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

[ChicKat]

marking

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thank you both for the info! I got the street ones so do I still have to cut something off? And I didn't see the lids but I'll have to go back and look. They had them sitting in front of a couple aisles and I only went down the one so I'm sure they're there somewhere. Thank you!

 

[mechanic57]

Not sure what store you went to but the big box stores are usually not far from each other. If one is out of lids check the other. They all carry white lids along with either orange or blue depending on the store colors. For 8 birds 2 would be enough, 3 is more than enough. Wouldn't hurt to have 3 if you plan on adding birds to your flock. They don't all eat at the same time so they won't be fighting for an opening.

 

[henless]

Thank you both for the info! I got the street ones so do I still have to cut something off? And I didn't see the lids but I'll have to go back and look. They had them sitting in front of a couple aisles and I only went down the one so I'm sure they're there somewhere. Thank you!

If you got the street elbows, you will have one end with a cuff, and the other end will have a flange. Cut the cuff off, then put the elbow inside the bucket and push the flanged end out of the hole. The flange will be up against the bucket keeping it from coming out. You slip the part you cut off over the pvc that is sticking out of the bucket. This should hold it good. You may have a bit of movement, but it shouldn't be much.

You will find the lids in the paint section.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Not sure what store you went to but the big box stores are usually not far from each other. If one is out of lids check the other. They all carry white lids along with either orange or blue depending on the store colors. For 8 birds 2 would be enough, 3 is more than enough. Wouldn't hurt to have 3 if you plan on adding birds to your flock. They don't all eat at the same time so they won't be fighting for an opening.

I went to Home Depot but you are right that they are fairly close by haha Lowe's is even closer but they didn't have the fence thing we needed. I didn't really look for the lids, just saw the buckets at the end of the aisles and grabbed two. I walked down one aisle but there were people in it so didn't really look but it was the paint section and they had buckets filled with paint and stuff but no just lids but then again I only looked in the one aisle. I'll have to look again. And thanks for the info on how many to put it, I may just 2 at first and see how they do.

If you got the street elbows, you will have one end with a cuff, and the other end will have a flange. Cut the cuff off, then put the elbow inside the bucket and push the flanged end out of the hole. The flange will be up against the bucket keeping it from coming out. You slip the part you cut off over the pvc that is sticking out of the bucket. This should hold it good. You may have a bit of movement, but it shouldn't be much.

You will find the lids in the paint section.

I think maybe I got the wrong kind or something?

These are mine.

And I was in the paint section but didn't really look hard and only one aisle. I'll be more through.

 

[henless]

I went to Home Depot but you are right that they are fairly close by haha Lowe's is even closer but they didn't have the fence thing we needed. I didn't really look for the lids, just saw the buckets at the end of the aisles and grabbed two. I walked down one aisle but there were people in it so didn't really look but it was the paint section and they had buckets filled with paint and stuff but no just lids but then again I only looked in the one aisle. I'll have to look again. And thanks for the info on how many to put it, I may just 2 at first and see how they do.
I think maybe I got the wrong kind or something?

These are mine.

Those aren't the street elbows we are talking about. You can't get a 3" street elbow. They go from 2" then jump to 4". They are in the sewer section, not in the water pipe section. I also could not find them at Home Depot. I had to get mine at Lowes.

I got some like that when I first started. You can use them or exchange them, it's up to you. If you use them, DON"T cut off the cuff, the part at the top. Cut off the bottom. See the indention on the bottom part in your pic? That is where you will cut the elbow. Then just put it in like it says at the beginning for this thread.

Here is a 4" sewer street elbow:


See the flange at the top and the cuff at the bottom? If you had one like this, you cutt off the cuff. That part will be in the feed. The top, where the flange is, will be poking out of the bucket and you will slip the cuff over it holding it. The flange keeps the elbow from coming out and the cuff will keep it from falling inside the bucket.

To find the lids, go down the paint isle. You have to find where they have all the empty buckets. They range from 1 to 5 gallons, different sizes/colors.

 

[COChix]

@jimmywalt
 have you tried to change your city ordinance so that you could have chickens again?  This thread and the horizontal nipple not freezing thread are genius, and automatic chicken door of course!  we need you to have chickens again to help us with new great ideas! e

X2

Jimmy - I have to admit you have some of the best ideas...I refer people to this thread and the HN thread all the time. I love our bucket feeders, we have 15 g drum feeder that hold 75# of feed and a 5 g bucket feeder as well. I love filling the large feeder maybe once a month....thanks again for thinking outside the box and sharing it here.

 

[worms7]

How far up the outside of the bucket should I use my hole saw
Cheers

 

[mechanic57]

You want to cut the hole so that the part of the elbow inside the bucket is 1.5 inches from the bottom of the bucket.

KDOGG331, I used those elbow you have and got 3 in the bucket but I had to cut off the coupling at the big end. I put the elbow into the bucket with the cut end down. The uncut end should stick out of the bucket. The cut off coupling then gets glued onto the uncut end of the elbow on the outside of the bucket. The coupling now makes it where the elbow cannot fall into the bucket because your hole should be just big enough for the uncut end of the elbow to pass through. Not saying other types of elbows won't work, but I did use the ones you're asking about.

 

[worms7]

Are the elbows the 90 degree ones
Cheers