No spill chicken feeder??? Not buying the no spill part...

[aart]

You could try changing the elbows so that they are on the outside pointed up. That's the way mine are.

Can you post pics of this configuration?

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Can you post pics of this configuration?

I had to add the 4" elbow because my roosters were bloodying their combs and wattles on the 3" elbow due to the fact that there's not enough room to get comb, head and wattles inside the 3" without hitting the edge of it. They now only use that one, whereas the hens use both.

 

[member 373180]

I agree with HoaJB, I'd bet they're digging out the goodies. Put plain feed in the feeder and keep the corn and oats aside to throw out as treats once in a while.

I have this kind of feeder and see no spilling. I feed mostly pellets and read somewhere that this is better than crumbles with this style of feeder, too. That said, I don't see spilling with either.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I really don't want to build another one.....

Try raising the feeder. They might not rake as much if they have to stand on their toes, so to speak.

 

[aart]

I had to add the 4" elbow because my roosters were bloodying their combs and wattles on the 3" elbow due to the fact that there's not enough room to get comb, head and wattles inside the 3" without hitting the edge of it. They now only use that one, whereas the hens use both.

View attachment 1547436

Interesting, thanks!
Are there elbows pointed down inside or are outer elbows flush the bucket wall?

 

[The Phantom]

I've never bought it either...seems to work for some tho.
Do you have pics of it empty?
From all I've read the length of the pipe inside (from elbow to bottom of bin) can make a difference. The 2" you have from bottom may be the problem....and it may leave a lot of feed in there unreachable by birds. Some have also lengthened the pipe outside the bin. It's a tricky one, not a design I care for. I have no need to keep that much feed in the feeder, I check and fill feeder every day to keep feed fresher and an eye on consumption.


"..90 degree pvc pipe.." is an elbow....and you clearly are unfamiliar with this design, they are supposed to go 'down', not 'up'.

This has worked well for me, key is the 3" deep 'dish'. It's too deep for them to 'bill' or drag feed out onto the floor, tho some do try to do that.
I started with a funnel and trigger mechanism, love the trigger concept but it caused issues and funnel capacity was not quite enough for daily volume of feed consumed. Then tried a stand pipe with 5 gallon bottle for a funnel. It has worked very well for 2 years now.
Details are here, scroll wayyyy down for latest iteration.

Ok. Thankyou!

Try raising the feeder. They might not rake as much if they have to stand on their toes, so to speak.

I have half bantams and some hens are giants......

 

[member 373180]

Ok. Thankyou!

I have half bantams and some hens are giants......

I'm in the same boat so I put my feeder up on cinderblocks for the big girls and then made brick stairs to some of the stations for the bantams.

 

[aart]

then made brick stairs to some of the stations

Same here...no bantams here, but definitely some smaller birds that need a 'step stool'.

 

[TheYLWFlock]

I know you don't want to build another, but this one is super easy and works like a charm, check it out:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/simple-effective-diy-no-waste-feeder.74215/

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Interesting, thanks!
Are there elbows pointed down inside or are outer elbows flush the bucket wall?

That's a 90-street elbow so what you see on the outside of OP's feeder is what you see on the inside of mine.