If you want to save money several times and get a feeder, as well as a drinker, ideal for a particular pigeon, it’s worthwhile to figure out how to make such equipment with your own hands. There are many types of feeders and drinking bowls, but we will analyze the most optimal and universal taking into account the proportionality of sizes and volumes.
Basic requirements for pigeon feeders
Each feeder must meet certain standards, which facilitates the process of care and feeding of birds. Eating convenience creates comfort for birds; cleanliness eliminates the risk of morbidity. Size is considered important, since adult and young feeding troughs with different parameters are needed.
What requirements must be observed:
- feed must not be contaminated;
- serving the feeder (cleaning, adding feed, etc.) should be simple;
- feathered body and legs should not come into contact with food - only beak;
- grain should not fall out of the feeder;
- material must be selected environmentally friendly;
- long service life;
- the ability to wash the structure without consequences;
- direct access to feed is required.
What equipment and materials will be needed?
In the manufacture of feeders at home, it is unlikely that special expensive equipment is needed. It is enough to have a primitive set of tools (saw, hammer, nails and the like) and the materials from which the structure is built. The most popular among beginner pigeons are plastic, cardboard and wood. To stop the choice on one of them, you should consider the advantages and disadvantages of each:
- Cardboard - the cheapest and short-lived material.
pros: there are no difficulties in manufacturing, a minimum supply of tools, simplicity of design are required.
Minuses: ease of construction (can be carried by the wind), fragility (maximum a couple of months), does not withstand rainfall, the possibility of use only in the summer. - Plastic - The most popular and publicly available material.
Benefits: low cost, accessibility, minimum tools, resistance to any temperature and precipitation, durability, ease of maintenance. In addition, birds, thanks to the transparency of the plastic, see the presence of feed from afar.
disadvantages: the need for heavier construction due to the lightness of the material. - Wood - The most reliable and durable material that will last for many years. From wood you can create absolutely any design.
Among disadvantages It is worth noting the relatively high cost (unlike plastic and cardboard) and the need to use additional tools.
Even a beginner can make a pigeon feeder. The main thing is to carefully study the instructions and strictly adhere to all recommendations.
Step-by-step instructions for the independent manufacture of feeders
Wood Feeders
To create a structure made of wood, you will need the following (parameters are indicated for example):
- plywood;
- boards - 4 pieces (two of them are 70x8 cm in size, the remaining 25x20 cm);
- tin;
- wooden block 70 cm long;
- nails
- reiki.
The process of making a house-shaped feeder:
- Knock the box out of the boards using fixing nails. The back and side walls should be high. Be sure to beat the lid of the board.
- Make a roof from 2 pieces of plywood, which should protrude above the structure.
- Separately make a pallet (movable) from plywood and battens. It is installed at the bottom of the feeder.
- Fix the weather vane on the roof to scare away birds (so as not to sit on top).
- Nail the wooden block so that between it and the bottom there is space for the insertion of the sliding tray.
- Tin is necessary to create bounding strips (cut into strips). They are mounted in front of the feeder in an upright position. Fastened between the lid and the bar.
Other options for tree feeders are shown schematically below:
Cardboard feeder
Cardboard products can be made for temporary use (until you make or purchase a more reliable design). To do this, you can use cardboard boxes of any size, but it is best to take a shoe device (cardboard is compacted, optimal size). Additionally you need scissors and scotch tape.
Work process:
- make holes for the rope in the corners of the lid and bottom;
- thread a thread;
- suspend to a support.
These feeders can be used to feed wild birds in parks and yards.
From a cardboard box:
- make the box look like a house;
- fasten with tape;
- make holes for entry.
Such feeders can be hung on the balcony (when keeping pigeons at home) or placed on the floor in a dovecote (in this case, small pebbles are necessarily laid on the bottom of the paper structure, which will serve as weighting devices so that the wind does not swing the structure).
Plastic feeder
For this, 5- or 6-liter plastic bottles are used. They can be installed both vertically and horizontally, having previously cut openings for birds.
How to make a feeder from a plastic bucket and a plastic bottle, see the video below:
Hopper automatic feeder
This method allows you to control the amount of feed. In such a feeder, you can immediately pour a significant number of grains, which will enter the feeding compartment as they empty. This is convenient if the owner of the dovecote leaves for several days (pigeons will not remain hungry). Feed is automatic.
The design consists of 2 main compartments - compartments for stocking grain and a feeding tray:
How to make the simplest self-filling hopper feeder from a plastic bottle is shown in the video below:
How to make a feeder for pigeons?
Separate feeders must be created for the chicks, from which they will feed after weaning from the nest. This is due to the fact that pigeons during this period are experiencing some kind of stress, therefore eating with adults is contraindicated. In addition, a change in diet affects the general condition of the chicks.
For manufacturing, we will use a plastic stand from a flower pot, a glass jar and a metal mesh. You will also need wire cutters and some wire.
Training:
- Cut a strip of mesh 5 cm wide. The length of the strip should be 2 cm longer than the circumference of the neck of the can.
- Twist the mesh into a ring and secure with wire. The diameter of the mesh ring should be a couple of millimeters larger than the diameter of the neck of the can.
Build process:
- Bite off the twigs of the bottom row of the net so that you get vertical pins (see point 1 in the photo below).
- Light the pins over the fire and push them in the center of the plastic stand (see point 2 in the photo below).
- Bend the pins on the back of the stand (see point 3).
- Fill the jar with grains and insert the neck into the mesh ring, as shown in the photo below. Please note that the neck of the jar does not touch the stand. If it turned out differently, then you should re-cut the strip from the grid, but with a larger size in width.
- Turn the jar over so that the grains spill out into the stand. As you feed, a new portion of grains will drop.
How to make a drinker?
Feeding pigeons involves providing them with water, so you need to make a drinker. There are different ways to do this.
Automatic heated drinker
It is used during frosts so that the liquid does not freeze, and birds can always drink. The drinker consists of the following elements: stand; a heating device, a drinking tank, a bottle with a dosing tube, which is filled with liquid. How to do:
- A round container made of plastic material acts as a container, in which you need to make a hole on the side through which pigeons will drink. It should be 6-10 cm from the bottom.
- A tin can is suitable for the burner, which is filled with paraffin. Be sure to install a wick (you can use an asbestos rope). Instead of fuel, a means for ignition is used.
- The stand should also be tin. A burner is installed on it, ignited. It is covered with a protective case of tin from above, in which several holes must be made (gas exchange is created).
- A plastic drinking bowl with a small load is installed on top, so that it does not turn over. At the top of the container, make a round hole in diameter of a 1.5 liter plastic bottle. It is she who is filled with water and inserted into the drinker upside down. A dosing tube is installed inside, which does not allow the liquid to overfill the drinker. Thus, as the container empties, the drinker is gradually filled with water.
An example of making another automatic drinker is shown in the video below:
Vacuum bowl
How to make yourself:
- Used bowl and glass jar. The diameter of the bowl should be larger than the neck of the jar.
- At the bottom of the bowl, glue four rubber cubes describing the circumference of the neck of the can.
- Pour water into the jar, cover it with a bowl and turn the jar upside down. So the water will fill the bowl and will flow again as it empties.
Homemade feeding troughs are practically not inferior to factory ones, and manufacturing at home significantly saves money. The main thing is to carefully study all the intricacies of the manufacture of structures, adhere to the basic rules and choose the most suitable option among many models.
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