help, my chickens are pigs

[b.hromada]

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Thats a really cool idea, and bet it does keep the waste down.

Chickens can be piggies, and yes, they do make a BIG mess sometimes.

 

[ninabeast]

Why, SHORE!

The holes were drilled with a 2.5" round drill bit (I'm sorry, I don't know the proper name...it looks like a short metal cylinder with teeth), into 1-foot long, 4" PVC pipe. A 4' vertical pipe is attached to the horizontal piece with a 90-degree elbow. (My Home Depot guy showed me two different 90-degree elbows, a "loose" one and a "tight" one. I chose the loose one.) Caps on both ends, one on the bottom to keep in feed, the other on the top to keep out mice. I wanted to fill the feeder from outside the coop (but still inside the barn...rain not an issue) so the 90-degree elbow passes though a hole in the plywood coop wall, attached to the outer wall of the coop with plumber's strapping.

I do have to "pull" the food forward through the holes with my hand every morning, but it's nothing. For my flock of 12 adolescents, the 4' vertical tube holds enough feed for over a week. They simply cannot flick the food out, although they still scratch the heck out of the sand underneath the feeder, which amuses me to no end.

We have the materials to make a second one, with a 1.5' horizontal pipe, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. That said, this one seems to be serving the flock very well.

This idea courtesy of the geniuses at BYC, not me!! I am merely a copycat.

 

[jcatblum]

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You should have an azure standard drop in your area. Google them. Prices are good & the delivery 1 time a month delivery charge is about the same as sales tax --- and there is no tax on your order. We get about half our families groceries from them each month.

 

[klmclain1]

That's a GREAT feeder! I wonder if I were to slightly tilt the large tube - thereby making the feeder portion point slightly downward - if the food would more naturally drain to the end so I wouldn't have to move it down daily... I want to put it in my chicken tractor and I wouldn't be able to reach it easily! Hmmmmmm.....

Thanks so much for the backside pic!

 

[hillbillycitygirl]

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I LOVE THIS!!!

 

[karlamaria]

Wow my chickens do not eat much feed at all, we give them about 5 pounds a week for 5 chickens. We keep the feeder full but they just do not eat much of it as they free range most of the day and night, eating grass and weeds and tree leaves from my lilacs. We give them a fruit plate in the morning, usually watermelon,coleslaw mixture, grapes and spring garden mix salad and tomatoes. Night time our dinner if it's not all gone. My girls- are getting plump and sassy for 18 weeks old and really filling put. Of course I'm forever kicking them off my por h for eating my tomato plants. This morning they got a bowl of spa getting and meat sauce, they go nuts over it so I saved some for there breakfast.
We put all there fruit and veggies in a gallon zip lock bag, then as will go give it to them morning and night.My chickens also do not waste one pellet, it's weird. I have there dish hanging and a block of wood under it so they can not dump it or scratch it out. We have never had any waste.

 

[ninabeast]

That's a GREAT feeder! I wonder if I were to slightly tilt the large tube - thereby making the feeder portion point slightly downward - if the food would more naturally drain to the end so I wouldn't have to move it down daily...

It is tilted slightly downward, but you could certainly do it more. And the longer the horizontal pipe, the harder it is for the feed to get all the way to the end. I have seen models here on this site where two vertical pipes fed into either end of a horizontal pipe. I have also heard people say they shake the vertical pipe to get the feed to move down. It's easier for me to hand pull the feed in the horizontal pipe, because I'm inside the coop to clean anyway. I'm sure you can make it work!​

 

[babigyrl22]

OMG...that is a fabulous feeder. Man there are some really creative people on this site.

 

[ninabeast]

Again, not me! Do a search for "PVC feeders" on this site and you'll see where I got my inspiration, right down to what size to make the holes. I should add that the sharp edges of the holes were carefully sanded after drilling to preserve my chickies tender necks...

 

[wood&feathers]

For drilling large diameter holes, most folks use a Forstner bit. Fancy ones (Milwaukee etc) available at Lowes or home Depot. Cheaper ones that work slower at Harbor Freight. For drilling on the side of PVC like that the cheaper ones work better, but drill a small pilot hole. The nice ones usually have an auger tip, and pull hard into the material. They would probably shatter the plastic?