Latest Feeder - Took Ideas From Everywhere!

[Club cramahe coop]

Here are some pictures of the fittings I used. I purchased 4” elbows. Here’s the trick. Buy what they call “street” or “fitting” 90 degree fittings. The one end is a normal fitting the other end is a male version meant to go into a second fitting. You can see it has a lip on it to stop it. In this picture , you can see I cut that male flange off , down to about a half inch. Then drill a hole in the tote the same size as the male end and when it fits in , the flange at the back will stop it. The. I purchased those little rings that go on the outside. Nice and neat and tidy. It also doesn’t stick out too far so the girls can easily reach. The ring holds it in place with no sharp edges and no glue so I can take it apart. One the other end , I cut half it away. This allows it to rest on the bottom of the tote and still slow feed under it. All In all , it took no time at all and is super easy to use and fill.

 

[jlwquilter]

Yeah, that's the one I showed the pics of.
Article is here, scroll waaaayyy down:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-waste-free-funnel-bucket-feeder.67218/

I totally missed the part where you cut the bottle in half to fit into the bucket. Duh.
I like the amount of feed I can get into my bin set up and your funnel. I’m thinking of ways to marry the ideas for when I have to replace the bin eventually.

 

[aart]

I totally missed the part where you cut the bottle in half to fit into the bucket. Duh.
I like the amount of feed I can get into my bin set up and your funnel. I’m thinking of ways to marry the ideas for when I have to replace the bin eventually.

You can probably fit way more in your tote and pipes, but I like to top off the feeder each morning keep an eye on consumption, I try to make it be empty by the next morning.

 

[Cryss]

Hmmm...2 or 3 water cooler bottles funneling into a single funnel?

 

[jlwquilter]

It’s been a long time since I’ve been in an office with a water bottle cooler. I remember them being quite big. I was thinking about taking the bottom off just enough to open it up, leaving the whole big bottle. Then suspending that semi-permanently - to control the weight- over/into the tube that actually delivers the feed to the dispensing bucket area. Basically replacing my bin with the big bottle.

For my situation - gone often for many days - I need feed that will last at least a week so the sitters don’t have to mess with it. I’m actually working on getting to where the hens can be checked in on every other day or so. What I really need to do is get to the point where I trust the electric fence 100% during the night. That way they don’t need to be let out into the run in the morning - they’ll have free access all the time. I’m pretty comfortable with the feed and water availability, with multiple stations, to skip a day. I also think, but am a little concerned, that going more than one day for egg collection would be okay.

I’m using up my sitter’s good will with all the travel I still have ahead of me this year. I NEED to reduce down to the bone how much time they have to take to check on my chickens against the Hen’s safety and health.

 

[aart]

It’s been a long time since I’ve been in an office with a water bottle cooler. I remember them being quite big.

I can buy them at the grocery store for about $20, they are near the water dispenser where folks fill up whatever to have fresh water.

For my situation - gone often for many days - I need feed that will last at least a week so the sitters don’t have to mess with it.

I think if what you already have is working well, is there any need to change it?

 

[jlwquilter]

Oh right! I see them too but never thought about being able to buy one. I’ll keep that in mind.

I’m not planning on changing anything right now. Except for trusting the fence. It’s a mental security thing not based in reality. This very exact fence protected my neighbor’s chickens for almost 2 years without a predator breach. There’s no reason it won’t work just as well for me. But it’s hard for me to take that final leap.

I’m very glad to have an idea to work on if/when my current feeder set up stops working. Hopefully not for at least a year!

 

[jlwquilter]

The bin as I started. I decided to switch out the feed - will use layer pellets instead of flock raiser in the bin. I want to see if mainly using the layer pellets will address some of the shell issues my leghorns have. I’ll use the flock raiser to make fermented feed.

this is how much feed was left in the bin when I started. This plus what was in the 4 tubes added up to just less than a 5 gallon bucket full.

you can see how the holes in the bin are slightly smaller than the opening of the tubes. This was done to help funnel feed and also to make less of a feed mess when disassembling it.

More pictures next post

 

[jlwquilter]

Can’t get the pics to load in the order I want so will do this one by itself.

This pic shows the tubes after the bin is removed. They are of course filled with the feed from the bin.

 

[jlwquilter]

Taking the front tubes out. You can see the spacer that we put under the front tubes to raise them up so they are tall enough to go into the wood seat collar. We did not use the spacers for the back tubes. Having the front tubes slightly shorter and using the spacers makes getting all 4 tubes slotted into the collar easier.

The basic structure. We used a bar height chair and added a thick piece of wood to get a collar to hold the tubes.

The bin simply sits on top of this structure. The weight of the feed stops it from moving around.

It took us less than 10 minutes to disassemble it. There was no clogged or damp feed anywhere. Yea!

Since everything was clean and dry we simply reversed the steps and put it back together. I poured in the half bag of pellets I had. The pellets fed right down the tubes. I’ll be watching the next few days to ensure the pellets continue to gravity feed properly.