There's a misconception that chickens attract mice and rats. Chickens don't - but their spilled feed does. Make a no spill chicken feeder with PVC pipe and a few connectors to reduce your risk of rats. And therefore the need to self medicate.
It's 7 o'clock, or close to it, on a warm summer morning. I'm still in bed, awake, but trying to fall back asleep again. Everything is quiet and motionless, with just the faintest sounds of the neighbourhood coming to life. A car door closing as someone gets ready to drive to work, sparrows chirping from a tree in the distance.
Just as the heaviness of sleep presses my body deeper into the bed, there is an earth shattering shriek that comes screaming out of the backyard.
Scream.
SCREAM
S C R E A M
Table of Contents
SCREAM
BUCKOCK!
I'm not sure if you speak chicken or not but loosely translated that means, "Hey! Stupid!". Chickens are quite ignorant. And pushy.
So I hop out of bed and pad down the stairs and out the back door to let the chickens out into their run for the day. My guess is they were bored and wanted to shake their tail feathers around a bit. You know. Have a little fun. Scratch at some straw, roll around in some dirt, maybe poop a little. A real party.
But when I got down to the coop I realized the chickens had no food. In their feeder. There was plenty thrown on the ground, but nothing left in their feeder.
That's because chickens are pigs.
My chickens have had this problem from day one. They THROW their food everywhere. They stick their pecky little beaks into the grain and just start flinging and chucking everything out of the feeder.
I used to give them organic grain but for some reason that particular food REALLY threw them into a food throwing frenzy. So I switched back to organic pellet chicken feed hoping it would slow down the daily food fights.
It did not. Exhibit "A".
This is a classic chicken feeder which I love based only and entirely on the look of it.
I even put a pan under their feeder to catch a lot of what they flung. Sometimes they'd eat out of that pan, but once it hit the floor of the coop they wanted nothing to do with their food. So it was a HUGE waste. I was having to go up to the feed store twice as often as I should have.
PLUS - rats. I don't want rats because I simply don't have enough time in my day to devote the hours of therapy I'd need to undergo if I got them. I didn't have any yet but with feed around like this I was likely to attract not only rats, but mice, raccoons, skunks, deer, swans, geese, birds, and possibly lawn bowlers. I don't know that lawn bowlers like chicken feed but I have heard they're a bit odd.
So I made myself a homemade PVC feeder. A girl needs her beauty rest and it wasn't going to happen until this food situation was figured out.
Basically I made a long tube that gets filled with feed. That runs to another small, upward facing tube. The angle and length of the feeding tube prevents the chickens from being able to partake in the food fling.
Wanna do it too? Here's how ...
Making a DIY Chicken Feeder
You can make this no spill feeder in no time at all with supplies from your local hardware store. You don't need to glue it or anything. Just put it together like Lego and within minutes you're done.
Materials
3' of 3" PVC pipe
1, "Y" connector
1 end cap
Putting it Together
- Cut a 26" - 27" length of PVC pipe.
- Cut the remaining pipe into a 6" and a 3" length
- Attach the long piece of pipe to one end of the "Y" connector and the 6" length of pipe to the opposite end.
- Attach the 3" piece of pipe to the portion of the "Y" connector that is sticking out at an angle.
- Add the cap to the very bottom of the feeder.
- Fill with feed.
How it Works
Gravity and the weight of the feed allow it to drop to the bottom of the feeder where the chickens peck at it from the opening.
It's big enough for them to feed from but not so big that they can whip their little heads around throwing feed everywhere.
This feeder forces the chickens to be civilized in their table manners.
If you keep your feeder outside you have to cap the top opening and the feeding tube opening so rain doesn't get in. If it does, the feed will go mouldy.
I keep one feeder outside the coop during the day and one inside. At night I bring the outside feeder into the coop to prevent raccoons and other critters from getting into it. One day when I'm at Home Depot, I'll remember to buy 2 extra caps for the outside feeder. I'll just put a cap on the top and one on the mouth of the feeder at night and leave it outside.
