help with did feeder please!

[Renee572]

hubby and I made this feeder. I love it, the girls love it and I thought it would make feeding chores for the kids easier. Well problem is the food goes in and just gets stuck in the 2 side pipes. I mean some obviously funnels to the middle but it doesn't necessarily fill the middle pipe up like I thought it would. Which leads me to have to bang on the side pipes and our put a stick in the feeder holes to sort of bring it over. What did I do wrong or how can I improve this to make it less work and easy for the kids to do chores?

 

[Truckchick]

No expert here but it looks like you are expecting the feed to travel horizontally more than it is capable of. Shorten the distance in between or make separate ones? I too would like to make something similar so will be looking at the other feeders posted and check back to see what others suggest.

 

[Renee572]

Thanks, I guess that makes sense. I will rethink this feeder and figure something else out!

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I agree with TruckChick, your tubes are just too long to overcome the friction between the feed and the pipes.

Break it into two feeders with one hole each and you should be fine

 

[J at Yoti Farms]

You could use longer turn 90 or

 

[J at Yoti Farms]

Or two 45 with a short pipe connecting them

 

[RonP]

Posted from another query:

I have 12 birds in a fully enclosed coop and 14x14 secured run.

Mind you, the flock spends their waking time, and eats, 90% outdoors, in their run.

I feed them fermented feed whenever possible...

I built this mostly for peace of mind, and as a backup.



Three stations, 3" PVC pipes with Y fitting. Concrete 16" paver block for nail and beak maintenance. It is sitting on 2 8" cinder blocks, I use deep litter.




Middle station is for feed. Picture shows the reserve, a 5 gallon reused water bottle with the funnel, a cutoff of another 5 gallon water bottle for extra reserve. It will easily hold 30+ pounds. It probably will last well over 2 months, if used exclusively. This reserve empties straight down into the middle feeder.



Above shows the 3 stations. Far left holds Grit, middle holds Feed, far right holds Crushed Oyster shells. Far left and right are capped. 2 foot pipe probably holds over a years supply of grit and oyster shell.



Another picture of the feed reserve, I'm pretty sure I put close to 40 pounds in there.
The reserve just sits in place, no nails or glue.

Everything can come apart easily if needed.

 

[Renee572]

Thanks everyone, I am going to make some adjustments just as soon as I get the chance. Life seems to have gotten super busy for me this week.

 

[CHICKLOVER69]

I just posted a new feeder I just made and it is awesome with no waste. Holds a 50# sack of feed and doesnt get wet. It is in my run, which is covered, but has rained every day and hasnt been wet yet. Wasnt sure how well it would work, but exceeded my expectations by far and the girls went to it without hesitation. Dont know how to post the link, but it is in this forum called New Feeder Is Awesome.

 

[CHICKLOVER69]

Figured out how to add pic's. Lol.