Show Me Your Feeders!!

[southernclucker]

Here is the feeder I just built the other day. I wanted a feeder that would sit in between the studs in the coop I just built so it doesn't take up too mush room. I also wanted a "window to keep the levels in check and the birds happily fed. It is 33" high, 12" wide and 3 1/2 inches think. Painted to match the coop interior and installed 2 latches so I can remove for filling and cleaning etc.. All materials were acquired for free through craigslist scavenging (except for the 2 latches that hold it in place). Here you can see where I angled the food towards the dish and the "plate" I made to try to keep them from scratching it all over the place. (later I cut the holes out to make 1 large oval to let it feed right) They didn't have enough room to peck at it and let the food tirckle down correctly. Here it is before the glass piece was slid in, ready for a trial run. Here it is installed but missing the plate, with them pecking around the dish it fed down the shoot great. The oval plate (not pictured worked great, little spilled food and helps to keep them from walking and pooping in it) It pops right out for cleaning and refilling, enough food for about a week for 4, 10 week old birds, 2 red star, 2 black australorps.

 

[southernclucker]

Here's mine, the first picture was what I thought would work, but the crumbles I am using came right up to the top and were being scattered all over the place, the second picture is after I fitted 2 1/2" pvc to keep the food inside. I might increase the diameter of the pvc as the birds get larger or dispense with the once I try pellets.

Genius!

 

[DeepDishChix]

I use the same feeder as Summergirl its the best since they cant spill their food.

 

[weekend hippies]

After years of frustration with cheap flimsy feeders, we finally built the 'Coolest Chicken Feeder in the World'.
Now we have no mess, mice, waste or hungry girls with this over-engineered, 210L (55 Gal) automatic chicken feeder made from recycled materials and glows in the dark!



We made a funny 3 min video about it, featuring 1-2 minutes of action footage of what is probably happening right now...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ0nO34RwJM

WARNING!!! Tested on real live Chickens!

For more chicken feeder sillyness, here's all the gory detail and 45 pictures on why and how we made it, in this ridiculously detailed blog page:
www.weekendhippies.com/the_coolest_chicken_feeder_in_the_world/in_the_beginning

And how is it going 7 months later? (all the good and bad)...
www.weekendhippies.com/the_coolest_chicken_feeder_in_the_world/7_months_after

We are not selling anything, consider this contraption ‘Open Source’, free for everyone to make an even cooler version!
Hopefully our learning and effort will benefit others in some way.

Crazy Dave & Jana
the Weekend Hippies

 

[aart]

After years of frustration with cheap flimsy feeders, we finally built the 'Coolest Chicken Feeder in the World'.
Now we have no mess, mice, waste or hungry girls with this over-engineered, 210L (55 Gal) automatic chicken feeder made from recycled materials and glows in the dark!



We made a funny 3 min video about it, featuring 1-2 minutes of action footage of what is probably happening right now...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ0nO34RwJM

WARNING!!! Tested on real live Chickens!

For more chicken feeder sillyness, here's all the gory detail and 45 pictures on why and how we made it, in this ridiculously detailed blog page:
www.weekendhippies.com/the_coolest_chicken_feeder_in_the_world/in_the_beginning

And how is it going 7 months later? (all the good and bad)...
www.weekendhippies.com/the_coolest_chicken_feeder_in_the_world/7_months_after

We are not selling anything, consider this contraption ‘Open Source’, free for everyone to make an even cooler version!
Hopefully our learning and effort will benefit others in some way.

Crazy Dave & Jana
the Weekend Hippies

Welcome to BYC.

Brilliant feeder!
Hilarious video and pic captions...great build documentation!
Zipties on top<thumbsup>
Superfluous glow paint....hopefully they don't eat it and start to glow too!

I have a very similar but much smaller feeder and love it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/aarts-almost-waste-free-funnel-bucket-feeder

 

[weekend hippies]

> Welcome to BYC. Thanks Chicken Juggler, we have been reading many of the awesome BYC articles over the years but never made any contribution. Will try to share more of what we have learned where it might be useful to others. > Brilliant feeder! > Hilarious video and pic captions...great build documentation! > Zipties on top > Superfluous glow paint....hopefully they don't eat it and start to glow too! Cheers, we were determined to nail the design, make something that would outlast my grandkids, grandkids, then never have to deal with failing feeders again. > I have a very similar but much smaller feeder and love it. > https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/aarts-almost-waste-free-funnel-bucket-feeder Yep, awesome! Doesn't have to be so over the top, you have all the essential principles there and would have saved a lot of time over our project. The trigger / bump feeder style mechanism is a spectacularly simple yet effective concept. Would recommend it to anyone to try. Start with a basic bucket, and improve it once you become convinced. I like that you put the holes in the bucket and got use of the bottom as your catch tray, stops them scratching and pooping in the food. Then the funnel guiding all the grain to one point ensures all the feed is cycled through. Very good design. Only criticism is the volume stored. But looks like you could cut out the bottom of a second bucket and firmly attach it above the funnel if you wanted it to hold more. Well done! Love the simplicity and creative use of everyday objects. And I bet you don't miss the mess, poop in the food, waste and mice! Cheers, crazy dave & Jana weekendhippies.com

 

[aart]

Yep, awesome! Doesn't have to be so over the top, you have all the essential principles there and would have saved a lot of time over our project.
The trigger / bump feeder style mechanism is a spectacularly simple yet effective concept. Would recommend it to anyone to try.
Start with a basic bucket, and improve it once you become convinced.

I like that you put the holes in the bucket and got use of the bottom as your catch tray, stops them scratching and pooping in the food. Then the funnel guiding all the grain to one point ensures all the feed is cycled through. Very good design.
Only criticism is the volume stored. But looks like you could cut out the bottom of a second bucket and firmly attach it above the funnel if you wanted it to hold more.

Well done! Love the simplicity and creative use of everyday objects.
And I bet you don't miss the mess, poop in the food, waste and mice!


Cheers,

crazy dave & Jana
weekendhippies.com

Yep, looked for another funnel and thought about cutting down this one to fit into a 7 gallon bucket for more capacity.
But luckily it holds just enough for 24+ hours for my small flock, and I like to monitor the feed daily....so this prototype became final iteration.
The goal was playing with a DIY trigger and eliminating spillage from billing out.
If I needed more capacity for more birds, I'd likely have made another just the same as limited birds can eat out of it at one time anyway.

 

[aspree]

Newbie here. What is the benefit of hanging the feeders from a chain or rope?

 

[aart]

Newbie here. What is the benefit of hanging the feeders from a chain or rope?

Keeps it off the ground where bedding will get into it....chain keeps them from perching on it.

 

[LoneOak]

Keeps it off the ground where bedding will get into it....chain keeps them from perching on it.

And if they perch on it, they will poop in it!! Keep it swinging