Custom built--No Waste--PVC Feeders

[LoneOak]

I just recently built these two new PVC feeders,





I built these with the inexpensive PVC drain pipe and have about $26 total in the two feeders. I built the first one -with the RIW- hens and didn't drill the eating holes big enough to begin with. I have already trimmed them out a little bit but I do believe that I will have to open them up a little more. The second one -with the RIR Roosters- I went ahead and drilled 2" holes in the pipe to begin with. There is no waste with these feeders because the birds have to stick ther heads inside and can't fling the feed out on the ground.

At the top I used two 45degree elbows with a little nipple in the middle so I could fill them from outside the pen without having to go inside. I put all the PVC together with #8x1/2" self tapping sheet metal screws and didn't use any glue at all. I wasn't sure if my idea would work so I wanted to be able to take it apart and not have to buy new fittings and pipe. So far the design has been darn near perfect You can see in the first picture how the top sticks out of the wire and has a removable cap on top for filling. The tubes are about 45" tall and hold a whole lot of feed, I estimate between 12 or 15 lbs. The bottom feeder tubes have a slight downward slope to allow the feed to fall, I may take it apart and trim the tube so I can get more slope. These birds are still on starter grower crumbles and occasionally it doesn't drop down like it should, I think the wet damp weather has something to do with it, I have to tap on the tube a little to get the feed to drop. Once I change to laying pellets I expect that problem to disappear, I will wait on layer pellets before I decide if it needs more downward slope.

These two pens in one stall of my barn will eventually be breeding pens and are about 5'x8' but don't have an outdoor run yet, that will come just as soon as I get a little extra money for fence. Both pens will have 5 gal bucket nesting boxes and in the bottom pic you can see how they will look. I am going to cut holes in the bucket bottoms and cover with a plastic door so I can gather eggs from the outside and I am able to fill feed from the outside. Both of these pens have water cups that get their water from the tidy cat bucket which has a float in it and feeds from a 55 gal barrel in the hay loft. I can put ACV in the tidy cat bucket which feeds these two pens and another in the other barn stall (9 water cups total) weekly and never have to go in the pen except to clean it.



I'm not finished yet but it gets closer and closer everyday!! I still have a lot of work to do on my old original coop.

 

[farmerbrowne]

Nice Ideas! How high do you put your roosts? I am just building a coop for the first time and am looking at all ideas

 

[SpicySalsa]

Awesome feeder. My hubby made one similar but with only a single hole for out in the run. The girls love them and no mess! Great job.

 

[LoneOak]

These breeding pens are only 4 ft high, as high as the OSB board separating them. The rest of the height to the ceiling in the barn is covered with 2" chicken wire to keep the birds separated. I have roost poles on both sides about 3 ft off the ground. Grant you they will try to roost on the highest perch they can get on. If you look at the pictures you can see the Tidy cat bucket that holds water that feeds the water cups, well they were trying to roost on it so I covered it with chicken wire then they tried to roost on the wire. I went out every night for several days in a row and would have to show the RIWs down off the wire until one day one of them had climbed all the way to the top and got his foot hung in the wire and then fell over. I found him hanging upside down with his foot stuck in the wire at the very top of the stall. I got him down that time and I believe he did it once more but fell off on his own because the next day he was on the ground and could barely walk or jump up on the short roost pole, I think he had got all the way to the top and fell off hitting himself on the ground 8 ft below in the dark. The waterers were turned around and it just didn't look normal in the coop, it has never happened again.

So as you can see it doesn't really matter how high you put your roost poles, the birds will try to roost on the highest thing they can get to and sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fall. I really like limbs as roost poles with natural curves and bark on them , cut them the right length and screw a board to each end and then attach the board to the walls.

 

[trinkjr3]

How did you make cut it down to make more of a slope?

 

[LoneOak]

Quote:
I don't really understand your question but if your asking about the bottom feeder portion of my feeders go back and reread the middle paragraph in my description of how I built them in the post above. All you have to do is cut the tube at a slight angle and when you insert it in the bottom elbow push it down a little at the front and screw it together. The feeder doesn't need a lot of slope as you don't want it to stay completely full. I never have to touch it now with layer pellets in it and they all stay about half full all the time, this is all you need and there is no waste.

 

[coachYania]

I got the same feeder, but the food doesn't go down by itself, not sure why, I even try to have it in a incline, and nothing.