What kind of feeders do you use?

[allanimals21]

felidaet that is a good idea. I should look into something like that for my layers. They waste alot too. is this the kind of long feeder you were talking about?

 

[Akane]

The metal troughs did not work for my chicks. For young chickens when you don't have many and you raise it up off the ground with the lid that has holes instead of an open top then it's functional. For chicks and quail chicks they just ended up in it. Then one got wedged under the center bar buried down in the feed and I had to dig it out. If I used the top with holes it frequently had chicks trapped in it because they'd empty the feed out until it was low enough to go in the hole. Hanging the feeder higher so they could just reach it only encouraged them to jump on it more. One ended up nearly crushed because it was under the feeder when they all jumped in it and weighed it down just enough to trap the bottom one. Those troughs caused nothing but trouble and were hard to fill with chicks bouncing around them. I have one out in the pen in the small coop for older chicks that have gone outside but in a brooder I'm never doing that again. If the adults get to that trough they will dump it or if it has an open top instead of the holes they will scrape it empty and then have to eat the feed off the ground.

 

[allanimals21]

hmm...well I gotta figure something out. They keep digging the feed out all over the ground

 

[cactus-hen]

I don't use feeders. I toss the feed on the ground. If I put food in a feeder I would just be feeding the wild birds.

 

[eenie114]

Quote:
Thats a cool feeder!!!!! Do you have blueprints?

 

[lngrid]

What do you guys think of these feeders? I asked about this a couple of weeks ago, but the time wasn't right, I guess. I'd really like to hear your perspectives.

 

[felidaet]

I am glad some of you like this feeder and are copying it. I welcome anyone to copy it. That is why I posted the picture. The feeder is large enough to hold 150 lbs of feed!

I don't have a blueprint for my home built feeder. Sorry. I got some of the ideas for it's design from other threads on this site last winter. I started by making the two end panels first. I just took a piece of plywood and drew out what I wanted. Then I cut it out. Then I set it on top of another piece of plywood and traced it for the second end panel. I have to build another one this spring for my second (new) coop. I will probably build it similar but maybe slightly smaller. The photo does not show the inside of it. I used 2" x 2" pieces in the corners to have something to attach the plywood to and give it more strength.

I couple of critical items for the design. Notice the 45 degree angle on both the top and bottom. The top lid is angled so that the chick don't sit on it. On the bottom it is angled to push the feed to the front of the feeder.

I have a similar but much smaller setup for grit and oyster shell. There is a divider in the middle (running up and down) to divide it into two sections. Grit is in one section and oyster shell is in the other section.

Maybe after the holidays are over and decorations are put away I will have time to update my BYC page. If I do I will make sure to include details about the feeder and the grit/oyster shell dispenser. If I do I will try to include some dimensions.

 

[Rowtag]

Once everyone moved outside, I switched to a big open pan. The ducks were so bad about pulling down or spilling anything that was covered that I gave up. I like what I am using because I can put two days worth of feed in there, and it has a wide enough diameter that they don't spill anything. (I think it is like a 2" lip, and a 14" diameter) I hung a flat piece of my coops plastic roofing over it to keep out all but the sideways rain. Easier to clean than the old feeders too. I would love a gravity feeder, but they pull all the feed out onto the ground...

 

[gryeyes]

I use two, one in the coop "just in case" and one in the pen. The feeder in the coop is one of those galvanized metal, finger-slicing tray type things, and it's just there in case I get stuck someplace overnight (work issues) and can't get back to let everybody out for a day or two.

In the pen, I hang a 3-lb plastic feeder at "chicken back height" which they mostly don't spill out onto the ground. It's more likely that *I* will spill feed as I fill it.... Because it's hung from a spot half covered by solid wood, attached to hardware cloth over the other part of the pen, rain was getting into the feeder from the wire side of the secured pen.

So I meandered through the local Goodwill store looking for pie tins (I'm not a cook, don't have stuff like that at home) but found a round, plastic thingie which sorta looked like a round cake pan. I snatched that up for 49 cents, took it home, cut a hole in the middle and made an "umbrella" cover for the feeder, sliding it down the wire hanger to the top of the unit. Just have to tilt it up to fill the feeder.

It SEEMS to work well. As I said, most of the feed spillage appears to be my fault. But I am only feeding 7 chickens.

WHEN I add to the flock - sooner than later, I fear - I'll probably try to build one of those wooden gravity feeders after felidaet's design.