Where to find heavy duty buckets for DIY hanging feeders/waterers

[fat brown hen]

I love my 5-gallon bucket feeders, but I hate my buckets. I buy the $5 bucket/lid sets from Tractor Supply or hardware stores. The plastic breaks down quickly in my hot desert climate. Every year, the handle attackment cracks while I'm carrying a full load, and then 5 gallons of chicken feed spill over the ground and ruin my day.

I feel silly asking this, but where do y'all buy decent buckets?

 

[wrathsfarm]

Used to be able to get buckets from restaurants like pickle buckets, but I'm not sure if they're made the same tho.
Another option is cat litter buckets. I use these to store my feed and scratch in.

 

[Sally PB]

I've gotten food grade buckets at a donut shop. They get the donut fillings in buckets, and those weigh 35-45 pounds when they're full. The handles have to be able to bear that weight, so they're well secured.

 

[wrathsfarm]

I've gotten food grade buckets at a donut shop. They get the donut fillings in buckets, and those weigh 35-45 pounds when they're full. The handles have to be able to bear that weight, so they're well secured.

Not to mention the weight I could gain cleaning them out....

 

[Sally PB]

Oh, I buy the empty buckets!

 

[wrathsfarm]

Oh, I buy the empty buckets!

"I'll take a five gallon bucket of custard filling, please?!"

 

[bearcreekbees]

I also get buckets from bakeries and donut shops. Most of the stores around here rinse them out before they give them away so they are not difficult to clean. WalMart charges for theirs so I never go there, lol (I am cheap) but if I did not have other sources I would probably spring for a buck or two at Wally World.

 

[fat brown hen]

The buckets don't need to be free. I am looking for buckets that don't disintegrate when exposed to sunlight and weather. I am willing to pay for decent buckets...

 

[whatthechickens]

Is it possible to have the bucket under shelter? I live in similar climate and have the food and water under cover in the coop so the hens won't need to sit in 110 degree sun.

 

[avjudge]

The buckets don't need to be free. I am looking for buckets that don't disintegrate when exposed to sunlight and weather. I am willing to pay for decent buckets...

Your feed store or another one nearby must have buckets for sale. Fortex is a reliable old brand.
https://www.fortexfortiflex.com/
My experience is with the black rubber ones in a much different climate. But they have stood up for decades to abuse that includes being thrown from overhead to the ground or jumped on in order to flex them enough to break inches of ice inside.

But I have no experience with your sort of problem. Standard 5 gallon buckets for me generally last indefinitely, though I now replace the plastic hand grip with a larger, more comfortable snap-on one from Amazon. They will get brittle in the cold and need to be handled a bit more gently. (No jumping up and down on them!) I don’t buy them, I salvage other people‘s cast offs from the transfer station.