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DH can take a picture, but so far hasn't been repeatedly successful getting the pic into his computer
let me describe:
go to thrift store or garage sale, get a circular (or other shape) tray with a lip or raised edge on it, at least three inches wider on each side, than the bucket you are going to use
bucket can be your standard work type 5 gallon plastic bucket with lid
or the smaller (approx) 3-gallon bucket that Costco (and other places) sell granular dishwasher detergent in (it also has a lid)
drill or cut oval holes in several places around the bucket edge at or near the bottom, so the feed comes through smoothly but not fast
(oval or rectangular holes, so the birds can get their beaks in to pull feed out when the level gets low)
bore a hole in the center of the tray, bore a hole in the center of the bottom of the bucket (about the size of the bolt I mention next)
get a bolt 2 to 4 inches long, four wide washers, and a tube or spacer about half an inch shorter than the bolt
and a nut to fit the bolt
once you have all those, take the bolt, head end down, put a washer on it, and push it up through the hole in the tray
put another washer on the bolt, add the spacer, then another washer, then push the whole thing up through the hole in the bucket
add the last washer, install the nut, and tighten it down
then hang the whole contraption by the bucket's bail -- I used wide rubber tie down type bungee straps, so they could bump it to get the feed flowing
OK...it sounds like a giant version of a red & white chicken feeder. So is it enough surface area to feed the birds without crowding??
When I put 2 shoe box feeders out to feed my girls, one duck ended up dead and I think she starved to death because the rest kept her away from the feeders.
I was toying with the idea of making a feeder out of a 6 foot length of gutter and maybe have two 5 gallon buckets on the far sides. So maybe have a big hole in the middle (bottom) and maybe make it flow better by putting a cone inside the bucket...and maybe suspended off the ground away from the critters and somehow covered on top...from the occasional sprinkle....ok and down pours. Maybe then I can go on weekend trips.
I also want to buy an automatic door opener so I don't have to go out so often...LOL.
But maybe I can build 2 of the feeders you've described and attach a dollar store umbrella to the top and hang the buckets from something.
the 3-gallon bucket I used is more than big enough for my seven to gather around, with space left over
I suggest the holes in the SIDES of the bucket, rather than in the middle bottom, because that would encourage the beasties to fight over the center, push and shove and get tempers riled
get a thrift store GOLF umbrella (yeah it would be 3 or 4 bucks) then you could wind up with two under one "roof" --
or simply get a bigger tray for the bottom portion (yes, it's like the red and white feeders BUT ... those have such a narrow lip for the chickens, that they bill out, onto the ground, more than they eat -- the three inches between bucket and upturned tray lip on mine, seem to keep the feed IN the feeder so the feed goes into chicken and not onto ground)
for yours, I'd visualize something on the order of 2-1/2 feet diameter --- maybe one of those shallower dishpans or oversize salad bowls or even a lipped pizza tray
I don't bother with an internal cone in the bucket (my experience with birdfeeders is that mold and glop tend to grow under those)
instead I just twirl the bucket a little bit, to shake the feed to the outside near the holds
it's hanging under a tarp -- actually my run turned out to be exactly the right size to fit under a 10x12 tarp, bungee-corded down all the way around, with a center circus-tent type pole anchored in a big (full of dirt) strawberry-pot, so the rain rolls off to the ore-troughs around the outside perimeter of the run
I bungeed the run fencing to 1-1/2 inch PVC pipes set horizontally lengthwise at the top so the fencing doesn't buckle, with several pipes set crosswise too, then bungeed the tarp over that
it stays put in wind (the bungees "give" a little so it doesn't try to sail) and the ground stays dry so the chickens love the powdery dirt of the ex-vegetable-garden which had a lot of compost and shredded branches dug into it, ten years ago or so .. they can't dig too far down because under that top couple of inches of dirt, is a lot of rock, gravel, and sand filling in between -- y' know, standard glacial till
