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

[Cluckies]

Yes I can. Is it safe to hang by the handle of the bucket?

I replaced the handle of my waterer with a rope and hung it from that. maybe that would work?

 

[RD ExpressionZ]

Love, Love, Love it! My husband and I made a 5 gal bucket feeder & added 3 street elbows & a screw lid. Best feeder ever! Thank you so much!!!! My next project is building an automatic door but I need to find the best auto door before I do so! Then I need to build a waterer that will not freeze in the cold winters of Wisconsin! Time to do some more research! Thank you again for the great chicken feeder!!!!

I belong to a facebook group about chickens and I'm wondering if it would be ok to share this feeder with the group?

 

[ladyearth]

yalls chickens must eat it up fast.....
cause I have had to throw out very organic etc expensive feed... cause of condensation in bucket and around the pvc elbow....
.. course they dont eat the feed much..... spoiled chickens... they prefer the various grains I put in tredle feeder and some grains I ferment seperately... and wild stuff they find in their 1/2 acre yard. I even have it 5 gallon bucket food GRADE even....under an aluminum truck topper..... shelter.... up off the ground 3 feet.....
just so hot outside it sweats....
Go figure

 

[Finnie]

yalls chickens must eat it up fast.....
cause I have had to throw out very organic etc expensive feed... cause of condensation in bucket and around the pvc elbow....
.. course they dont eat the feed much..... spoiled chickens... they prefer the various grains I put in tredle feeder and some grains I ferment seperately... and wild stuff they find in their 1/2 acre yard. I even have it 5 gallon bucket food GRADE even....under an aluminum truck topper..... shelter.... up off the ground 3 feet.....
just so hot outside it sweats....
Go figure

Oh, you have a very good point about how long it takes them to eat it up. Especially with all the other things you offer them. I don't fill mine all the way. I kind of figured out how much they eat over a few days, and it works out to about half full.

The only trouble I had with moisture in mine was when we had some big windy rain storms, and then a little bit of moisture got in via the elbows. And some of the food caked up around there. But the clumps didn't spoil. I just knocked them out.

 

[Concrete101]

Have you tried a wire or vented top. I don't have a moisture problem due to my climate but letting the moisture out might help you.

 

[bigt447]

There are some good videos on YouTube clearly showing how to make bucket feeders.

 

[mechanic57]

My feeder is inside the coop where it's exposed to weather. Like all things chicken, it's trial and error. What works for me may not work for you. Heck, with some things, what worked for one flock of my birds didn't work for my next flock.

 

[Fuzzbutt28]

You can always cut off some of the pvc on the elbow to make it shorter/closer to the bottom of the bucket..Then they don't have to reach so far..Make sure to sand and edges that may catch on there combs...You could always use a 2 gallon bucket and a smaller elbow fitting..

 

[Fuzzbutt28]

If you make the 5 gallon water bucket with the chicken nipples you can put a plastic bucket water heater in it(they make them for livestock,cattle ect)... I suggest hanging it from other than the handle on the bucket . I and several others have had the handle break due to the weight of the bucket being to heavy... I used a rubber covered cable so it would catch around the outside lip of the bucket...so far so good,,

 

[Kidhenduckohmy]

Here's a slightly larger idea. Found these food grade 15 gallon shipping barrels in local classifieds for $10. Added 3 ports and no feed loss! It holds 2 bags of feed for my 20 hens. No more filling the feeder every 3 days. This will last nearly 3 weeks! My brother also has a good size flock and built one with a 55 gallon drum as he gets his feed in bulk. Great idea!

just wondering how this feeder is working for you. I like the idea that the container is so large. Do you get much waste? Do you have the feeder up on anything?