim it up. The 1 3/4" gap was too much. With crumbles the birds were pushing it side to side and making a mess.

I changed it to 1" and pellets barely cover the bottom and add the dividers like JT did they can't push it around.

Built a second one for my daughter and got two feeder from one $20 sheet of plywood.
 
Awesome, inspiring thread, thanks!

I'm planning to be out of town for almost a month in January, so I wanted a very large capacity feeder for my 10 birds - my son will check in on them while I'm gone, but once/week is a lot less imposition on him than every other day. I incorporated tips from this thread to build, basically, a double sided version. I built two, because my wife has another 24 chickens at her house (her son lives there and will do daily upkeep). One sheet of 1/2" plywood built each feeder, glue and staple assembly. Each unit stands 50" tall, on a 24"x18" footprint. I used plywood for all 4 sides, no Lexan, just for cost. For hers, I used a 12"x23" flat floor with a 45°(each side) diverter in the center. The side walls are 23"x36", set in 1.5" on each side between the 12"x48" end walls. The feed tray floor & diverter are positioned so there is a 1/2" gap between the side wall and the diverter face, and the outside of the feed tray is set with its top edge at the same height as the side wall bottom. The diverter is 10" wide at its bottom, so the slopes extend beyond the feed slot and into the tray area. The upper ends of the end walls were cut to 45° each side, and a roof/lid made from 2 pieces plywood (12"x25" & 11.5"x25"), lapped at 90° and glued/stapled to two of the end wall corner cuts. Our Dumor pellets fed nicely, the birds went right for them and didn't seem to have any problem with the 1.5" feed width (which is bigger than the metal hanging feeders they're used to).

I made a few changes for the second build - mainly I attached the end walls inside the side walls this time, and I eliminated the flat floor - instead I made the diverter bigger, extending it 2" past the side wall on each side. (this made a wider trough width, and lowered it a bit, in consideration to my two Bantys..) The feed gap is still 1/2". The outside of the feed troughs are glued/stapled at 90° to the diverter boards, wide enough to put their top edges at the same height as the side wall bottoms, and I also put a 1" wide wedge of plywood in the bottom of each trough. I built the lid as before. A couple of quick end caps for each trough, and a 6"x18" piece at the bottom of each end wall to secure the end caps and provide more stability (i set the top edge of these even with the trough top edge, marked and trimmed the end walls to 6" down (setting the trough height to 6" above the floor)) and it was done. I use crumble feed, and it fed nicely into the troughs, the birds had no trouble getting to it, and everyone seems happy.

The second design has a larger internal volume - I calculate it at about 5.2 cu ft - and I found a published value for chicken feed bulk density of about 36lb/ft3, which means this feeder should hold up to 200lb of feed.

I'll update this with photos and drawings in the next few days.. but overall, I'm very pleased with the results. Thanks again for the inspiration!
 
What about making the roof slope the other way so that you can fill it from the outside of the coop? Have a small window for the feed tray to fit inside the run, but the hopper is affixed to the outside.
Clean shoes 👟🐔🐓
 

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