To effectively provide food for poultry, farmers use special feeders. Let's consider what the feeders for chickens should be, their varieties, as well as how to make different devices for feeding young animals and adults themselves.

Basic requirements for chicken feeders

The following is required from chicken feeders:

1. Provide chickens with food. They must contain a daily portion of food, and provide each bird with quick access to food.
2. Convenience and ease of maintenance. The feeder should be easily filled with food, move, clean and wash.
3. Ensuring cleanliness and dryness. It is necessary to take devices of a closed type so that rain and debris cannot get inside. Optimally, if the design does not allow the birds to climb into it with their feet, scatter and dirty the feed.
4. Safety. The feeder is made from materials safe for birds. It should not have sharp protrusions and protruding nails, which can be injured, and places where the bird can get stuck.
5. Sustainability. The design must stand firmly or firmly fixed so that the layers can not tumble it down.

Did you know? Most commercially available chicken feeders are red or yellow. These colors attract babies well and help increase food intake. It should be noted that there should be a sharp contrast in color between the floor and the color of the feeder and drinker.

Types of chicken feeders

Feeding troughs of various designs and using various raw materials are produced.

Depending on the type of feed

In different devices, food can be fed in a manner different from others.

Bunker

Closed hopper feeder that keeps feed clean. Only dry feed is poured into it. Its design features allow you to immediately put in it a daily dose of food - food will go into trays as it is consumed by a bird.

Groove

In the tray of this design there is a spinner or a removable grill limiter. Such a feeder is equipped with several compartments for feed.

Tray

It is a container of small depth with sides that prevent the spread of food. Commonly used to feed chickens.

Important! Such trays are installed at the rate of 10-15 cm per hen and 5 cm per chicken. The circular tray provides only 2.5 cm per head.

Depending on the material used

Feeders are divided according to the raw materials used for their production:

1. Wooden. They are optimal for dry feed and additives.
2. Metal. Good for moisture saturated foods.
3. Plastic They are used in the same way as iron devices.
4. From a grid or thin rods. Herbal mass is usually covered in them.

Depending on the placement

The feeder can be located in different places of the chicken coop and it happens:

1. Floor. It is located directly on the chicken coop floor and must have good stability so that it is not overwhelmed. At the same time, the bird has the opportunity to climb into the feed with his feet and put in garbage.
2. Wall mounted. Securely attached to a wall or other stable structure (partitions, fencing). The bird will not be able to climb into the attachments with its feet. Such feeders should be mounted at a level comfortable for eating food.
3. Hanging. They are mounted at the height of the back of the hens, and they are not accessible for climbing.

How to make a chicken feeder with your own hands

You can buy an industrial product, or you can make it yourself. There are methods for manufacturing these devices even from such waste material as plastic bottles.

Bunker

This type of homemade feeder is made from PVC pipe.

For him, you must have available:

• PVC sewer pipe of the desired diameter and the height of the hen house - 1 pc.;
• tee for PVC pipes - 1 pc.;
• thick wire;
• measuring meter;
• marker;
• jigsaw.

For this home-made device, they take a PVC pipe of 7-6 cm for ordinary chickens, and for broilers - 11 cm.

Did you know? Layers constantly need calcium intake, since a lot of this element goes to the formation of an egg shell. They carry eggs only in the light.

In its manufacture, do the following:

1. Cut a PVC pipe with a jigsaw or "grinder" - a piece from the floor to ceiling of the chicken coop minus 30 cm is required. Cut that piece of pipe where there is no thread.
2. At the top of the pipe at a distance of about 20 cm from the cut, burn holes on the sides of the wire for fastening the pipe.
3. Connect the bottom of the pipe by means of a thread with a tee.
4. Fasten the structure using wire on a hook. There should be 20 cm between the bottom of the device and the floor.
5. The top of the pipe is filled with feed. It lingers in the bends of the tee, and when the birds eat out part of it, under its own weight, the food enters the tee again.

Video: how to make a bunker chicken feeder with your own hands

A simple option from a plastic bottle

Very little time and budget will be spent on a feeder for young animals from a 5 liter plastic bottle.

To do this, stock up on the following:

• 5 liter plastic bottle - 1 pc.;
• a piece of wire;
• 1 liter glass jar with a lid - 1 pc.;
• scissors or a knife;
• marker.

Did you know? In ancient Russia, hens appeared around IV century BC. They were brought by merchants from Greece.

In the manufacturing process, you must perform the following actions:

1. Cut off the top of the bottle at the beginning of the narrowing, but not completely - leave 5 cm of plastic.
2. Mark with a marker and cut 3 cm diameter holes at the bottom of the bottle at a distance of 2 cm from each other. The chicken head will easily pass through such holes, and his body will not be able to squeeze. The holes must be smooth, without sharp edges.
3. To prevent the chickens from overturning the feeder, you need to put a liter jar of water or sand inside it. If the bottom is uneven, then first you need to pour 1 cm of feed into a plastic bottle for a more stable position of the weighting jar.
4. Make holes in the lid at the edge, and under it, on the wall of the container. They should be opposite the uncut part. Pass the wire into which the lid will close.
5. Pour the feed to the holes, close the bottle with a lid and fix it with wire.

Video: do-it-yourself chicken feeder from a plastic bottle

Tray view of wood

You can make a wooden device in the form of a tray.

To do this, you must have the following:

• a wooden board with a smooth surface in the width of 12-15 cm, and a length of 1 m for the bottom of the tray;
• 2 narrow long boards made of wood with a smooth surface, a width of not more than 5 cm and a length of 1 m - for the sides along the feeder;
• 2 small wooden planks for transverse sides 15–20 cm in height (the width must exactly match the width of the product);
• a narrow smooth board 3-4 cm wide and the size of the tray length. It will be used as a handle for moving and serve as a barrier for chickens when trying to get into the feeder with its paws;
• metal nails and screws - 20-30 pcs .;
• emery paper - not less than 20 cm;
• marker;
• 1 m ruler for measurements;
• hammer;
• plane;
• saw.

