Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[LeslieDJoyce]

I'm contemplating trying one of the feeders at the link below. It would be convenient to dump a whole bag of feed in each feeder for the large laying flock. They go through feed fast enough, and several of them could eat at once from something that large. It seems to have a nice deep trough, and a grill to reduce waste. It comes with a rain guard.

http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/kuhl....html?ref=lexity&_vs=google&_vm=productsearch

(here is a video that gives an indication of the size of the thing ...

)

I'd set that bad boy up on blocks so I could easily remove the poo guard from top one-handed and dump in a bag of feed.

I've also read positive reviews of this feeder ... http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=78691&species_id=ALL&criteria=poultry+feeder ... but the pans aren't as deep on it, so I'm not totally sold ...

Right now, this is what's working with my flock ... a PVC pipe cut into a trough with the opening on the top side of the curve, and a handle left uncut across the center point, and I filed the cut edges so everything is smooth.



There I've got wet feed in it, but have set one up with pellets to see if the birds will beak them out, and they don't. For the moment. It is an inexpensive solution, but doesn't hold a lot of feed. I figure if the birds start to beak feed out, I could fashion a grill, though I don't love having the birds rubbing their heads against galvanized wire and would try to find something plastic to work with.

The type of feeders shown in the photo below worked for me for a LONG time, but just recently the birds are spilling feed out of them ... not sure why ... except our pellets are now nice and tiny, so flow into the feeder better than larger pellets or crumbles did (crumbles didn't work in these feeders, either, because they didn't flow). Maybe I could refashion the "trough" portion with only a single row of holes. ??



The trick with the PVC feeders is to keep the feed openings on the top side of the curve, so if birds push food around they can't push it over the edge as easily. This particular example is barely passable in that regard, but it worked well for a long time.


The smaller version of these store-bought round hopper feeders seem okay (5 lbs), but on the larger ones (which were the first feeders we bought) the trough is too shallow and wide and there is no grill, so the birds just nose the feed out. I sat in the coop one day and watched the flock empty 3 of the 30 lb feeders of crumbles, which is a total waste of feed as the birds don't do very well fishing crumbles out of the litter as they do pellets (at that time, the feed I was using didn't come in pellets). YES, I could raise the feeders up a bit so the birds would need to stretch and therefore couldn't push the feed around, but as I'm also feeding younger, smaller birds from the same feeders as much older or taller birds, that would not work for my flock.



I think if those feeders were fashioned with a curved trough, or with a larger lip at the top, then the birds would have a much harder time beaking feed out of them.

I haven't had any better luck with waterers, by the way.

 

[MagicChicken]

The smaller version of these store-bought round hopper feeders seem okay (5 lbs), but on the larger ones (which were the first feeders we bought) the trough is too shallow and wide and there is no grill, so the birds just nose the feed out. I sat in the coop one day and watched the flock empty 3 of the 30 lb feeders of crumbles, which is a total waste of feed as the birds don't do very well fishing crumbles out of the litter as they do pellets (at that time, the feed I was using didn't come in pellets). YES, I could raise the feeders up a bit so the birds would need to stretch and therefore couldn't push the feed around, but as I'm also feeding younger, smaller birds from the same feeders as much older or taller birds, that would not work for my flock.



I think if those feeders were fashioned with a curved trough, or with a larger lip at the top, then the birds would have a much harder time beaking feed out of them.

I haven't had any better luck with waterers, by the way.

I use those hanging metal feeders. Every time I try a ground-based or wall-mounted feeder it gets overrun by ants. I made lids for the hanging feeders out of black plastic nursery pots - cut them off a couple of inches from the bottom, turned them upside down, and cut two notches for the hanger. Keeps the chickens from diving head-first into the feeder. Javas are resourceful that way

I have also learned not to keep them too full. Even though the feeders are in a covered area and stay dry most of the time, the minute I fill one we get a hard sideways rain that gets into them anyway. It only takes a small amount of moisture collecting in the bottom of the trough for it to wick up into the feed reservoir and spoil it all. I try to keep a day's worth of feed in each feeder, but not much more than that because I don't want to risk spoilage.

 

[bnjrob]

I'm contemplating trying one of the feeders at the link below. It would be convenient to dump a whole bag of feed in each feeder for the large laying flock. They go through feed fast enough, and several of them could eat at once from something that large. It seems to have a nice deep trough, and a grill to reduce waste. It comes with a rain guard.

http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/kuhl....html?ref=lexity&_vs=google&_vm=productsearch

(here is a video that gives an indication of the size of the thing ...

)

I'd set that bad boy up on blocks so I could easily remove the poo guard from top one-handed and dump in a bag of feed.