The caps will keep both rain and vermin out. Unless that vermin has hands and opposable thumbs. Like a leprechaun. If a leprechaun finds my feeder I'm shit outta luck.
(Second Update: To stop the feed from dropping down to the bottom of the feeder use this little hack I came up with last summer. Just add a mason jar sealer in between the bottom piece and the feeding tube. For years I used a flimsy yogurt container lid because ... well I have no idea why. Because I was stupid I guess.)
Making it Even Better
Remove the bottom 6" piece of pipe from the PVC elbow.
Just take the bottom piece of the tube off (the part that sits on the ground).
Find an old seal from a mason jar.
Put it on the top of tube. A standard (not wide mouth) sealer fits the top of a 3" plastic pipe PERFECTLY.
See?
Now just reassemble the feeder again.
Ready to roll. Or feed the chickens. And squirrels and chipmunks and birds ... and of course leprechauns.
I switched out this DIY feeder a few years ago with a treadle feeder. The chickens step on it and that opens up door to allow the chickens to feed. That means the feed is closed off entirely unless a chicken is stepping on it.
It's worked fantastic but something has figured out how to push itself into the flap, eat all the food and then exit. So I'll be dragging out my original DIY feeder today hoping that whatever figured out how to outsmart the treadle feeder won't figure out the PVC feeder.
At least not for a while. Not until I get some beauty rest.
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No, they look like they have some of feed inside them (galvanized)- hanging inside the coop.
Love your coop! Where did you get the two metal pieces that are hanging up? Thanks!
You mean the lanterns? If so, I got those at my local grocery store actually, lol. They used to be harder to find but now you can find them just about anywhere like garden centres or big box stores. They're hanging from curtain rod brackets. :) ~ karen!
We're new to the chicken game (the one with real chickens, not the one where two fools try to run each other off the road before a head-on collision occurs), we being myself, a horse, two dogs, three and a half cats and a decreasing number of mice who shall remain nameless (see three and a half cats).
Here's my question about the feeder. If the food is not intended to fall any lower than the Mason jar lid, why have the section beneath the lid at all? Looking at the pictures, the only reason I can come up with is that it raises the access point to a level more comfortable for the birds. Am I close? Even a little bit?
Yup, that's exactly why Bonnie. It raises the feeder making it closer to back level (which is where it should be). Plus it make sit a tiny bit more difficult for mice to crawl into. If you have mice you might want to think about investing in a treadle feeder. That's what I use now actually because I had so many squirrels and mice getting into my no spill feeder. This is the treadle feeder I own, but this one is supposed to be great too.
Thanks! I subscribed simply because you used my favorite"farming" term--S.O.L.!
Well shit. Welcome! ~ karen
Made this feeder last weekend, my girls love it, kind of fun to watch them jockey for pecking rights at the feeder. I drilled a hole at the top of the feeder, threaded a string through it, attached a weight to the end of the string inside the feeder, and a piece of brightly painted cork on the other end of the string outside the feeder, as the food drops down, so does the weight, and when the cork is near the top of the feeder I know I have to add more food.
Now THAT is a brilliant idea! Love it. :) ~ karen
Hi Karen,
I love the simplicity and the price tag on this feeder. I'm wondering though, I've heard that many people switch from these types of plastic gravity feeders due to mice and rats. Have you had any problems? Do you cover the food every night?
Thanks!
Hi Karlie! I actually never had a problem with mice getting into the feeder until last year. I ended up just moving the feeder to the centre of the run in a spot where there was nothing for the mice to run up to get into the feeder. (So it wasn't leaning up against a wall basically) That solved the problem. BUT if you can't do that you could get mice into it. They didn't get into mine for years so that might be the case for you as well, but they did eventually find it. :/ ~ karen!
