Suggestions for very long (but stable) feeder for fermented feed.

[Lom]

Currently we use a few chick feeders (like first pic, but no top) and a few round feeders (the bottom part of something like the second pic here, not the top part since we do fermented feed) to feed our flock, which is okay but still doesn't give enough perimeter space for everyone.

I'd like to have a (or a couple) very long feeders to maximize perimeter space. I've not seen something that exactly fits, certainly nothing marketed as a chicken feeder and nothing else I could repurpose. When we had a hundred or so little chicks I hung an cabling conduit tray (like pic below, except solid without holes on the bottom) in their coop, which worked pretty well, but I wasn't sure what metal it was made of and wasn't sure if consistent exposure to moist food would be a problem (leeching metal into their feed, etc). It might not work as well on the ground, either, as it's not very wide and so it might tip if a few stand on one side.

Anyone care to brainstorm other ideas? Priorities are:

· Long to maximize perimeter space (e.g. a big circular thing like a terracotta saucer isn't ideal)
· Suitable, in a practical and safety sense, for moist feed - so, making one myself out of wood may or may not be a good idea - the porous, hard to clean material might harbor fungus. I don't know if PVC is okay or not as far as leeching undesirable chemicals when exposed (hour after hour, day after day) to moist food.
· Wide enough to be stable - as you know the chick feeders like the first one above are very prone to being tipped over, so it needs to be wide and heavy enough to discourage that. The conduit might work by being heavy enough, or might not.

Anyone seen anything or have a DIY suggestion?

 

[azygous]

You're so stuck on the trough concept of feeders that you're missing a very easy and simple solution. Dog bowls. And if you get the ones that come with the elevated platform, it's even better because the chickens can't overturn them or kick dirt and feces into their food.

You want something that you van thoroughly clean and sanitize regularly to avoid bacterial contamination. Those trough feeders don't easily lend themselves to cleaning. Chickens deserve good hygiene as well as we do.

Using steel or aluminum with fermented feed is not a good idea as the acid in FF will leach metals into their food.

 

[raingarden]

I use dog bowls and troughs. The dog bowls are ones that flare out at the bottom so the birds can stand on the lip without overturning.

@U_Stormcrow stormcrow came up with the idea of using a piece of plastic rain gutter for a trough. Nail/screw it to a couple of pieces of two-by lumber set perpendicular to the trough to stabilize it. You can also slit a piece of 3" or 4" plastic pipe in half to make two troughs.

 

[Lom]

Dog bowls are smaller (in terms of perimeter and area) than what I'm using now, for the number of birds I have I'd need a ton of them.

 

[StinkyAcres]

A PVC pipe cut in half can be used as a long trough.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hanging-pvc-feeder-for-fermented-feed-with-baffle.1165063/
Apparently there is a food safe PVC, but I'm not sure if it's easy to get or if it will work for a trough.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I like my plastic gutters, but yes, PVC pipe works well too - though getting a straight even cut requires a table saw and a guide to keep the pipe in the same orientation the length of the cut. PVC pipe for potable water (the white stuff) is perfectly safe. Thin wall DWV (drain, waste, and vent) 3" or 4" pipe is likely cheaper and plenty safe as well, but might (particularly the 4") result in a trough a bit large for chicks.

 

[raingarden]

This was a piece of cheap DWV from the junk collection cut with a hand-held saber/jig saw.

 

[lonewolfluv3]

Currently we use a few chick feeders (like first pic, but no top) and a few round feeders (the bottom part of something like the second pic here, not the top part since we do fermented feed) to feed our flock, which is okay but still doesn't give enough perimeter space for everyone.

I'd like to have a (or a couple) very long feeders to maximize perimeter space. I've not seen something that exactly fits, certainly nothing marketed as a chicken feeder and nothing else I could repurpose. When we had a hundred or so little chicks I hung an cabling conduit tray (like pic below, except solid without holes on the bottom) in their coop, which worked pretty well, but I wasn't sure what metal it was made of and wasn't sure if consistent exposure to moist food would be a problem (leeching metal into their feed, etc). It might not work as well on the ground, either, as it's not very wide and so it might tip if a few stand on one side.

Anyone care to brainstorm other ideas? Priorities are:

· Long to maximize perimeter space (e.g. a big circular thing like a terracotta saucer isn't ideal)
· Suitable, in a practical and safety sense, for moist feed - so, making one myself out of wood may or may not be a good idea - the porous, hard to clean material might harbor fungus. I don't know if PVC is okay or not as far as leeching undesirable chemicals when exposed (hour after hour, day after day) to moist food.
· Wide enough to be stable - as you know the chick feeders like the first one above are very prone to being tipped over, so it needs to be wide and heavy enough to discourage that. The conduit might work by being heavy enough, or might not.

Anyone seen anything or have a DIY suggestion?

I'm new to chickens so can someone explain what fermented feeding is??

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm new to chickens so can someone explain what fermented feeding is??

In short, you take your dry feed, introduce moisture (water, typically), and a yeast or bacterium which will "eat" some of the carbs, breakign them down into simpler forms and releasing enzymes which make certain vitamins more bioavailable, as well as (typically) acidifying the resulting mash/mush.

Just as we use cultures to turn milk into yogurt or kefir, soy into natto, and joice into vinegar, or flour into sourdough starter - and in fact, the same yeasts and bateria are frequently used to ferment feeds.

How effective/useful it is to you depends on what you are fermenting, how you are fermenting, what you are fermenting with, and what the needs of your birds are.

 

[lonewolfluv3]

In short, you take your dry feed, introduce moisture (water, typically), and a yeast or bacterium which will "eat" some of the carbs, breakign them down into simpler forms and releasing enzymes which make certain vitamins more bioavailable, as well as (typically) acidifying the resulting mash/mush.

Just as we use cultures to turn milk into yogurt or kefir, soy into natto, and joice into vinegar, or flour into sourdough starter - and in fact, the same yeasts and bateria are frequently used to ferment feeds.

How effective/useful it is to you depends on what you are fermenting, how you are fermenting, what you are fermenting with, and what the needs of your birds are.

Thanks!! That sooo interesting! Our end goal is to be able to sell eggs under an LLC so I'm looking into everything to make the best eggs!