Make your own - No waste - 5 gallon (25# feed) bucket feeder for about $3

[Petitebird]

Here's mine. 8 ports, I did not use glue, silicon, or hardware to hold the street elbows in. Holds 150#, been using it for a little more than two years.View attachment 1830753

Where did you get your ports? The ports that I got did not work, still a lot spills.

 

[Alaskan]

Where did you get your ports? The ports that I got did not work, still a lot spills.

Are the pipes that come out too short?

I found that mine dies better when elevated just a bit, I place it on a block.

Also, 2 ports needed collars attached to make them just a little bit longer.

Then... perfect.

 

[TheLogHomestead]

First off thanks to JetDog who I first saw posted about this incredible feeder. I've been using it for the past couple months and I will NEVER EVER go back to any other kind of feeder!

I started out with the basic red/white plastic feeder that all the feed stores sell............ the chickens wasted more food than they ate so I knew I had to figure out something else.



I then made a PVC tube feeder, but it only held a few pounds of food and seemed to need to be refilled all the time..... and I only have 5 chickens



So then I read about the 5 gallon bucket feeder from Jetdog.................... And I've never turned back!

This thing is SOOO easy to make and it will hold 25 lbs of pellet food!!!

First thing you need is a 5 gallon bucket. You can purchase one at one of the home improvement stores, or if you want to save a few bucks like me you can get a used pickle bucket from your local fast food restaurant for free, or even try your local bakery for a 5 gallon frosting bucket.

Next you need 3" pvc elbow (about $3 at Lowes) and a 3-1/2" hole saw (you can get the hole saw cheap at Harbor Freight).

Cut the end of the elbow off at the red line (see pic below) and then figure out where the hole in the bucket should be so that when you stick the CUT END into the bucket it's about 3/4" off the bottom. Silicone or pvc cement around inside and out, put the top on the bucket and you're set!

I also added an "extension" to the end of the elbow that the chickens stick their heads in to get the food to make the hole a bit smaller and also so that they have to go farther in. This TOTALLY eliminated ALL spilled pellets! The "extension" adds about 1" deeper they need to go. See pictures below.

I put the bucket on a few patio bricks to bring it up to about chest height on my chickens.

My bucket only has 1 elbow but you could probably add up to 3 if you wanted to feed around the entire bucket.






You can see the extension (3" PVC pipe that I added to the elbow in the picture below)



Here is a picture of the bucket in my coop via my coop web cam.



Picture from inside the bucket


Here is the finished product sitting next to my 5 gallon heated water for the winter. There's a link in my signature below for instructions on the waterer.


Another BYC friend of mine (LoneOak) suggested using a "Street Elbow" - I think his idea might work better. -
I used a street elbow in mine which has two different kinds of ends. I cut off the hub end and inserted the spigot end into the bucket. Then I cleaned up the hub end and put it over the spigot end (with the elbow still attached) and pushed it tight against the bucket. The hub fits securely over the spigot holding it all together without any fasteners or glue.


Once you make and use this type of feeder you will NEVER use anything else again!!!!!!!!!!

This is awesome would you dare use this for water?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Bomgaar's carries a kit that includes a drill bit for cutting holes for the ports. I just made another one of these yesterday, which brings my current count to three. I do get a little spillage out of these as the entrance is practically flush on the outside. A little deeper port would be better, but these are still pretty good.

 

[Stick2guts]

First off thanks to JetDog who I first saw posted about this incredible feeder. I've been using it for the past couple months and I will NEVER EVER go back to any other kind of feeder!

I started out with the basic red/white plastic feeder that all the feed stores sell............ the chickens wasted more food than they ate so I knew I had to figure out something else.



I then made a PVC tube feeder, but it only held a few pounds of food and seemed to need to be refilled all the time..... and I only have 5 chickens



So then I read about the 5 gallon bucket feeder from Jetdog.................... And I've never turned back!

This thing is SOOO easy to make and it will hold 25 lbs of pellet food!!!

First thing you need is a 5 gallon bucket. You can purchase one at one of the home improvement stores, or if you want to save a few bucks like me you can get a used pickle bucket from your local fast food restaurant for free, or even try your local bakery for a 5 gallon frosting bucket.

Next you need 3" pvc elbow (about $3 at Lowes) and a 3-1/2" hole saw (you can get the hole saw cheap at Harbor Freight).

Cut the end of the elbow off at the red line (see pic below) and then figure out where the hole in the bucket should be so that when you stick the CUT END into the bucket it's about 3/4" off the bottom. Silicone or pvc cement around inside and out, put the top on the bucket and you're set!

I also added an "extension" to the end of the elbow that the chickens stick their heads in to get the food to make the hole a bit smaller and also so that they have to go farther in. This TOTALLY eliminated ALL spilled pellets! The "extension" adds about 1" deeper they need to go. See pictures below.

I put the bucket on a few patio bricks to bring it up to about chest height on my chickens.

My bucket only has 1 elbow but you could probably add up to 3 if you wanted to feed around the entire bucket.






You can see the extension (3" PVC pipe that I added to the elbow in the picture below)



Here is a picture of the bucket in my coop via my coop web cam.



Picture from inside the bucket


Here is the finished product sitting next to my 5 gallon heated water for the winter. There's a link in my signature below for instructions on the waterer.


Another BYC friend of mine (LoneOak) suggested using a "Street Elbow" - I think his idea might work better. -
I used a street elbow in mine which has two different kinds of ends. I cut off the hub end and inserted the spigot end into the bucket. Then I cleaned up the hub end and put it over the spigot end (with the elbow still attached) and pushed it tight against the bucket. The hub fits securely over the spigot holding it all together without any fasteners or glue.


Once you make and use this type of feeder you will NEVER use anything else again!!!!!!!!!!

How many feeders do I need if I have seven chickens

 

[Alaskan]

How many feeders do I need if I have seven chickens

It depends on how well integrated they are . . ...

But for 7 hens I would get one tub with 2 or 3 ports.

Whenever you are integrating new chickens, set up a second feeder far away from the first one... just to prevent bullying.