Hannah Moloney has devised a smart self-feeding station for her chooks using a recycled plastic tub.
As well as keeping her birds entertained, the system is rodent-proof, bird-proof and weather-proof. “The ultimate trifecta!” Hannah says.
What you need:
Large food-grade plastic bucket with a handle and a good lid (2-10L is good)
A square scrap of untreated timber
An eye bolt (stainless steel or galvanized)
A drill with appropriate bits; one matching eye bolt diameter & one slightly larger hole saw or spade bit.
How to do it:
Using the hole saw or spade bit, drill a small hole in the bucket base, making sure to remove any loose bits of plastic.
Drill a hole in the timber piece, to attach the bolt.
Thread the bolt through the hole in the bucket, with eye placed inside.
Secure the timber on the end of the bolt, it should hang freely.
Fill the bucket with chicken feed & secure lid.
Using a metal chain or hook, suspend in the chook run at an easy height for the girls to peck the timber. Its movement in the base of the bucket will allow a few grains of feed to drop. Your chickens will very quickly get the hang of it!
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25 Comments
how is the toggle not falling through the hole? what size is the hole vs the bolt?
I'm thinking it needs a conical base interior so ALL the feed works it's way down to the hole automatically…….and being made of solid galvanised or stainless steel would be good too.
Simple and easy to make! Thank you.
This is great to minimise waste and it is more interesting for the chooks, but definitely not wild bird proof. They worked out how to use it too!
Thank you for this video. Yes, I followed the manufacturing advice of a woman, and the chicken feeder I made according to your method, works perfectly. I placed my bucket on a plastic kiddies table, with a hole cut in the centre of the table top. The only problem I have is that my one Pekin hen got the hang of how this feeder works, and now she hammers away on the toggle and enjoys the rainstorm of mealies. Now I need to scoop the food back into the bucket. But, really an excellent system.
Great idea!!!
first of thats brilliant ! plus youre soo good looking. 😼🌹🌹🌹
i wonder if ducks could work it???
No good!!! sparrows and starlings worked out how to use it in 2 days
That's great! Thank you for sharing ❤
Hi Hanna! These are the best feeders! I went a step further and made a hole in the lid and siliconed a clear piece of plastic over it, to act as a window. Saves taking the lid off to check if there is any feed left! 😉
My chicken is picky, so they left whatever they do not want to eat all over the ground, which invites rodents back to clean up at night
unfortunately all my sparrows in the neighbourhood figured out how to use this in 1 day 🙁
This is a brilliant solution! Allows you to provide feed for many days without running out. I taught my chickens to use it by putting peanut butter on the wood piece they peg on.
That is so simple so simple to make so inexpensive that is genius I was just about to spend $100 and try one from a store thanks for saving me a hundred bucks brilliant
excellent
What a fantastic idea, I stunned at the simplicity and the ingenurity of it. 1 very big tick for that one,top marks. Well done. 🏒🏑🏒
I can tell you these aren't bird proof. Mynahs figure these out in minutes. I just removed mine because I'm sick of feeding all the Indian mynahs.
Hi Hannah, great idea never seen this before. I am looking for a rodent proof feeder. I have a bantam. Do you think this will work? She isn't as big as your chickens. I am concerned the 🐀 may learn how to use it 🙃. Has anyone had any issues with that? Thanks again.
Do you think I would work for crumble, my girls don't like the pellets
I have had it hanging with my 9 chickens for a month now…… they STILL just stand there and look at it (if paying it attention at all)🤦🏻♀️
They simply don’t get it, no matter how often I show them.😅😅
They must be the only chickens in the world that would rather walk around hungry than try to figure it out.
They eat it when I show them……
Maybe a window would help so they can actually SEE that there’s food in it🤷🏼♀️😅
I just made this exactly as shown in the video and it works perfectly. My chickens learned how to eat from it within a day. And I already had all the supplies at home so it didn’t cost me more than 10 minutes of my time. Thanks for a very helpful post.
Hi what a great feeder idea. Made one and works perfectly. Well, it did until 8 days later when the sparrows learned to bomb dive the toggle…
i found that its great if your if you have small grain in the bucket how ever when you change to pallets they block the hole so i guess you need to have two buckets