I've also read positive reviews of this feeder ... http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=78691&species_id=ALL&criteria=poultry+feeder ... but the pans aren't as deep on it, so I'm not totally sold ...

Right now, this is what's working with my flock ... a PVC pipe cut into a trough with the opening on the top side of the curve, and a handle left uncut across the center point, and I filed the cut edges so everything is smooth.



There I've got wet feed in it, but have set one up with pellets to see if the birds will beak them out, and they don't. For the moment. It is an inexpensive solution, but doesn't hold a lot of feed. I figure if the birds start to beak feed out, I could fashion a grill, though I don't love having the birds rubbing their heads against galvanized wire and would try to find something plastic to work with.

The type of feeders shown in the photo below worked for me for a LONG time, but just recently the birds are spilling feed out of them ... not sure why ... except our pellets are now nice and tiny, so flow into the feeder better than larger pellets or crumbles did (crumbles didn't work in these feeders, either, because they didn't flow). Maybe I could refashion the "trough" portion with only a single row of holes. ??



The trick with the PVC feeders is to keep the feed openings on the top side of the curve, so if birds push food around they can't push it over the edge as easily. This particular example is barely passable in that regard, but it worked well for a long time.


The smaller version of these store-bought round hopper feeders seem okay (5 lbs), but on the larger ones (which were the first feeders we bought) the trough is too shallow and wide and there is no grill, so the birds just nose the feed out. I sat in the coop one day and watched the flock empty 3 of the 30 lb feeders of crumbles, which is a total waste of feed as the birds don't do very well fishing crumbles out of the litter as they do pellets (at that time, the feed I was using didn't come in pellets). YES, I could raise the feeders up a bit so the birds would need to stretch and therefore couldn't push the feed around, but as I'm also feeding younger, smaller birds from the same feeders as much older or taller birds, that would not work for my flock.



I think if those feeders were fashioned with a curved trough, or with a larger lip at the top, then the birds would have a much harder time beaking feed out of them.

I haven't had any better luck with waterers, by the way.

Haven't tried either of the feeders you're looking at. We stick with hanging feeders because we only have mobile housing and hanging feeders are easier for us to use, as well as not taking up ground space for the birds. The thing I dislike about hanging feeders is that the lids are not solid and rain always gets into the reservoir. I have made some rain guards out of plastic bowls, and it keeps the rain out of the troughs, but water still runs down the rope, through the lid, and into the reservoir. In winter it's not a problem since the chickens love the fermented wet feed, but when it's warm, it just molds instead of ferments. The hanging feeders we use are adjustable with wing nuts to screw down the reservoir/grill assembly into the trough to keep them from billing too much feed out. But the chickens still waste feed by cockerels sparring with each other or hens trying to fight to keep the cock from mating them and then the feeder starts swinging and turns half up side down and spills feed. But feed loss from rain is more than from the birds themselves most of the time.

For waterers we mostly use buckets with nipples in the bottom. We have a cock that is blind in one eye from a fight and he can't hit a nipple, so his pen has a black rubber bowl of water that is elevated to keep them from knocking it over.

 

[bnjrob]

I use those hanging metal feeders. Every time I try a ground-based or wall-mounted feeder it gets overrun by ants. I made lids for the hanging feeders out of black plastic nursery pots - cut them off a couple of inches from the bottom, turned them upside down, and cut two notches for the hanger. Keeps the chickens from diving head-first into the feeder. Javas are resourceful that way

I have also learned not to keep them too full. Even though the feeders are in a covered area and stay dry most of the time, the minute I fill one we get a hard sideways rain that gets into them anyway. It only takes a small amount of moisture collecting in the bottom of the trough for it to wick up into the feed reservoir and spoil it all. I try to keep a day's worth of feed in each feeder, but not much more than that because I don't want to risk spoilage.

Yes, Javas are some resourceful boogers. Never a dull moment.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

For waterers we mostly use buckets with nipples in the bottom.

I bought some of these this spring, and they were the best money I have ever spent on chickens. http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/little-giant-hen-hydrator-3-1-2-gal-capacity
I have 2 styles of hanging feeders, which are necessary in the mobile pens, but am looking for something cheaper that works just as well.
Angela

 

[desertmarcy]

I think if those feeders were fashioned with a curved trough, or with a larger lip at the top, then the birds would have a much harder time beaking feed out of them.

I haven't had any better luck with waterers, by the way.

