SHOW ME, your diy feeders and waters

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Brytsss

Brytsss

Chirping
May 29, 2015
40
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70
Oregon
Can you guys show me what you have made as far as feeders and waterers, how many chickens use it, how much it holds and what you do and dont like about it!
 
You can see mine in the background... large white PVC pipe. I only have 3 chickens. If I wanted to I could put about a third of a sack of feed in it. What I like is that with the rain hat it stays pretty darn dry and if I am going out of town I can fill it up and not worry as to whether or not they will run out of feed. It also stays pretty tidy and I never see food on the ground around it. What I don't like is that the 'bowl' at the bottom is too deep. New food falls on top of older feed and the old feed down below gets packed down, old, and moldy. It's not a lot of food and fortunately the bottom screws off easy enough so it's a fairly easy fix, but I've been meaning to modify it to make it even less of a problem. I'm also hoping this is less of a problem when I switch off starter feed and move to pellets.




I used roughly these plans: http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8020381 Added a bend at the top so it could be filled from outside the run if I wanted.
 
Do you just fill it with a cup? Do you think it would work for little chick too or would it have to be modified? If be afraid they would climb into the bottom part
 
Mine would be too tall for a brand new chick but you can probably just modify the bowl portion to be less deep and high from the ground. I fill it with a large water pitcher or just dump the sack in... if I used a cup it would take me all day lol. In case you can't tell, the top unscrews so you can dump feed through the chute.
 
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I just didn't know how easy it would be to fill it like if the top was wide enough I was going to say I don't have the patience to add a little bit at a time haha
 
Oh gosh no the top is wide enough to tip the bag into if you wanted. It would drive me insane to fill that cup by cup lol!
 
This is what I use to feed my adult chickens.

Feeder: It holds 25 lbs of feed and lasted my 15 hens for over 2 weeks. It's a 5 gallon bucket with 3" 90's. I plan on making new ones with only 2 ports, since I don't need the 3 port one. Then I can set it up against the wire.




Waterer: This last them for almost 2 weeks. In hot weather, I change it once or twice a week just to keep the water fresh. Loads better than the flip top waterers.



For my babies, mini versions: These are 2 gallon buckets. I used 3 horizontal nipples and only a single 1 1/2" ninety. As the chicks got bigger, I made one with a 2" ninety.

The water lasts a week or so, the feed depending on how many chicks. I've never measured to see how much feed goes in it, but I would guess around 10 lbs.




I forgot that I have these pipe feeders. I use them to hold my grit and calcium. I made one for the babies for the grit also.

 
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Waterer: 5 gallon bucket with 4 horizontal nipples. Supplies 15 chickens for about 6 days in 60-80 degree weather, 4-5 days if it gets hotter than that. Stock tank de-icer keeps water thawed down to -9F (coldest I've been able to test, reports claim down to around -15F or more). Mylar bubble wrap retains heat, lowers electricity cost. Horizontal nipples are the way to go, in my experience. Much less dripping and haven't frozen yet (vertical nipples froze stuck with the same stock tank de-icer at only about +12F). Bucket is supported on blocks, not hung by handle. Handle is only hung just enough to keep it upright, which eliminates birds roosting on the waterer and pooping on the lid. Brick on lid is only to secure the lid, because the lid is not the exact fitting lid for this bucket.





Feeder #1: Homemade treadle feeder, keeps rodent population down. Insert (board with holes) eliminates birds billing the feed out to get the choice bits. Only downside is our smallest banty has a hard time using it unless another bird is also on the treadle (she steps on the edge of the feeder instead of the treadle).
2nd feeder (not shown): a 3 foot section of vinyl rain gutter, used for group feedings, fermented feed and table scraps. All 15 birds can eat at once.
Supplement feeders (not shown): 2 margarine tubs screwed down to a solid surface. One holds crushed oyster shell (we feed grower, not layer) and the other holds grit.

 
Those are awesome and I think that's what I'd rather do use the buckets and then the pvc for stuff like grit and calcium! Are those just the regular twist in nipples or are they different since they are horizontal?
 
Brytsss said:
Those are awesome and I think that's what I'd rather do use the buckets and then the pvc for stuff like grit and calcium! Are those just the regular twist in nipples or are they different since they are horizontal?
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by "regular twist in nipples". The vertical nipples (vertical as in they must be installed so they hang vertically to work properly, also the most common nipple style) I have used required a very specific drill bit to make the exact size hole for the nipples to screw into and required teflon tape to seal the threads. The horizontal nipples are much easier to install...just drill a 3/8" hole (or slightly smaller) and hand twist the horizontal nipple (on the SIDE of the bucket, not on the bottom) until snug. Seals tight without the need for teflon tape nor a very specific drill bit.

You can find the horizontal nipples on ebay or I think there is a seller here on BYC. 1 nipple is good for about 8 birds, but I would use two even if you don't have that many birds. Ideally set the nipples at eye level, but since we have different sized birds, I set it for the smallest ones.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Solway-HO...728?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae9a13f48
 

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