How to make your own chicken feeder
Before starting animal husbandry, you will have to carefully prepare all the necessary materials and learn how to make a do-it-yourself chicken feeder. So for birds, not only a chicken coop is important, but also future nests, water tanks, a convenient chicken feeder and other equipment. Especially for those who do not want to purchase everything in the store, but can take the manufacture of drinking bowls for chickens into their own hands, this review has been prepared. It reveals the secrets of making such a device from scrap materials as a chicken feeder.
DIY chicken feeder
Varieties of feed equipment
On farms and industries, one of the three popular types of feeders is almost always used (according to the technique of feeding).
- Grooved. A distinctive feature of this species is the presence of a restrictive grid, which allows avoiding the scattering of feed. As the advantages of such a feeder for chickens, it is worth mentioning the possibility of mixing various feeding options, which significantly saves farmers energy and time, and space in the chicken coop, because they are usually placed in the adjacent territory.
- Bunker... They are suitable only for dry food and keep it perfectly for a long time (they independently regulate the amount of food served). Their price almost always exceeds the cost of grooved ones.
- Tray. Classic chicken feeders with high sides to prevent feed scattering.
According to the type of material used in the manufacture, the feed trough is:
- metal (galvanized);
- plastic;
- wooden;
- combined;
- mesh.
It is easy to guess that the galvanized model is suitable for supplying liquid (they are often used as drinkers) and wet feed, and the chicken wire feeder is suitable for grass.
In addition to the previously mentioned varieties, the chicken feeder can be floor or hanging. Mounted models help to save space in the chicken coop, but they do not guarantee the maintenance of order (a rooster, jumping onto the feeder, can tilt the equipment, therefore, spill feed). But in private households it is easier and cheaper to make chicken feeders from scrap materials.
Feed equipment requirements
Before deciding on an independent creation of a chicken feeder, you need to get acquainted with the requirements for equipment. How to make a convenient chicken feeder? Among these requirements:
- reliability (homemade product must be stable);
- durability;
- ease of use;
- parameters suitable for specific needs (if the farmer has only 5 birds, then you can safely make a small feeder from a plastic bottle, imagine how 200 heads will behave);
- quality and safety of material plastic wood from boards or plywood;
- protective function (to prevent debris from entering the feed).
This is a rough list that most farmers use when creating original trough ideas. The full set of requirements will depend on the needs of the farm (number of heads, house size, etc.).
Methods for creating a feeder from a plastic bottle
Consider the 3 best equipment models that you can make yourself from a plastic bottle:
- suspended;
- bunker;
- classic (tray).
It is not difficult to make such feeders for chickens with your own hands.
It is worth starting the description with a simple one - tray. You will have to prepare scissors or a knife, a small piece of board, a bottle of any capacity (it is better not to use liter ones, because you need to feed not 1 bird, but at least several).
The manufacturing technique is simple:
- A bottle is taken, the smallest of them, a liter, and a piece is cut along its perimeter (the length of the hole from the neck to the base, without damaging them). If the goal is to make several compartments for birds, then they should be cut out carefully (for simplicity of the process, it is advisable to sketch in advance on plastic with a pencil). In the latter case, you get a convenient flute model.
- A small indentation is made on the plywood, corresponding to the size of the selected bottle (its length).
- The prepared bottle is inserted into the recess in the board and fixed.
A simple tray feeder for chickens is ready. It remains only to fill it with food and put it in a place prepared in advance. The answers to the questions that arose in the process of making the necessary material can be found in the video clips posted on the Internet there, homemade chicken feeders are considered in great detail.
You can slightly change the design by adding a hole on the side of the bottle, closer to the base, into which in the future it will remain to insert a whole container filled with food. In this case, you get a bunker-type structure that is easy to wash.
Tip: if you want to use your hand-made feeder as an outdoor one, then take a second larger bottle, make a slot around its perimeter and cover the feed tray with it.
A hanging plastic bottle feeder resembles a bird feeder found in forests and parks. To make it, you need to prepare a five-liter bottle, scissors, a centimeter or ruler and a strong thread.
Manufacturing technique:
- Cut a hole around the perimeter of the bottle (it is important to leave the neck and bottom 3-5 cm high).
