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

[NewChickmom2016]

MyChicksBRuff-
There is a picture of our 2 opening feeder up a few in this thread. My husband cut away the bottom of the PVC fitting that sticks out of the container. This allows the chicken to get closer into the feeder. That might make a difference for your chickens with your feeder.

I put a few dried mealworms in the opening to the feeder and the chickens took right to it. They stick their heads right in and eat away.
-Jerie

 

[MeepBeep]

I've thought about maybe trimming the PVC part thats in the bucket, so that it doesnt go as deep, essentially making the feed level a little higher where they could see and it and get to it easier. Any ideas? 

You actually want them to have to stick their head in there deep as this is what prevents them from tossing food out, but if you go back to the first page of this thread I trimmed mine like TheGeekySheep did, it's hard to tell from your picture how far they have to reach in, if you didn't trim the elbows at all and they are the same size as the one's I used that might be an issue...

 

[JDelage]

I made a 2-hole feeder, using this design. Awesome idea. How long does it normally takes the chickens to figure it out? I put the new bucket feeder in a couple days ago and filled the holes up by hand a bit with feed so they could see it easier and figure it out. Well they ate all of that, and now the feed is further down in the bucket, where they would have to stretch their heads further. It seems like they're not touching it anymore. I watched them in the camera this morning, for about 30 minutes after they all came out of the coop. None of them are eating from it. I've thought about maybe trimming the PVC part thats in the bucket, so that it doesnt go as deep, essentially making the feed level a little higher where they could see and it and get to it easier. Any ideas?

Complete newbie here but have you tried filling the elbows with feed - from the outside - till the feed level inside the elbows is artificially high and basically level with the opening? I would think the chickens would see the feed, and eat it and train themselves to go deeper by small increments...

 

[wyofam]

I am also a newbie to chickens. I built a similar bucket to yours with 2 places for
The chickens to feed. The bottom of my elbows sit about 3/4 inches off the bottom of my bucket. Before the bucket feeder I had a standard hanging feeder that the chickens spilled everywhere. It seemed like most days there were about 50 sparrows, doves, starling etc eating all the food along with a few pesky squirrels. When I switched to the new design it completely eliminated waste and I never have flocks of birds in my run. The chickens from day 1 figured out where the food was and started eating out of the bucket. My chickens stick their entire necks in to get the food. I have the top of the opening at about back height and it seems to work well. The feed goes down a lot slower because I think there is less waste and other birds don't get into it. If they know where the food is and are hungry I would think they would use the feeder. There isn't a ton of food in the bottom portion of my elbows but they seem to eat it and over a few days I can notice the food going down. I free range my chickens so it may go down slower than others who keep their chickens in a run. I only have 6 birds so 25 lbs lasts almost 2 weeks. Maybe try throwing a few treats in the elbows. I am sure they will be able to figure it out. Just may require patience

 

[MyChicksRBuff]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I made mine with street elbows that I got at Lowes, kinda like described on page 1. They were fairly deep when installed. I would fill the cups up some with feed, the chickens would eat that, and then not touch it. I ended up trimming the inside about 1/2", and also trimmed and angled the back of the inside even further up, maybe an extra 1-1.5". I started with just trimming the whole thing (the part that points down inside the bucket) by the 1/2", but I use pellets and I was noticing that, though they were eating it, after a day there was nothing but powder left in the holes. So hopefully angling the back up another 1-1.5" will allow for more pellets to fall into the hole. We'll see how it goes. Just modified it last night.
After the last few days I have noticed that it appears that all the hens are eating from it, but the rooster still will not stick his head into the hole. He actually is pestering the hens as they are eating, hoping to grab a crumb that they drop as he pushes them out of the way. Maybe with his giant head and comb, he doesnt wanna stick his neck in?

 

[aart]

I keep thinking about this design...and see many disadvantages.
Large fittings are expensive.
Doesn't always eliminate billing out.
Head 'buried' in fitting leaves bird vulnerable to bullying.
Only 1 bird at a time can feed per station.
Biggest thing that bugs me tho is, container is never fully emptied, leaving stale and possibly moldy feed at bottom or extra work to empty and clean container on occasion.
Just my thoughts.

 

[MeepBeep]

I keep thinking about this design...and see many disadvantages.
Large fittings are expensive.