Important! Any feed equipment needs to be carefully looked after. Routine cleaning should be carried out regularly. The remains of wet food (mash) should be removed in a timely manner so that the food does not peroxide. The feeders are washed as necessary, as this depends on the type of feed.

Production Instruction:

1. Treat the boards with a planer until a smooth surface is obtained.
2. Make the necessary measurements with a ruler and outline the appropriate dimensions on the boards. Cut the necessary parts with a saw.
3. Mark paired details with a pencil - numbers 1, 2 are applied.
4. Attach the end edges to the bottom with nails and screws, placing them so that they are 2 cm below the bottom level. Such small protrusions will be the legs of the product.
5. Then grout with sandpaper. Then she remove the burrs on the board, intended for transfer.
6. Place the handle along the product along the transverse edges, and then fix it with nails (screws).
7. If the feeder is also planned to be used for wet mash, it is filled with water and allowed to swell for 6–7 days. A swollen wooden surface will smooth out all the gaps in the joints and the product will not leak.

Video: do-it-yourself tray-type feeder made of wood for chickens

Automatic

It involves spontaneous falling asleep in a food container from a storage container. You can find many different models of such devices, but a wooden automatic feeder equipped with a pedal is especially popular.

For her you need the following:

• wood planks;
• sheets of compacted plywood;
• small bars of wood;
• nails, bolts, screws;
• hinges - 2 pcs.;
• paper for patterns;
• electric drill;
• drill;
• sandpaper;
• saw (manual);
• marker;
• roulette.

The dimensions of the product depend on the number of birds, the size and structure of the chicken coop itself.

Important! Each blank should be sanded with sandpaper so that there are no bumps that could cause injuries to birds. Do not cover with varnishes and paints so as not to damage the health of chickens.

Production of a standard model:

1. Draw and cut 10 feed blanks. Tray lid (26x29 cm), 2 panels on the sides (height 40 cm, top edge 26 cm, bottom 29 cm), on which triangles are cut so that the bottom is wider and protrudes slightly, the bottom is rectangular 29x17 cm, detail walls from the back (41x29 cm), 2 rectangular parts for the front wall (28x29 cm and 7x29 cm), a cover for closing from above and a pedal according to parameters.
2. Cut the bars of wood into six parts. 2 bars to which the pedal will be fixed will be longer in width of the box and pedal. Cut the other 2 middle bars to the size of the lid on top of the tray. A third pair is needed to connect the lifting mechanical device.
3. Saw plywood blanks on the patterns.
4. Connect all sides with screws. It should be noted that the back should be placed at an angle of 15 °, so that the feed does not stagnate in the corner, but passes freely on. A clamp is used to ensure a better fit.
5. Fasten the top cover. For this you need 2 loops.
6. The pedal and bars should be assembled. Medium in size are fixed on the sides to the lid. At the other end of the bars, two holes are drilled. The size of one of them must be slightly larger than the diameter of the bolt, and also placed closer to the end of the bar. A hole in the side wall of the structure should correspond to it. It is necessary to insert a bolt so that the block can move in the plane of the wall.
7. In the same way, fix the longest block to the pedal of the structure. The hole that connects the bar to the wall should be placed 1/5 of the total length of the bar. The second hole must be drilled closer to the end of the bar.
8. Attach short bars to the free two holes located on each side. Such a fastener must be rigid so that the pedal can function, that is, you need to press the pedal and check that the cover opens from above. If this does not happen, adjust the tension of the bolts.
9. Carry out the treatment of the resulting design with antiseptics.

Video: how to make an automatic chicken feeder with your own hands

Installation of feeders in the chicken coop

Install these devices from the calculation - 1 piece per 20 goals. It is desirable that access is available only for the head. The design is installed reliably so that chickens could not turn it over, and did not row in its paws, as this would contribute to food contamination and the appearance of infections. They should be arranged so that the impact of the external environment is minimal, that is, indoors or under a canopy.

Usually, in a chicken coop, feed containers are placed closer to the door, so that chickens have an important reason to return from a free range home. The edges of the feeders during installation should be at the level of the back of the bird. The feeding front for chickens is about 15 cm.

During the disinfection of the chicken coop, which is carried out 2 times a year, be sure to treat the feeders and drinking bowls with disinfectants. Specialists recommend arranging a general cleaning of equipment for feeding and drinking poultry with detergents at least 1 time per month.

Basic feeding rules

When keeping and raising chickens, you must adhere to the following feeding rules:

1. Chicken feed should contain enough calcium. For this, mineral supplements (shells, chalk, meat and bone meal) and dairy products (whey, cottage cheese, kefir) are included in the food.
2. Chickens should consume three types of food - dry, wet, combined.
3. In the cold period and during molting, nutrition should be strengthened with vitamin and mineral supplements, give germinated grain.
4. Layers are fed 3-4 times a day.
5. The main diet of poultry is cereals (at least 60%). These are wheat, corn, millet, buckwheat and others. The rest of the food consists of vegetables, green herbs, vitamin and mineral supplements.
6. Follow the rules of feeding hygiene.
7. The most convenient in terms of caring for chickens is production feed, but it is also the most expensive.

So, a feeder for chickens or chickens can be made by yourself. For many homemade products do not need any special skills. When choosing the right type of feeder, you can achieve economical food consumption in accordance with all standards and timely provide food to the inhabitants of the chicken coop.