Hi! I've finally won DH over and am started to get chicken stuff!! The plan is 3 (maybe 4) bantam buff brahmas or salmon favs. What size and type feeders and waters would you recommend? Some of the regular size feeders seem difficult for small hens to use and would take up too much of my run. I'd like to make 3-4 days between refills if possible. I have some of the 32oz rabbit bottles. Those would work well on my run-can the girls use those? Thanks!
I had the same questions when I was looking to plan and build a coop. Someone shared pics with me and this helped immensely! I made my feeder and waterer. Total cost for both is under $20... Feeder is a 5 gallon bucket with holes in the bottom/sides with an 18" plastic planter bottom bolted on the bottom. I use a trash can lid on the rope to keep the birds from roosting on the feeder bucket. Bucket hangs with a pulley system to adjust the heights to always have it at their eye level to keep waste to a minimum. Waterer is a gravity fed nipple watering system using a 5 gallon bucket as water storage and 3/4" PVC piping into the coop with nipple waterer thingy's. The feed bucket holds a 25# bag of feed (estimate 1.5# of feed per day for full grown birds) The water supply usage will depend on several factors, most of which is heat as birds use water to cool themselves and therefore consume more in summer/hot periods. I have 7 birds (3 months old) and a 5 gallon bucket will last about 9-14 days in Florida. Hope this helps. Please be sure to help the next person Banker John