Thank you for posting this! Just wanted to let you know I made this and I'm really impressed with the result. (I haven't yet put it in with the chickens, but I'll update that later.) After building the coop my husband made one out of the white pvc and made a little trough at the end. It works well but I have to fill it once to twice daily for 5 chickens and I had to throw a bottle over the end to keep the rain out. To top it off they are princess chickens and unless it's a meal worm or a sunflower seed, if you throw feed on the ground they would rather starve. Stupid wasteful ungrateful chickens... ;)
Today I saw your instructions and on my way to the grocery store walked over to Ace just to see if they had the supplies so I could convince my husband to make yet another chicken feeder. I didn't have my phone to look up exact measurements etc but between me and the guy in the plumbing dept (he was excited to piece together something different) we figured out a good combo based on what they had in stock. They didn't have the "end caps" but they did have the screw on ends and for the top I think that will be extra handy. I did buy extra elbows but I imagine it will just hinder the gravity. I should mention my feeder will be in the coop and there is a cut out so I can fill it from outside. There is an overhang on the coop so it doesn't get soaked in the rain. It was so easy it plopped it together in 5 minutes with a baby on my hip. Good tip on the mason jar lid as well! My husband plans on making a cut out of the feeder hole because our silly chickens will probably be scared of sticking their head in and using that as a an extra barrier to keep the feed from spilling out.
Also if you're looking looking to make a poultry water-er buy a empty pressure sprayer bottle (like you would use for insecticide)pull off the sprayer and knock a few of these side mount nipples into the bottom. The bigger the better, just make sure you're comfortable lugging them to your hose or make sure your hose can reach.
We have 2 for our 5 girls sitting on a stack of bricks and I fill it up every couple of days. Keeps the mess out and keeps them from spilling it everywhere. They learned quickly.
Put red pepper flakes in with the feed. Birds cannot taste the peppers, but mammals (rodents and raccoons , etc ) do taste the peppers and are repelled by the taste. To make the fermented feed more palatable add some cracked corn (maybe a handful) to the bucket at the same time as the feed. Use a nipple bucket to water the chickens when the weather will not freeze the water.
How do you keep the water from freezing other then hooking it up to the water tank?
How man chickens could use one of these feeders??
I've been using one I made several years ago for my duck. I have a larger feeder for my chickens that holds a 25 lb. bag of crumbles. I use pellets in my feeder like this. Mine differs in at I used a joint on the top with a screw on lid. I also made another one with 2" pipe that I put oyster shells and crushed eggs shells in. Very happy with the way my set-up has worked for years. Great tutorial!
Hi Lauri. I was just wondering how the 2" pipe is working out. The chickens don't have a problem getting to the feed? Or oyster shells in your case?
I was only able to find a 45 degree piece that went from 3 to 2" so I wanted to make sure it will work before it gets poop all over it and becomes unreturnable.
Hopefully you see this, thanks in advance.
Matt
mattgang@kalurah.com
On the 2" feeder, I'd cut the opening to make it more bowl-like. I'd probably stay with the 3" one like this one, as the chickens will have ample room to get their heads in there. It also helps a lot to add the screw top to keep the feed dry.
Thanks Lauri. I'll just return the 3" to 2" 45 degree and get a 3" to 3" one. I appreciate the quick reply.
Good tip on the screw cap.
Also if anyone wants an alternative to the mason jar lids, I found small plastic caps for 72 cents at Lowe's. They are in with the other 3" PVC accessories. They are called 3" PVC test caps.
Also thanks to Karen for this idea. I'm able to make 2 of these for around the price of one wasteful feeder. In my last house we had a big traditional feeder hanging from the ceiling. It took up a load of space and there was always seed everywhere. These PVC jobs are going to take up a lot less real estate. Simply genius!
ONE more thought. I have bird seed scoop from Droll Yankee that will make loading these a breeze. Just google Droll Yankee bird seed scoop.
OMG I love this article, both fun and informative to read.
I feel you, chickens ARE pigs ... I only have 8 2 1/2 week young chicks and oh man what an incredible mess they already are able to make.
What happens when they are full grown .. yikes.
Can't wait until it is warmer and I can put them outside in their coop.
