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

[Idspud]

Love this idea.

 

[Jerschicks]

After using one of these for a while, any idea how many i would need for 35 hens?

 

[chad-o]

After using one of these for a while, any idea how many i would need for 35 hens?

Solway Feeders say 6 to 8 birds per horizontal nipple.

 

[TexasMomof5]

We figured 3 birds per nipple (per packaging instructions on the back of the package of chicken nipples).

 

[ShockValue]

I was at Home Depot today looking for the elbows for this project. They didn't have 3" in PVC, only in ABS. I've done a little reading and from what I can tell ABS is considered non-toxic (or at least as non-toxic as PVC and plastic gets.)


Any thoughts on using ABS on this project? Wouldn't want to harm the chickens or myself with weird chemicals leeching into their food supply.

 

[jimmywalt]

I was at Home Depot today looking for the elbows for this project. They didn't have 3" in PVC, only in ABS. I've done a little reading and from what I can tell ABS is considered non-toxic (or at least as non-toxic as PVC and plastic gets.)


Any thoughts on using ABS on this project? Wouldn't want to harm the chickens or myself with weird chemicals leeching into their food supply.

Don't sweat it. After all, what is the bucket made from????

My chickens have been eating out of one with PVC and not of them have grown a 3rd leg, their eggs don't have blue yokes, and my eyes aren't crossing from eating the eggs.

Don't sweat it!

 

[Jerschicks]

Sorry i should have been more specific. I was inquiring about the feeders. How many would i need for 35 hens?

 

[TexasMomof5]

Sorry i should have been more specific. I was inquiring about the feeders. How many would i need for 35 hens?

Depending on how many holes you are feeding, for instance our 5 gal buckets have 2 holes in them, you figure 3 birds per hole. Your feeders should allow for an appropriate amount of food to feed through out the day. It's not necessarily the number of feeders but the size of feeders. If you have a 50 gal drum with 4 to 6 holes in it, you should be able to feed 12 to 18 chickens per drum.Typically, birds eat about 1/4 pound of food per day if you're aren't free ranging at all. Hope this helps.

 

[ShockValue]

I wanted something to build tonight, so I got to work on this feeder.
It's a bit of a stretch for 6 week old chickens, but I was surprised at how quickly they buried their heads in there at got to work.


Problems:
Mounting a flat surface to a curved bucket
The elbows were too big so they were pushing against each other on the inside not allowing me to line them up properly.

I guess the best solution would be to get a large square bucket (I tried in a smaller square but it didn't allow for more than 1 elbow to fit)

 

[Concrete101]

I will be moving my chicks to the coop soon and needed a new feeder. I cut the elbow as shown. I cut the hole with the razor knife after marking it with a sharpie and pushed the fitting into the hole. I set it in the brooder to see if the chicks would catch on. They are about six weeks old. They were in the feeder before I could get my hand out of the brooder. I will be putting together another one soon.