Found an issue with the bucket feeder system with elbows

[tigger19687]

So I have one and used 2 elbows.
The last few days has been very wet. My bucket is IN the coop.

I put my hand in and scoop extra feed into the elbow to help out the hens just in case. Plus it lets me know that they ARE eating.

Well I put my hand in and it felt wet . Hmmm.

The upper/back part of the elbow is very damp !

Not what I want in the feed and I don't want Mold.

I also have a PVC-Y fitting feeder and this is not an issue on it.

I may be rethinking my feeder depending on the time of year perhaps ?

Others should take a look at your buckets when it is very humid or wet out and see if this is happening to you.

 

[cavemanrich]

Not sure why there is wetness in your bucket. Can it be from your chickens rain soaked heads???
Here is a thought to save the feed you currently have in that bucket. By leaving it just moist there , it is prone to mold. If you remove and ferment it , you will have a good feed to give/serve to your chickens.
WISHING YOU BEST....

 

[blackdog043]

If your chickens heads were wet, they would get the PVC wet and it would take some time to dry. They may have just eaten, before you went out there. Was the food wet?

I put my hand in and scoop extra feed into the elbow to help out the hens just in case. Plus it lets me know that they ARE eating.

If the feed level goes down in the bucket, that means they are eating also. Are you always putting feed into the elbows?

 

[tigger19687]

This is condensation forming
No, not from wet chicken heads. The day I checked it, it had not rained just moisture in the air. Chicken heads were dry, feed seemed dry too.

I won't ferment, they go on and off of it and I want an easier feeding hence the bucket feeder..

I have a hard time checking the bucket level, there are things on top of the bucket so opening it up is a pain. I don't mind putting my hand in, PLUS if it is all dust I try to scoop most of it out. So I do it just to check levels but now even a better reason to do it if there is moisture/Condensation forming.

Anyone from the NorthWest use this? You should check just to make sure

 

[tigger19687]

I need to change to Pellets with this.
There is just too much dust with the crumbs that they don't eat the dust and it fills the hole

I think that was why I had to do it with my hand before.
Now that Winter is (almost) over I now know there is a TON of dust in there.

 

[blackdog043]

Mix the dust with some water and feed it to them.
Do you empty your bucket everytime before you add fresh feed? That would keep less dust from building up at the bottom. You should do this anyway. I ferment so I dump the bottom of my bucket into the bucket that holds feed for fermenting.

 

[tigger19687]

This is the 1st time using it, and only 25# was put in it.
Adding water defeats the purpose of having a bucket feed system.
I have to find the original thread about the bucket to see if this is an issue with pellets.

 

[blackdog043]

Adding water defeats the purpose of having a bucket feed system.

I ferment and feed dry, so no issues for me. If I do get any dust there is no waste from the bag this way.

 

[tigger19687]

It is too hard a time consuming to have to empty the #25 bucket to get the dust to make wet feed. Pellets should fix this.
Or I may just go back to the PVC pipe ones I have. They get dust too but it only holds about 10# and dust goes in the bottom part.

 

[cavemanrich]

Give this some thought.
I use pellet feed. I use containers rather than a feeding bucket like you have. I do just add pellets before all feed gets consumed. After a while, I do encounter what you refer to as dust, about half the depth of the feed container. (Chickens pecking thru the feed cause the crumbling action) Texture of fine powder type, to that of corn meal. Crumbles will of course become fine textured easier.
Easy way for you to solve the dust issue, is to wait until most of your feed is consumed in feeder. Dump out all the remaining feed from bucket onto a cookie sheet and start bucket off with fresh. The contents of powdered feed, which may be as much as a coffee can quantity, take and mix with water. You can feed it like that directly or wait until it ferments.(a few days). I personally do not ferment feed, so have no suggestion for you as to which you should choose.
The pellets will become less of a dust issue, than crumbles, but not totally void.