Where do you get pvc for feeders

[MIChickandGuinea]

I keep seeing great-looking ideas for PVC feeders, and I want to make one. But the only PVC I can easily locate is at Home Depot, and it’s super-thick and heavy. It’s also really expensive. It looks to me like in photos of people’s tutorials about making PVC feeders, the plastic doesn’t look super-thick.

Is there thin-walled PVC out there that has proper fittings/caps, and which isn’t so expensive?

 

[Zinjifrah]

I just built a five gallon bucket feeder, and bought the pvc from a local hardware store. It's fairly heavy, but considering the uses it's normally put to, I don't think you'll find anything thinner. It needs to be able to take internal pressure. I used two inch, instead of three inch, since my birds are all bantams, and bought ninety degree long connectors, female on both ends, then cut them in half to get two 'founts' out of each one. The sealant to hold them in place dried today, and I set it up - within ten seconds my chicks were eating out of it perfectly, and loving it.

 

[paneubert]

Yeah, you aren't going to really find a variety of thickness since PVC is meant to hold pressure and so the walls are as thick as needed. Usually going to be schedule 40 or schedule 80 if you want to Google around to read up about those standards.

That being said, I just looked it up and for schedule 40, the outside wall thickness does not vary that much as the overall diameter increases. Check out: http://www.mcnichols.com/?pageCode=pipedims

 

[jreardon1918]

I think you could use 4 inch pvc. Drain pipes. Lowe’s near me sells a ten foot length for $11. Take a look at my coop build article. I used 3” pvc. I think 4” by 4 feet would give me a much larger capacity.

 

[aart]

DVW (DrainWasteVent) PVC has thinner walls..
.....unlike the schedule 40 or 80 for pressurized water lines.

 

[Criticalicious]

I used 3" diameter PVC from Lowe's to make a feeder. Unlike Home Depot, Lowe's stocks it in 2ft, 5ft, and 10 ft lengths (one of those won't fit in my Honda). When you add together the pipe and a Y-connector plus end-caps, my total was around $20. Compared to a similar pre-made item I saw sold for $100, I considered it a win.

 

[mr_dave]

The Lowe's and Home Depot in my town don't stock PVC drain pipe in wide diameters. PVC only goes up to 1-1/2". All the 3" and 4" drain pipes are ABS. Anyone have opinions about ABS for feeders? Anyone worried about chemical leach from ABS or the fire retardant coatings?

 

[Dayrel]

Very important if you don't want to waste money (like me). There are three grades of PVC pipes and accessories: schedule 40 (basic), schedule 80 (heavier duty for more pressure) and DWV sewer/drain (thinner/lighter). In many cases, you can't mix them as they are designed to be tight-fitting. So, a 4" DWV pipe won't fit properly with a 4" schedule 40 elbow, etc.

Figure out exactly what parts you need and test fit them all at the store. You'll save yourself additional trips, money and cursing.

 

[Criticalicious]

The Lowe's and Home Depot in my town don't stock PVC drain pipe in wide diameters. PVC only goes up to 1-1/2". All the 3" and 4" drain pipes are ABS. Anyone have opinions about ABS for feeders? Anyone worried about chemical leach from ABS or the fire retardant coatings?

Search for DWV pipe. I found it near the plumbing aisles. Here's the Wye piece:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Charlotte-Pipe-3-in-dia-PVC-Schedule-40-Wye-Fitting/3132803

And unless you're cooking the pipe full of dry chicken food (doubtful), you should be safe.