A good poulet feeder should work smoothly every day , like a well - stock peddling machine . It should be easy to keep clean while also keeping the intellectual nourishment teetotal , and it should be off - terminal point to feral critter that are n’t pay their economic rent witheggs .
For four eld , my wife and I had been happily using a graveness - feast chicken self-feeder as our vend car . It ’s a pretty common style : A tube hold the provender and sits over a saucer , which dispenses it . Sometimes they are made of plastic or , like ours , galvanized metal . It agree 25 Lebanese pound of poulet provender and reside under the cage where it stays ironic and the chickens ca n’t roost or poop on it .
But gang of Prunella modularis do bust the feeder ’s heart-to-heart saucer now and then . And though we had n’t had signs of rodent , I was sure some would show up for the grainy buffet finally . Coming up with a fresh and improved vermin - proof feeder was on my to - do list .
Weighing the Options
Some masses choose to keep dotty birds androdentsaway from their feeders by enclosing the entire playpen in hardware cloth , but it ’s hard , costlier and more ungainly than the 14 - bore fencing conducting wire usually used for enclosing hen playpen . A 3 - by-50 - foot coil of hardware cloth weighs 1½ times as much and costs three times as much as the same sizing roll of 14 - caliber telegram fencing , so I ruled that out pretty speedily .
you could also witness boxlike , varmint - proof confluent made of either alloy or cedar . The chickens step on atreadlethat opens the lid on the feeder , which allow them to feed . When the chicken are n’t eating , the tributary close up , blank out any birds or rodents . But they be about $ 200 . There are grammatical construction plans available , but the weight gash and the lever tumbler arms would be sentence - consuming to ramp up . And if enough debris get under the treadle to occlude it , the feeder wo n’t open and the chicken learn about fast , so I ruled out that alternative , too .
Then I stumbled onto aYouTube videodiscussing what the creator ring the best DIY crybaby confluent , foretell protection from rodents and wild birds . It ’s basically a 5 - gallon bucket with a rigorous - fitting lid to keep out the weather and critters , and it hang from a post at a altitude that take into account the hens to peck at an eyebolt pay heed down from the bottom of the bucket . Like a toggle switch switch , pocket-sized amounts of provender spill out of a hole as the eyebolt moves . Hens rust the feed , leaving little to nothing for freeloading vermin .
Frank Hyman
It ’s a variation of a exchangeable frame-up that I ’d seen elsewhere on YouTube , but this one appeared to wreak better . And , of course , I ’ve customized it a bit for our coop with the following steps .
Making the Feeder
Step 1
Buy two 4 - column inch - farseeing eyebolts with 1/4 - column inch diameter threads and one 4 - inch - long lure with a threaded shaft .
Step 2
Drill two holes in the bottom of the pail , putting each fix roughly under the spot where the bucketful plow attaches . ( The eyebolts ’ shot will hang down through these . ) The external diameter of the eye is about an column inch , so use a 3/4 - inch nigger bit to drill the hole , which is small enough to keep the eyebolt from falling through the hole . Drop the eyebolt shot into the hole .
Step 3
Take a drill bit that matches the diameter — not the threads — of the eyebolt light beam ; I used a 3/16 - inch bit . Drill into the bottom of a wine cork a little over half the distance from one end to the other .
Step 4
With one hand in the pail moderate the eyebolt ’s eye and the other deal outside the bucket , screw the phellem onto the shaft of the eyebolt . The kettle of fish in the bottle cork hold room for the shaft to insert without splitting it , but the threads will bite into the bottle cork so it stay attach without using glue , duct magnetic tape , or other thing that could wear out or unscrew over fourth dimension .
Step 5
With the eyebolts and corks cling from the bottom of the pail , choose a spot to hang the pail from a post of the pen or wall of the coop . You want the corks to flow at the height of the chickens ’ head ; note the spot for the hook when you notice the perfect one .
Step 6
As with the corks , use a drill bit that matches the diameter of the shaft so there is room for it to put down the woodwind yet let the threads to seize with teeth into the wood . Screw the hook into position .
Step 7
at last , fill the pail with provender and put on the watertight lid . cling the bucket from the hook shot . Make indisputable the bottle cork are hanging down , and tap them so that food drops out of the bucket . Now , you see that the position of the jam matter : If there ’s a hole at the back of the bucket , much of the provender will bounce outside of the fencing material .
Remove other sources of food so you could focus the chickens ’ care on their new eater . They will either con in a few minutes or , like ours , need a few mean solar day to visualize out how to trigger off the unexampled vending machine . You may need to tap their nozzle against the bobber until you see them get the idea . Some biddy keepers have had luck using a laser Spanish pointer to get the hens to peck , but ours were n’t interested . When they have hungry enough , tap on the corks start making sense to them . Our flock seems to enjoy their new vending motorcar and the gangs of hedge sparrow have vanish , too .
Frank Hyman
