thinking about making my own chick feeder

Im start out with a small chick feeder when their first hatched born so they can reach the food. A small bowl will work or saucer as long as they can reach the food it will just be messy because they will stand in it and poop and bill it out. As soon as mine grow a little I switch to a length of plastic gutter that can be raised as they grow. This cuts way down on the amout of food billed out as long as you don't fill the gutter and lets everybody feed at the same time. But the main thing I like is that if you raise it as they grow maybe every week or so it stays a lot cleaner the gutter keeps the bedding out of the feeder and they don't seem to try and climb on the feeder to eat.

 

I have a store bought chick feeder, when they arrived one little chick was consistently being pushed aside, so I added an empty mason jar lid filled with chick crumbs. They ALL fight over the mason jar lid food- they scratch in it like crazy and shoot the food everywhere it's very entertaining, but a lot of food is being wasted. I want to remove it, but they have so much fun playing in it...

 

Bowl, trough, even on the ground is just fine. As long as they're getting enough to eat, any old way to present it you wish is acceptable. Of course you might get a lot of waste, but you know that already heh.

 

You could make your own out of a plastic container. An ice cream bucket with a lid would work well - just cut head-sized holes in the sides, so only the head can go in. Otherwise they will get their feet in and scratch feed everywhere. Or use a smaller plastic jug, so you don't have to put so much feed in. Keep thinking! You have to figure out what will work best for your setup. I have an adult chicken feeder I made out of plexiglass scraps. I keep it on the outside of the fence, so the hens have to put their heads through the wire to eat. I have virtually NO waste that way.

 

I'm trying to build a chick feeder as well, but have some questions for you guys.

1. How tall is too tall for a newly hatched chick? Would a container with a lip two inches high be too tall at first?
2. About how big is a standard chick's head? Would the rim of a pop can be a suitable template for feeder holes?

Thanks in advance!