Large DIY Chicken Feeders/Waterers?

Merin Porter
Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin

Hi all, I'm looking for recommendations and ideas for large homemade chicken feeders and waterers.

Ideally, I'd love a feeder that could hold an entire 50-pound bag of feed but still stay relatively protected from rodents.

And on the waterer front, we do have cold winters here, so I'd love something that held a bunch of water but kept it thawed in winter and also was algae adverse. (I keep my waterers in the coop (long story) so sunlight is not an issue.) Also, in case this information is helpful, my chickens are used to using the nipple waterers....

Can't wait to hear and see what works best for you! (And if your solution is commercially available rather than DIY, that's okay, too. I'd still love to hear about it!)

Thanks so much.

Comments

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    I grew up on a large poultry farm many years ago and we used large metal hoppers out in the field that would hold many sacks of feed (we'd haul it out with a tractor to fill them). I tried to find a picture of one online but this is as close as I could come. It is smaller than the ones we used but made of wood and you could adapt this for any size flock. Screening over the feed trough helps keep out the larger rodents.


    This is not DIY but we have used immersion heaters for livestock tanks. You can now get solar powered ones. You can also get solar powered circulation pumps that might help keep down the algae. They come in different sizes so I'm sure you could them to fit something smaller than a livestock tank.

  • VickiP
    VickiP Posts: 586 ✭✭✭✭

    Here are a couple of links to an idea we have been kicking around, haven't done it yet but looks like it would work. Rob Bob's feeder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEs3WxN2owI

    Can be enlarged to use a tote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zzj5Gl5EXA

  • bcabrobin
    bcabrobin Posts: 251 ✭✭✭

    We have a plastic garbage can with holes cut on the very bottom of 3 sides. I can put 6 #50 bags in it. This doesn't keep the rodents out but the chickens keep them down around here. I do have to make sure the gate is will locks as we have a sheep who can open them, and let her & the goats get in to eat it. If this doesn't happen I hope this will have enough feed till after Christmas. I also have a small can in the small coop it only has one hole but you can only fit a 5 gal bucket of feed in it. This is close to what we have https://littleavalonfarm.com/garbage-can-chicken-feeder