- Attach the thread to the neck.
It remains only to fill the bottom of the bottle with food and hang the homemade equipment in the chicken coop.
How to make a bunker chicken feeder from a plastic bottle? for this you need to prepare a plastic container with a volume of 5 liters and make small holes in the bottom area. Before filling the food, it remains to take a substrate with high sides, put a bottle in it, fix it. Only after you are convinced of the stability of the structure, it is allowed to fill it with feed and expose to hungry birds.
Technique for making a wooden bunker feeder
To make your own bunker feeder out of wood, a drawing, a felt-tip pen, a saw, nails, 2 sheets of thick plywood will come in handy.
The manufacturing technique is as follows, you need:
- Simulate a drawing or take a photo from the Internet.
- Using the drawing, correctly cut 6 elements for the bunker itself: the front and rear walls are rectangular, 2 side walls are tapered, the bottom and the lid.
- Prepare parts using electrical devices (make holes for screws, grind working surfaces).
- Connect the parts and form a feed storage. The back wall should be attached to the bottom at an angle.
- Make a small hole in the bottom.
- Using the drawing, make a tray out of plywood with dimensions corresponding to the bunker.
- Connect tray and storage.
- Place the feeder in the chicken coop.
Feeders for chickens from the wood at hand are ready. All you have to do is fill the feed into the compartment and enjoy how the hen will eat from equipment made with his own hands.
Remember that a wooden feeder (without prior preparation) cannot be used for wet feed. There are many products that can protect wood from the negative effects of moisture. You can get acquainted with them in video materials posted on the Internet.
How to make a mesh or metal rod feeder
To please your pets with fresh herbs, it is most convenient to use a mesh feeder. This option will allow you to get rid of the need to constantly monitor areas of accumulation of rotting plants, therefore, to protect the laying hen from possible poisoning.
If there is a metal mesh, then you just need to form a ball out of it. The main thing is to remember to leave a hole to add fresh grass and clean up any leftovers.
How to build a bucket feeder
If you didn't find plastic bottles, wood and metal mesh, but found unnecessary clean plastic or metal buckets, then you are in luck. The thing is that even from such an improvised material, a convenient home-made feeder for chickens can turn out.
Materials required:
- bucket;
- felt-tip pen, marker;
- knife or electric cutters;
- pins;
- sectional tank with high sides.
Manufacturing process:
- Remove the lid from the bucket.
- Cut small holes along the perimeter of the bucket in the bottom area (they should not be higher than the sides of the sectional tank).
- Connect the bucket to the section container with pins (be sure to bend the ends to avoid injury to the birds).
It remains only to fill the container with food and properly fix the feeder yourself in the poultry house or on the street.
The pipe is another handy material for the feeder
Feeders and auto drinkers for chickens very comfortable. There are several ways to build equipment that automatically feeds the birds. We will look at the most popular ones.
The first process for making a pipe feeder is almost identical to the technique for working with plastic bottles. for this, a pipe of the required length is taken, its ends are either closed with valves, or rounded up. This avoids scattering feed around the coop.
After that, pieces of pipe of various shapes and sizes are cut out along the perimeter (it is important to place the pipe horizontally). It is in them that the birds will stick their heads.
Then it remains to attach another pipe vertically with the help of a connecting elbow. She will become the feed bunker.
The feeder is ready, all that remains is to fill it and fix it in the house. So the materials plastic bottle and wooden board will always come in handy.
Bunker storage method
The second option is the vertical arrangement of the bunker storage. To do it yourself, you need a side elbow, pipe, plugs.
You will have to cut the pipe to the desired height, install a side elbow at a distance of 20-25 cm from the edge (it should be directed straight up). This is an acceptable height for the trough. After that, it remains to place 2 plugs at the ends of the pipe, fix it in the chosen place and fill it with food.
You can use this step-by-step guide to build your own chicken drinkers.
You can make do-it-yourself feeders for chickens from a variety of improvised materials. The main thing here is to understand the principle of operation of the equipment and follow your most original ideas. Otherwise, you can always go to the store (the retail network of Nizhny Novgorod is an excellent supplier of equipment necessary to support the vital functions of many animals).