gravity feeder

[pamike]

I just made a gravity feeder for my chickens but should work just fine for quail.

Get an empty large metal coffee can, a metal pie pan (not the foil type) and a 1/4" machine screw with nut and 2 washers.

drill a 1/4" hole in the center of the pie pan and the center of the bottom of the coffee can.

Drill 14 equally spaced 1/2" holes around the side of the coffee can about 3/8" from the bottom. next take a dremel or 4" grinder with a cutting wheel and cut the space between two holes out so you have a neat slot. clean it up with your dremel so there are no burrs or sharp edges.

clean the coffee can and pie pan really good. put a washer on the machine screw, put the screw in the hole in the pie pan through the bottom and hold it there, place the coffee can over the screw and put i through the hole, put the other washer and nut on the screw and tighten really good.

Fill it with feed, put the lid on it and place for your birds.

it took my chickens a total of 3 seconds to figure out there was food in there, only after one of them jumped on top of the can, lol.

mike

[CharlieHorse]

Good Idea.

[Babs_MN]

This is so funny.. I was just wishing I had a gravity feeder for 2 of my chickie pens. The netting roof is only about 4 ft high so needless to say I look a little funny crouching around in there to get and fill their darn pans. Any thoughts on how one might keep the rain out of it?

Babs

[jchiar]

put the plastic lid on the can

[Babs_MN]

Well, yeah. I kinda figured that was a given. :P
Sorry, what I meant was... How do you keep water out of the pan on the bottom? It's been raining crazy here for the last week and everything is wet. I just hate to waste feed like that, esp since the price seems to be going up.

Babs

[aKirA]

My thoughts on keeping rain out would be to add a roof/umbrella type design on top of the feeder. Nothing fancy, just another pan that is wider.

Here are my designs. The idea is to keep the outlet small. That way, the birds won't scratch or bill the feed out too much. The outlet is also raised off the floor to minimize dirt and droppings from getting into it. I use animal safe sellicone to bond the lip to the bottles. Can find it at Tropical Fish or Pet stores. To cut the openings, I found it easiest to use a soldering iron. With the heated iron, you can just cut/carve easily into the plastic. Height placement and size of outlet is totally up to you depending on what birds it will be used for. I made some for chicks and adults as well. You can just eyeball it by referring to your birds.



You can use plastic juice bottles of various sizes. They are easy to clean and readilly available. Since they are clear, can easily see feed/water level.



For the outlet/lip, I use smaller bottle/containers such as dishwashing soap bottles, shampoo bottles, etc. Cut the bottum portion at the size you desire. Then cut in half. Only need one piece per feeder/waterer.



You may need to trim/shape the outlet/lip if your feeder/waterer bottle is round. Again, you can use a blade or soldering iron.



Cutout for feeder hole. Either use a rectanglar or pyramid shape. I like the pyramid type shape. It helps from feed blockage.



Cutout for waterer hole. Need two holes. Don't put them too close together or water won't dispense. Make sure the seal is good with the sellicone or you will get leakage.



This is the design I use in my wired pen. Helps from waste. Your basic gravity feeder with four openings at bottum of bottle inside of a cd cake case. The case then has four openings that is just big enough for your bird's head to eat from. Use sellicone or anything to bond. Can make similar on a bigger scale.

[pamike]

akira, good idea, great details. just one question. what the heck is that green stuff in the bottle on the right in your first pic? I think if it starts looking like that it is time to replace it, lol.

mike

[aKirA]

LOL..ya that's algae build up in the waterer. It is from my meat birds' pen and it is exposed to the sun so prone to algae build up. But a good rinse usually will clean that up. I do try to keep the waterers under some shade to reduce the algae build up.

[Babs_MN]

Oh hey, did you know that if you put a little apple cider vinegar in there it helps keep that gunk from growing? And it's nice and healthy for the birds too. ;)

Babs

[aKirA]

wow thanks babs! i always wondered if there was an economical solution. I'll give it a try.

[pamike]

I heard about that. I am going to try it since I noticed a little just starting to grow in my chick waterer today. How much per gallon should I use?

[La.bowhunter]

i use it in my rabbits water, never thought about the quail.

i use 1 teaspoon per gallon. i read on a rabbit site that it aided in digestion and i think it was supposed to help in lowering odor levels.

[pamike]

thanks alot. I am sure it will cut down alot on future problems.

mike

[Babs_MN]

Yep same for birds, 1 tsp per gallon. And it does cut the ammonia odor. I'm so used to it not being smelly I  forget it's one of the benefits.

Babs

[aKirA]

This is the feeder design I've finally come to use for my outdoor-dirted pen.
Same concept as above. I started using Hot Glue for bonding. Gives me a stronger bond.

This is a Gallon juice bottle. Two outlets so that feed will dispense more evenly. Over the outlets, I used shampoo bottle ends for canopies to protect from rain.