I personally don't find $3.98 for a 4" street elbow to be all that expensive or expensive at all, but understand to some it might be... Also, based on the amount of feed I was wasting on the ground and around the other types of feeders, prior to using this feeder the elbow cost was easily negated in only a few short weeks time in saved feed cost...

http://www.lowes.com/pd/4-in-Dia-90-Degree-PVC-Sewer-Drain-Street-Elbow/3609606

Doesn't always eliminate billing out.

Based on personal experience I would beg to differ, if built properly even if it does not stop 100% of billing out it has for all intents eliminated nearly all billing out and I have yet to see a feeder design shown to that eliminate more billing out so it clearly wins in that category for me...

Head 'buried' in fitting leaves bird vulnerable to bullying.

Can't say I experience this... Rarely is every port on my feeders being used at once (but that could certainly vary by feed port to bird ratio, just like it does for water nipples) even in the morning the birds all come off from roost at different times and do different things, so there is not even a mad rush at first light to the feeder that I have observed... Maybe my mixed flock is unique but I have never observed any thing I would call bullying while they feed at least nothing more than normal chicken pecking order activity that would be happening at any type of feeder...

Only 1 bird at a time can feed per station.

Regardless of feeder type there is always going to be a limit to the number of birds that can eat at a single time with any feeder...

Biggest thing that bugs me tho is, container is never fully emptied, leaving stale and possibly moldy feed at bottom or extra work to empty and clean container on occasion.

For this I will fully beg to differ as false... My feeder if I let it go will be as empty as one would expect with just a little food in the corners, maybe a single cup or two total left in the entire feeder most of the bottom of the feeder is bare... Either way before I refill I simply tilt or shake the feeder and the small amount of feed left in the corners gets redistributed across the bottom to be eaten first with the new load, and since I fill it every 1-3 days, that left over feed hardly has a chance to get moldy or stale... Also being in a mostly enclosed container, there is no condensation, poop,rain or what not getting on the food and that helps greatly in eliminating spoiled food...

I do understand it might not be for everyone, but based on my hands on experience with multiple types of feeders, this one has come out on top with nothing else I have tried being close...

 

[aart]

I do understand it might not be for everyone, but based on my hands on experience with multiple types of feeders, this one has come out on top with nothing else I have tried being close...

I guess if I didn't have this one.....
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/aarts-almost-waste-free-funnel-bucket-feeder
. ......I might reconsider.

 

[MeepBeep]

I do understand it might not be for everyone, but based on my hands on experience with multiple types of feeders, this one has come out on top with nothing else I have tried being close...

I guess if I didn't have this one..... 
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/aarts-almost-waste-free-funnel-bucket-feeder
.                                                            ......I might reconsider.

That design is beyond unpractical for the number of birds I have since it's not readily scalable and thus does not meet my needs or wants, so no it's not a consideration to be close based on my needs and wants...

For example if this is the funnel you use http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/delphos-utility-funnel-4-qt?cm_vc=-10005 then that total volume of feed is about 4 quarts or about 4-5 lbs of crumbles good for only about 10-12 birds a day... I would literally need a dozen or more of those feeders filled to the brim to hopefully make it though a single day of feeding my birds... With a dozen plus feeders would come prohibitive additional cost, coop clutter and extra daily maintenance all negatives IMO with no gains... IMO it's unpractical to make this trigger bar design 'larger' and upscale it without introducing other issues and prohibitive additional cost...

With openings that large, I guarantee my Guineas (and bantams) would crawl right in and make a huge mess of the feeder and/or try turning it into a nesting box, if one was to make the opening smaller so that a bird is not able to crawl in, doesn't that lend towards your proclaimed negatives of elbow design?

I used a simple reach in hole design for a bit, but I only used 3.5" round cut outs anything larger and I guarantee I would find birds crawling into feeder...

Honestly though I can also see many of your above proclaimed negatives of the elbow design could arguable be applicable to your design as well...

If it works for you that is great as there is no single design that works for all, with that said, I still stand firm that it's not even a close second in feeder design based on my needs and wants...

 

[aart]

Well, we all have different needs as well as design aesthetics.
Mine works perfect for the 15-18 birds I keep over winter,
capacity is more than enough for 24 hours of feed.
Have never had a bird crawl into bucket bottom.....
.....except a few chicks, who got nailed pronto and big time when they tried it....haha!
I use a couple different feeder designs for chicks until they can reach the main feeder.