PVC Feeder and math...

[WhySayWhat]

Okay, I have a good handle on how the "PVC feeders" go together. I have 15 hens (hopefully) coming in April, so I have time to get these made. But, how many do I need?!? I want to do the ones in totes (I have lots of totes), but also think that having the tubes on the exterior would take up less space in the run. I don't think I need 15 90 degree holes for 15 hens, but how many do I need realistically? 1 per 3 hens, 1 per 5?

Same question for nipple waterers...I had 3 vertical nipples for my hens in the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket. I plan to use that setup again and add some horizontal ones as well. But, how many hens per nipple (obviously adding a few extra to avoid fighting, but they don't each need their own, right?

Trying to plan ahead as I have to move and revamp my coop to hold 15 hens (previously it held 3 hens, but is 12'x15' of run with a 4'x8' coop)! Rebuilding one wall of the run to be more secure, turning the coop 90 degrees to open up more floor space...also pushing the wall out a bit to add more space there too.

 

[rosemarythyme]

For the PVC feeders I'd say 1 port for every 3 birds, perhaps? I had one before and had 4 hens using 1 port and they didn't fight over it, but assume with more birds there might be a bit more fussing.

For waterers I'd probably do two of those. One realistically is enough but two would be ideal.

Another thing to consider, do you travel/vacation/work out of town at all? If the answer is yes, you might want to overbuild a bit so the food and water needs are mostly automated, makes things much easier for any chicken sitters.

 

[WhySayWhat]

For the PVC feeders I'd say 1 port for every 3 birds, perhaps? I had one before and had 4 hens using 1 port and they didn't fight over it, but assume with more birds there might be a bit more fussing.

For waterers I'd probably do two of those. One realistically is enough but two would be ideal.

Another thing to consider, do you travel/vacation/work out of town at all? If the answer is yes, you might want to overbuild a bit so the food and water needs are mostly automated, makes things much easier for any chicken sitters.

Thank you! All this math is hurting my head after long days of school with my Kindergartner and Second Grader!

As for leaving for longer periods of time, my husband and I do not travel together. It's difficult to find anyone to watch our pets is hard enough, adding on 10-15 hens will make finding a pet sitter even harder! My husband stays home, he hates to travel anyway.

 

[rosemarythyme]

As for leaving for longer periods of time, my husband and I do not travel together. It's difficult to find anyone to watch our pets is hard enough, adding on 10-15 hens will make finding a pet sitter even harder! My husband stays home, he hates to travel anyway.

Ahh you live like us. Hubby and I usually "vacation" separately because I stress out over the animals and plants being left in other people's care.

I still plan for absences just in case we both need to go somewhere (like a wedding out of state) but that's incredibly rare, and we shorten the trips as much as possible on top of that.

 

[Alaskan]

I don't think I need 15 90 degree holes for 15 hens, but how many do I need realistically? 1 per 3 hens, 1 per 5?

I would aim for about 4 hens per port... but TWO different feeders, so when you introduce new birds the 2 feeders can be placed far apart.

 

[FeatheredFriends&Horses2]

I haven’t used PVC feeders, but for most feeders universities generally suggest you should have about 3” of feeder space per bird.

 

[MissMonty]

Here's what I have done, we made our own PVC feeders using roughly 6" PVC and made a "Y". They go up to about my ribs, so maybe 3-4ft tall.

We were feeding 20 chickens at one point using two of these and it was working fine. I do spread out our stuff so we have a dish for kitchen scraps, dish for scratch, dish for oyster shells, water, all spread out in the coop so they were pretty separated. Plus when I had that many I also had them out on grass too. It worked well. If I filled them all the way to the top we could go about a week or two before needing to refill depending on how much they were out.

Mine were two separate feeders too, that way if something happened I wasn't wasting too much feed at once. Say some how one gets wet that just means I had one I needed to dump versus losing a whole feed bag for example. As I'm building up my flock this year I plan to add a few more feeders so I end up about 4-5 birds per feeder

 

[WhySayWhat]

I would aim for about 4 hens per port... but TWO different feeders, so when you introduce new birds the 2 feeders can be placed far apart.

We won’t be introducing any new birds, but excellent advice! I’m only allowed to have 10 and ordered 15.