I thought it was neat, and didn't look like it would take up a lot of space in my small coop. Sunday we went to Lowe's with the idea of making one for ourselves. While looking at the suggested 4 inch plumbing pieces I decided that was far too large a size for where we wanted to put it, so we went down to the 3 inch versions. However, they didn't have the Y-adapter in the 3 inch size.
Then I saw it... A three way adapter! I call it a W-adapter. LOL. How perfect could that be? Chickens could eat out of two sides at once. I could still place it against a wall--saving coop space--and more than one hen could eat at a time. Yay!
We snagged a 2 foot long pipe, the W-adapter, and caps for the top and bottom. Brought it all home, put it together, attached to the inside of the coop, and filled with feed. It took the hens a few minutes to discover there was food inside, but after that they all had to check it out.
The next morning when I went to let them out of the coop I heard happy munching from the new feeder. The sound of another successful DIY chicken project. :)
I wish I'd thought to take pics of all the parts before we put it together, but I didn't. Bad blogger, Me! However, here's a pic of the finished project inside the coop. It took a dozen pictures to get one without the hens standing in the way... surely wondering what the heck I was doing.
So there it is, my new DIY PVC chicken feeder. It cost less than $30 to make, which is more expensive than the bucket method, but it takes up less space and *should* be less hassle to deal with. Fingers crossed anyway! :D
Hi. I like this. How is it working out? Does the food get stuck? Have you had any issues with it attracting other animals? Thanks in advance, G
ReplyDeleteActually, no, I've not had any problem with food getting tuck or attracting other animals. My chickens can reach all the way to the bottom of the tube & can snag every little bit of their food.
DeleteThis has been the best feeder we've tried, thus far. We're actually planning another, smaller, version for the oyster shell my flock enjoys. We haven't had any problems with the food getting stuck. The piping is simply too large for stuck food anyway. :) Since our feeder is inside the coop, I don't have a problem with other animals.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, G! :)
This looks very easy to make and serviceable. Can you say how many chickens one with a double feeder would serve. I don't have chickens yet, but would like a flock of 30. How many of these feeders would I need to keep them happy? Thanks for posting it! Karen
ReplyDeleteI have 7 hens and if I fill this to the top they will eat on it for two days. So I'd say it would feed approximately 14 chickens for one day. So you'd need at least two feeders for a flock of 30.
ReplyDeleteGood luck & happy chicken raising! :)
Christie
We made the 4" version a few months ago, and I've noticed a lot of food waste ends up on the floor of the coop. Have you been seeing much waste?
ReplyDeleteMatthew, did you find a solution? I think I'm going to try building this, and I saw some other plans where they add a short (like 2-3") extra section of pipe on the end where they feed to help make the "hole" a little deeper, and therefore less spillage.
DeleteI tried adding various extensions like that without much success. The hens just loved to dig around in their, looking for something better, and were really intentionally throwing stuff on the floor. I switched from a crumble to a pellet food, which helped. They also seem more likely to eat the pellets off the floor than the crumble.
DeleteI have noticed a small amount of waste on the floor, but not a big amount. Usually that happens when all my hens want to go at the food all at once. They tend to knock more food out of the feed when they're trying to knock each other out of the way. :)
ReplyDeleteI made one of these about 6 months ago to salt my sheep works great and no wast!.
ReplyDeleteThat's great, Denise! I never would have thought to use it for sheep. Good idea! :)
ReplyDeletewhere did you find the w-adaptor? I can't seem to find one anywhere?
ReplyDeleteThanks
We bought it at Lowe's Home Improvement, Jesse Ward.
DeleteI can't seem to find it either. Just left Lowe's. Do you remember the true name of that piece?
DeleteAfter several hours of searching... I found it online. For anyone looking, it's called a double Wye hub.
Deleteis there BPA in the PVC?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I have no idea is there is BPA in the PVC.
DeleteSince most homes in this country use PVC for 100% of their water lines and it's estimated that six billions pounds of PVC are manufactured in the US annually, if there is BPA in your chicken feeder PVC, it would be the least of your problems.
ReplyDeleteI have two hens and two ducks in the same coop. The ducks are much more messy than the hens and I am diligently looking for something that they can use and not waste so much since food is expensive. Any ideas I would appreciate.
ReplyDelete