With so many animals and only two farmers, we are constantly looking for ways to be more efficient with our farm tasks. Efficiencies in daily tasks such as feeding and watering pay huge dividends. A customer recently shared a poultry feeder design that we’ve implemented with great success! Here are a couple links (Link 1, Link 2) explaining the feeder, and then a video of our setup in the chicken yard:
We have pretty large flocks, so we used a trash can for our feeder. For small flocks people use smaller containers, such as a Rubbermaid tote. One other note is that in the video you can see we set the trash can on bricks. We found the height of the PVC pipes (based on the instructions in the links) was a little low. So we elevated the can on bricks to address the problem.
We’ve used a lot of different poultry feeding methods over the years, from PVC feeders to fermented feed to feeding fodder. There is a perfect example of how there’s often not one ideal way to do something, rather the best choice is based on a person’s given situation. At times these other options were great for us. Right now, with so many animals, a baby, and one person doing the daily chores, saving time is a top priority. That makes this self-feeder the best option currently. We still value fermenting feed and fodder, but the benefits are not worth the time for us right now.
That poultry feeder is perfect. I am starting a mixed rabbit/chicken colony. A thinner pipe will allow my chickens to access the chicken feed but not the rabbits. The rabbits will have a pvc feeder running into each “den.” So I can mainly supplement nursing does. Great Idea. Thanks.