HANG YOUR CHICKEN FEED

Enlarge Image Image Gallery [1] Leave a 1"" border when you cut out the bottom of the pail. [2] Then attach the crosspiece and bolt . . . [3] fasten on the pan and support disk . . . [4] and hang your homemade feeder at the appropriate height (Photos by the Author)

Most hens waste more mash than they eat, but you can put an end to their spendthrift ways:

Ray Meloy

I like raising poultry about as much as anybody does, but let's face it . . . chickens have absolutely rotten table manners. If given the opportunity to do so, they'll walk all over their feed, scatter the provender to and fro, and — worse yet — leave droppings on perfectly good (and danged expensive) mash.

Sure, there are commercial feeders on the market that are designed to discourage such misdeeds (the common trough models, for example, are often equipped with loose center rails that keep the birds from standing on or over their food), but even those devices have their shortcomings: They can be difficult to fill, hold only a small amount of mix, and have a way of disassembling themselves between feedings.

That's why I designed a hanging feeder that can be raised (as the birds grow) or lowered (for youngsters) . . . prevents spillage and spoilage . . . requires only infrequent refillings . . . and — best of all — can be cobbled together, in just a couple of hours, from little more than common household and workshop items.

CONSTRUCTION

The main component of my invention is a hopper made from a five-gallon plastic pail. If you don't already have a bucket that you can spare, you can probably get one at a fast-food restaurant. The quick-eats emporiums often buy margarine and other foodstuffs in such containers, and either give away the empties or sell them for a dollar or two.

You'll also need a shallow circular pan with a lip all the way around its circumference. I used the lid from a metal ten-gallon garbage can (I removed the handle first) . . . but any similar item that has a diameter 1-1/2" to 3" larger than that of the hopper, and is no more than 4 inches deep, will do. (If you're handy with sheet metal, you could even make a suitable tray yourself.)

Turn the plastic pail upside down and snip out its bottom . . . leaving a 1"-wide border all around. Now, cut a strip of 1/2" plywood about an inch wide and as long as the bucket's interior diameter. Place the piece inside the pail so that its ends rest on the 1" rim, and — after drilling a small hole at each end of the plywood and through the plastic — secure the strip in place with a couple of nuts and bolts.