Chicken feeder diy8/23/2023 And they last longer, because they’re bigger. Regular wine corks will work, but I used champagne corks because they have a more celebratory look. If you like, you can hold the cork with pliers. Drill into the bottom of a champagne cork a little over half the distance from one end to the other. Next, take a drill bit that matches the diameter of the shaft (not the threads) of the eyebolt. Drop the eyebolt shafts through the holes. So I used a 3⁄4-inch spade bit to drill the holes-small enough that the eyebolt won’t fall through the hole but wide enough that pellets will slip past the eyebolt when it moves. The outside diameter of the eye of these eyebolts is about an inch. Put each hole roughly under the spot where the bucket handle attaches. The longer version: Buy two 4-inch long galvanized eyebolts with 1⁄4-inch diameter threads.ĭrill two holes in the bottom of the bucket that the eyebolts’ shafts will hang down through. The short version: a 5-gallon bucket with a tight-fitting lid to keep out the weather and critters hangs from a post at a height that allows the hens to peck at an eye-bolt hanging down from the bottom of the bucket.Īs the eyebolt moves, like a toggle switch, small amounts of feed spill out of a hole-a chicken vending machine! Hens eat the feed, leaving little or nothing for freeloading vermin. Pliers to hold the corks while you drill them if you’re not comfortable holding them with your hand.A 3 ⁄16-inch drill bit for the corks and a 3 ⁄4-inch spade bit for the eyebolt holes.Bit that allows you to predrill holes for the hook or bucket holder.Something from which to suspend the bucket so the corks are about head-high to a chicken: either a 4-inch galvanized hook like you’d use to suspend a porch swing or a folding bucket holder.Two galvanized eyebolts (4-by- 1⁄4 inch).One or more 5-gallon bucket (or larger plastic container if you have numerous chickens).Gather everything before starting this project. Of course I’ve customized my chicken vending machine a bit for my Hentopia coop, but I have to give credit for the concept. I was very glad to find this YouTube video from Gr8scott 1985 (which has been viewed about half a million times). And if enough debris gets under the treadle to block it, the feeder won’t open and the chickens learn about fasting. There are construction plans available for these self-locking feeders, but the angled cuts and the lever arms would be time-consuming to build. However, they can be expensive and were out of my budget. When the chickens aren’t eating, the feeder closes up, blocking any birds or rodents. The chickens step on a treadle that opens the lid on the feeder, which allows them to eat. There are also some boxy, vermin-proof feeders made of either metal or cedar available online. But it is much heavier, more unwieldy and costlier than the 14-gauge fence wire commonly used for enclosing hen pens.įor example, a 3-by-50-foot roll of hardware cloth costs three times as much as the same size roll of 14-gauge wire fencing. Hardware cloth is not a cloth really but a heavy-gauge type of wire fencing with 1 ⁄2-by- 1 ⁄2-inch openings. That’s a valid option if you have the time and money. Some people choose to keep sparrows and rodents away from their feeders by enclosing the entire pen in hardware cloth. Coming up with a new and improved vermin-proof feeder that functioned like a chicken vending machine was on my to-do list. So far, we haven’t had signs of rodents, but I was sure some would show up for the grainy buffet eventually. Thank goodness mourning doves can’t get in or I’d be buying bags of feed twice a day! Despite their big appetites, they’re small enough to fit through the 2-by-4-inch openings in the fencing. However, gangs of sparrows did raid the feeder’s open saucer now and then. Plus, the chickens can’t roost (and poop) on it. It holds 25 pounds of feed and resides under the coop where it stays dry and is easy to clean. I had purchased it at a junk-tique shop for a few dollars. Sometimes they are made of plastic or, like mine, galvanized metal. And kept the chicken feed out of reach of the critters that don’t want to pay their rent with eggsįor a few years, I had been using a gravity-fed chicken feeder: A tube holds the feed and sits over a saucer, which dispenses it. ![]() ![]() Worked better than a conventional gravity-fed feeder.And because you’re the vendor of this chicken vending machine, you can make sure that the snacks are, in fact, calibrated to deliver nutritious pellets of chicken feed.Īnd what if this well-stocked vending machine also: So why can’t chicken feeders work like vending machines? It seems like when they’re hungry, hens should be able to poke a button and have well-balanced, healthy snacks drop out. Aren’t vending machines great? You pop in some change, poke a button and a well-balanced, healthy snack (well, a snack of some kind!) drops out.
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