I have two 3ft. trough-style feeders for my 75 birds. The problem is not only packed feeders, but the fact that my feeders empty in about 3 hours, which makes for a problem when I leave for work at 1:30 in the afternoon. I thought about a big range feeder, but with what I have now, I get 12 feet of trough space, and it seems like that would be cut WAY down with a range feeder. Any suggestions?
Jaku, I use one of those two gallon round feeders for my tractors, but will be switching to this next season... https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3105616#p3105616 Seems to me that would last a bit longer than those trough feeders.
I use a 30 lb haning feeder and 3 trough feeders to feed 80-100 birds and it last them all day. You should be putting at least 50 lbs out for them a day, wether they eat it or not still make it available. That's one of the biggest things with growing broilers as if they do run out of feed it causes stress. Slows their growth rate down and they just don't preform overall.
Maybe I'll put out the trough feeders in the morning when they're really hungry, and crowding the feeders, then in the afternoon when they're just grazing, and I leave for work, put out a big bucket feeder, which should last the rest of the day.
That bucket feeder looks good - I think I will make on up. I made a couple out of round duct work with a chimmney topper . Turn them upside down and the topper holds the feed from running out and acts as a pan to let the eat. Problem is they need to be hung up and unless you make the long they do not hold much.
Anyone have any pictures? Im ordering my first 250 chicks tomorrow and need to get my set up finished. I am looking for something more homemade, have a ton of buckets and large PVC pipe here on the farm. Thanks!
Quote:I just built this one. It holds about 6 times what each one of my trough feeders holds! However, the problem I had was that the food doesn't drop out as it's pictured. I even drilled four 2" holes instead of three, and once it was gone from the pan, no more dropped out. So, today I cut out the entire bottom of the bucket, to a height of 2", leaving only four 1" wide pieces solid to support the bucket. Hopefully that will let the food drop better.