Thanks Jolanda! Yup. Chickens are filthy pigs, lol. At least you can use turn their filth into compost! That's one good thing about it. :) ~ karen!
Hi Thanks for sharing that great feeder. We use a similar system but ours drops into a trough. The problem with that is mice have easy access. This seems like it might be high enough off the ground to keep mice out. Do you ever notice mice getting in there?
Hi Laurie! Funny you should mention mice today, lol. I have a mouse, a single mouse, living in my bag of scratch. It's in a cupboard off the side of the coop and he is literally living inside the feed, in the bag. Uch. No mice can get into the feeder HOWEVER in the past few months I've had HUGE issues with squirrels with this feeder. For years it worked great and now the squirrels have discovered it. So I'm going to build a new feeder this spring. The kind that a lid pops open when the chicken stands on it. It's the only thing I can think of that will keep the squirrels from getting into the feed. ~ karen!
I'm super confused. I bought all the 3" PVC, but I can't get a mason jar lid to fit (standard OR wide mouth). The standard one just falls through the fittings and the pipe. I love the rest, although I'm adding end caps to cap it off at night, but I just can't get the mason jar lid to work. From your pictures there's no problem.
Hi Alana, I built this too and I had to trim a tiny bit off the circumference of a wide mouth Mason lid and it fits inside just fine, the regular lids are way too small for the 3" pipe.
Interesting! I wonder if it's a slight difference between a Canadian and an American sealer? ~ karen!
I have a question. We built your design, exactly as you did, and yet our girls are still spilling a lot of feed. We have six 13 week-olds, and their feed is in crumble form. Does that impact the effectiveness of this design? I'm trying to figure out what we did wrong, because the highlight of this design was not wasting feed. Thank you!
Hi Ashley! I'd have to see what you did. Are you pulling the feed up to the top of the feeding tube for them? If that's the case stop doing that because you're bringing food up to where they can fling it. If it's designed properly, the chickens should have to stick their necks down the tube to get at food and there isn't a lot of space left in there to start flinging. It could be possible that you just have chickens that are incredibly determined to food fling! ~ karen
You know, I remembered that we used a 4" pipe instead of 3", like you. Might that be the problem?
PLEASE TELL ME WHEN YOU ADD THAT ADDITIONAL 3" PEICE TO THE FEEDER OUTLET WILL THE FEED ACTUALLY WORK IT'S WAY BACK UP THAT 3" ANGLE TO FILL THE GAP TO FEED THE CHICKENS...HAVN'T PUT IT ON BEACAUSE I DON'T THINK THE FEED CAN WORK IT'S WAY BACK UP AND IT WOULD BE TOO LONG FOR THE CHICKEN TO FEED IF IT DOESN'T,...WILL IT FILL UP ON IT'S ON ? THANKS
Hi Mike. Yes, it works fine. The chickens do have to put their head in a bit, but it isn't a problem. Just pour the feed in and they'll get it. If you want you can fill the 3" piece of pipe with some feed so your chickens get used to the idea that that's where their food is coming from. Your chickens will be able to reach it. ~ karen!
Hi Karen,
Great write up! I'm wondering if something similar to this could be done as a drinker as well. Seem to remember from my school days (oh so long ago!) that we built a water dispenser for dogs which relied on a plenum chamber inside the feed tube.
Just done a bit of an amusing article on our feathered friends, take a look if you wish! http://www.littlepeckers.co.uk/blog/chicken-feeders-fun-facts/
Thanks
David
I've seen these as cereal dispensers at the free continental breakfasts at the cheap hotels...
I am building 10 of these for my smaller coops. The top piece will have to be 14 inches to fit the size of my coops. I am using the white PVC. Not sure if I will have to make the bottom piece shorter than 6 inches as well but I will raise the feeder on piece of 2 by 4. Do you think this will be a problem?
Hi David! No, that'll be fine. Really the only reason for the bottom section is to lift up the feeder so it's at the right height. The feeder opening should be fairly high which also helps with keeping the birds from flicking their feed. Good luck with it all. ~ karen!
Good Job :)