Before you do livestock, you will have to carefully prepare all the necessary materials and learn how to make a chicken feeder with your own hands. 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 as a chicken feeder from scrap materials.
DIY chicken feeder
Varieties of feed equipment
On farms and industries, one of the three popular types of feeders (according to the power supply technique) is almost always used.
- Grooved. A distinctive feature of this species is the presence of a restrictive grill, which allows avoiding the spreading 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, time and space in the chicken coop, because they are usually placed in the adjacent territory.
- Bunkers. They are suitable only for dry food and keep it excellent for a long time (they independently regulate the amount of food served). Their price almost always exceeds the cost of grooved.
- Tray. Classic chicken feeders with high sides to prevent the spread of feed.
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 (often they are used as drinking bowls) and wet food, and the mesh chicken 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 hen house, 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 the 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 the material plastic wooden 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 feeder ideas. The complete 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 models of equipment 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 is 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 the birds, then they should be cut carefully (for simplicity of the process, it is advisable to pre-draw a sketch on the plastic with a pencil). In the latter case, a convenient groove model is obtained.
- 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 chute for chickens is ready. It remains only to fill it with food and put in a prepared place. 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 where 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 a whole container filled with feed will be inserted in the future. In this case, you get a bunker-type design that is easy to clean.
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 home-made equipment in the chicken coop.
How to make a bunker-style 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 it to hungry birds.
Technique for making a wooden bunker feeder
To make your own bunker feeder made of wood, a drawing, a felt-tip pen, a saw, nails, 2 sheets of thick plywood are useful.
The manufacturing technique is as follows:
- 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 are tapered, the bottom and the cover.
- Prepare parts using electrical appliances (make holes for screws, grind work 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 the tray and storage.
- Place the feeder in the chicken coop.
Chicken feeders from a ready-made tree are ready. It remains only to fill the feed into the compartment and enjoy how the layer will eat from equipment made by own hands.
Remember that a wooden feeder (without prior preparation) cannot be used for feeding wet feed. There are many means 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 feeder out of mesh or metal rods
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 herb and remove any leftovers.
DIY bunker feeder for chickens
Feeder and drinker for poultry from a sanitary pipe
Bunker feeder for chickens, do it yourself in 20 minutes
Do-it-yourself chicken feeder from a pipe.
Village feeder for laying hens.
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 such an improvised material can make a convenient homemade chicken feeder.
Materials required:
- bucket;
- felt-tip pen, marker;
- knife or electric cutters;
- pins
- sectional capacity with high sides.
Manufacturing process:
- Remove the lid from the bucket.
- Along the perimeter of the bucket in the bottom area, cut small holes in height (they should not be higher than the sides of the sectional container).
- Connect the bucket to the sectional container using the pins (be sure to bend the ends to avoid injuring the birds).
It remains only to fill the container with food and properly fix the feeder in the poultry house or on the street.
The pipe is another handy material for the feeder
Feeders and auto drinkers for chickens are very convenient. There are several ways to build equipment that automatically feeds the birds. We will look at the most popular ones.
The first process of making a pipe feeder is almost identical to the technique for working with plastic bottles. for this, a pipe of the desired length is taken, its ends are either closed by shutters or rounded up. This avoids scattering feed around the coop.
After that, pieces of pipe of various shapes and sizes are cut 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 with the connecting bend to attach another pipe vertically. 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 location of the bunker storage. To independently perform it, you will need a side elbow, a pipe, and plugs.
You will have to cut the pipe of the desired height, install a side elbow at a distance of 20-25 cm from the edge (it should be directed strictly up). This is the acceptable height of the feeder. After that, it remains to place 2 plugs at the ends of the pipe, fix it in the selected place and fill it with feed.
This step-by-step guide can be used to build your own chicken drinkers.
You can make do-it-yourself feeders for chickens from various 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 life of many animals).