No spill feeder - did your chicks understand it?

[Gilded Feather]

My husband just made my flock of silkie chicks two 5 gallon no spill feeders Sunday (the ones with the elbow pvc pipes). My question is, how long will it take them to understand that their feed is now in the bucket feeders and not their normal feeder? Maybe I’m worrying too much but I’m afraid they’ll starve themselves. I have one crossbeak chick that is thin as it is and my concern is mainly for it at the moment. Will it be able to eat from a feeder like this?
I filled one quart jar feeder with crumbles Sunday morning so they would at least have something if they didn’t get it right away. I checked on them Sunday evening and usually their feed is all gone in the quart feeder by then but they still had it half way full. So is it safe to say they’re figuring it out? I took some wild clover (which they go nuts for) and stuffed it back into the pipes with a little hanging out so they’d at least reach in to see what’s in there and realize there’s food in there as well. Did I do everything right? Am I worrying too much about this? Someone reassure me please.

 

[Gilded Feather]

Nobody?

Well, I went and checked on my babies this evening and their quart feeder was still halfway full. So I’m guessing most have figured out the bucket feeders which gives me a great deal of relief.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I was going to post the same question today! I just finished my 5-gallon bucket feeder, and it is UUUUUGLYYY! I'm an old chick with weak arms and I could not get my skilsaw to go where I aimed it, lol. But I think it will hold pellets okay and it will definitely keep my goofy dog from helping herself to the chicken feed, so I filled it half full and removed the other feeder, which was a dog feeder.

Sigh. I guess all we can do now is wait and hope for the best. .... Edit: typo.

 

[DuckWhisperer06]

I was going to post the same question today! I just finished my 5-gallon bucket feeder, and it is UUUUUGLYYY! I'm an old chick with weak arms and I could not get my skilsaw to go where I aimed it, lol. But I think it will hold pellets okay and it will definitely keep my goofy dog from helping herself to the chicken feed, so I filled it half full and removed the other feeder, which was a dog feeder.

Sigh. I guess all we can do now is wait and hope for the best. .... Edit: typo.

View attachment 1840359

If you’re worried about looks, you could always paint it.

 

[Gilded Feather]

I was going to post the same question today! I just finished my 5-gallon bucket feeder, and it is UUUUUGLYYY! I'm an old chick with weak arms and I could not get my skilsaw to go where I aimed it, lol. But I think it will hold pellets okay and it will definitely keep my goofy dog from helping herself to the chicken feed, so I filled it half full and removed the other feeder, which was a dog feeder.

Sigh. I guess all we can do now is wait and hope for the best. .... Edit: typo.

View attachment 1840359

Lol hey, so long as it works - looks don’t matter! I think it looks pretty darn great myself!

But I totally get it. Everyone said this was such an easy project and honestly, I don’t know if it was me and my husband, our tools, the weather or whatever but we COULD NOT get this thing right for some reason. And usually we’re pretty darn good about doing this kind of stuff! But we went through 2 buckets and about ruined a third; although by some divine miracle we didn’t. Talk about a fine line to walk!I’m just glad it’s done!

And yes, I guess that’s all we can do is wait. But I do have to say as of today I’m pretty positive they’ve figured out how to work the bucket feeders. They had nearly a full quart feeder of crumble left this evening so obviously they’re eating something somewhere. So I guess I’m just being a worry wart for nothing.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thanks for that update @Gilded Feather, it gives me hope!

 

[Patriot00]

Our chickens learned to use it almost immediately. I just reached into an elbow, pulled some feed out and tossed it in front of them while they were watching me. They seemed to understand.

I ended up using an old Rubbermaid tote/bin that was sitting empty in the garage. The plastic is much thinner and more flexible so it did not shatter when trying to cut it like another container I tried to use. I was able to cut it with a fresh utility knife blade. It will "hold" a 50lb bag of feed, but the plastic is flexible so it doesn't actually function well that way. The tote balloons a bit and feed spills out around the elbows. I put about 25lbs in at a time.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My DH is an absolute genius, IMHO, but I may be a LEEEETLE prejudiced! He filled the pipes really full when putting the birds to bed, so when they woke up, it was obvious to them where to find the food! They are eating out of it just fine now!

 

[NAA60512]

Our chickens took to our no-waste feeder right away.

I used a 3 1/4" hole saw (I think that is what the outside diameter was) run in reverse to cut the holes for the 3" PVC street elbows. Once the holes were cut I adjusted them a little with a wood rasp in order to fit the street elbows snugly. Instead of a round hole like I expected the hole needed to be slightly elongated or egg-shaped at the top. After I filed the first one to shape I traced that hole and used the pattern to finish the others. It did not take too long and the street elbows fit so tightly in the barrel I did not have to use anything to hold them in place. Holds 150# and works very well set on two 8" concrete blocks. Every six months or so I dump a little feed dust out of the bottom. There usually isn't very much and the girls enjoy scritching through it.

 

[Gilded Feather]

My DH is an absolute genius, IMHO, but I may be a LEEEETLE prejudiced! He filled the pipes really full when putting the birds to bed, so when they woke up, it was obvious to them where to find the food! They are eating out of it just fine now!

No, you aren’t prejudiced, he IS an absolute genius! What a smart idea! I went ahead and tried this tonight. Makes me anxious to see the results in the morning.