I use the galvanized hanging feeders like you picture above but I also bought the cover for them. The cover is not rain protection, since it has a hole in the middle and sits on top of the handle. It will tilt back and forth so if a bird tries to sit on top, they are foiled, plus it is easy to slide a scoop in to fill it. I have had little problem with my birds beaking out the feed from them since I move them as high as possible but so the birds can still reach. Even in a pen with mixed sizes, they are not beaking it out. I think part of my success is I only put in what they will eat in a day plus a little extra so I don't have to get out to feed early in morning. A lot of times I think they beak it out from boredom. I had made some PVC tube feeders, but not like yours: mine just had a Y at the end and they make a mess beaking the feed out. I am still using a few of that style with my turkeys, and they beak it out all over the ground. I just don't feed them any more until they clean it up. So I started getting more of the galvanized hanging type since they last forever. I recently order a case of 6 of them. They came with the tubes and bottom pieces separate for more compact shipping, but the tubes were all jammed together. I managed to bend and put dents in the metal with a screwdriver and hammer during my frustrated attempt to get them apart. Finally, 1/4 bottle of 3-in-one oil later, I got them apart.

I use either the nipple waterers or the cups for my chickens. This year, raising too many birds for the small number of nipples in each pen plus it is so hot, so I gave them all a plastic rectangular container, cut down from some buckets we got free from the grocery store bakery. Some sort of awful artificial icing came in them

. I cut them down so that with a block in the bottom, they hold a little more than a gallon. It is a PITA to clean them out and I CAN'T WAIT to get birds culled down to a more reasonable number. With so many birds in a pen, they make a mess with the nipples, constantly wet underneath. So my solution was to block off all but one nipple, using a 3" piece of black irrigation tubing (fit perfectly over it) and position the water container under the one nipple, which is right along the fence line so it also discourages them getting into it (too much). That way they always have water and the excess from the nipple goes into the container.

 

[bnjrob]

I bought some of these this spring, and they were the best money I have ever spent on chickens. http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/little-giant-hen-hydrator-3-1-2-gal-capacity
I have 2 styles of hanging feeders, which are necessary in the mobile pens, but am looking for something cheaper that works just as well.
Angela

We have one like that, that I bought when I needed one and ran out of nipples, but generally I buy nipples and then make my own buckets - a lot cheaper than buying the premade nipple buckets. They have screw in nipples or push in. I tend to use the screw in kind for buckets and PVC pipe and the push in kind that has a rubber grommet for putting into soda bottle caps. The soda bottle nipple waterer is nice for when I have a chicken in a broody breaker cage or separated to heal from an injury. The screw in nipples are one time use because the threads strip out if you try to unscrew them, but you can reuse the push in nipples and buy new rubber grommet seals when you need to. I get nipples from QC Supply online.

I like the nipple buckets because no matter how crazy they get, they always have water. Nothing worse than a hot day and the idiots knock over a water bowl and end up stressed or dead because they ran out of water. Our chickens still get water to wade in when it's really hot in summer, but the nipple buckets make sure they don't run out accidently.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I installed automatic waterers using PEX pipe and little giant poultry founts. The founts are bowls ... It's so easy to swish the founts out ...! They do require adjusting, but after a frustrated start I am pretty happy with them.

 

[bnjrob]

I installed automatic waterers using PEX pipe and little giant poultry founts. The founts are bowls ... It's so easy to swish the founts out ...! They do require adjusting, but after a frustrated start I am pretty happy with them.

With those fount bowls, are you using a hose that has some pressure to it or a bucket of water that feeds the founts? I am working on a better solution for the turkeys. I was going to use nipples for them too, until I saw an article that made me change my mind.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

With those fount bowls, are you using a hose that has some pressure to it or a bucket of water that feeds the founts? I am working on a better solution for the turkeys. I was going to use nipples for them too, until I saw an article that made me change my mind.

I use PEX pipe ... that's a flexible plastic pipe that expands a bit if it should freeze, to make cracks less likely. I ran the PEX pipe from a splitter I attached to the nearest hose faucet. I also used one branch of the splitter on that faucet to run a garden hose to the "Chicken Sink" so I have a place to wash stuff without having to drag it to the house or squat in the dirt ...

You CAN use a garden hose or a bucket, as shown in this video, but for various reasons I went with PEX pipe.

I ran the water lines all the way through the coops, and put shut off valves and hose bibs on the ends, so I can flush the lines frequently in the summer and drain it when it freezes (which it seems to do here for a few days every year). I planted some fruit trees in the orchard where the flock ranges, and use the hoses at the ends to water them, which helps flush the lines. I flush the lines pretty often in the summer, and swish out the bowls with a toilet brush, to keep the water cool & fresh. I just dump the little bit of water right into the deep litter, and that's perfectly fine in my big coop. The birds LOVE to dig and roll in the moist litter after I swish out the bowls.

I had zero experience working with PEX pipe, but managed to figure it out even though I got started off with poor advice from Home Depot. It mostly takes a couple decent tools. There are even "push together" couplings.