Successful breeding of chickens or quails on a home mini-farm can only be done with proper feeding. Combined feed and grain should be received in sufficient quantities by the bird. In addition, the owner of a household, of course, must follow the feeding regime for birds. Otherwise, chickens and quails will not carry well and gain weight slowly.
However, unfortunately, not every owner of a mini-farm has the opportunity to visit the house 3-4 times a day to feed feathered pets. This is especially true for summer residents. A way out of this situation may be to install in the barn such a convenient device as a bunker feeder for quails and chickens. To assemble such a design, if desired, you can also do it yourself.
Benefits of using
Most often, long V-shaped feeding troughs, shot down from boards, are installed in the houses. The design of these devices is such that hens cannot climb inside in order to dig in the grain (and scatter it), and also leave droppings. However, the dimensions of the V-shaped troughs are such that you cannot fill too much food in them. If you make such a feeder larger, then getting inside the hens will not be difficult. With all the ensuing consequences. Yes, and such a place in the barn takes up a lot of space. Therefore, the owners of the poultry houses have to fill the chickens with grain several times a day.
Bunker feeder (a photo of such structures can be seen on the page), this drawback is completely devoid of. Having poured grain into this device, you can not enter the house for several days. Of course, for summer residents who breed both chickens and quails, who come to their suburban area at most twice a week, this is very convenient.
Design features
What is a bunker chicken feeder? Structurally, the device is not too complicated. It consists of two main parts: a large grain hopper and a tray designed specifically for feeding the bird. Using this design is very simple. The grain laid in the hopper is poured into the tray gradually, as the chickens eat it. Of course, the bird does not have the opportunity to get inside the feeder of such a design. The tray is too small for this. Pour the feed into the hopper through the hole made at the top using a funnel.
In specialized stores bunker feeders for chickens of any size, made of a wide variety of materials, are sold today. Most of them are easy to use. However, devices of this type assembled at the factory are quite expensive. Therefore, many homeowners are interested in how to make a manger with their own hands. The design of such devices, as already mentioned, is extremely simple.
What materials can be used
Homemade chicken feeders of this variety can be made:
In general, it is possible to make such a convenient device, including from available materials available in any household.
Bottle use
The easiest way to make such a device as an automatic chicken feeder is from a plastic container from under mineral water, juices, etc. The device for an adult bird is made of three bottles: two for 5 liters and one for 3 liters. It is important to choose containers with sufficiently dense walls. The procedure for the manufacture of the feeder in this case should be as follows:
One of the five-liter bottles is cut in half.
The top of the container can be thrown out. In the lower half, five square holes should be made measuring approximately 5 * 5 cm (around the entire circumference). They should be cut with a sharp knife at the height of the first rib from the bottom.
From a bottle of 3 l, you need to cut off the upper part with a neck. The result is a pretty comfortable funnel.
How to feed a bird
In use, a bunker chicken feeder made from plastic bottles is extremely simple. Grain is poured into the remaining five-liter bottle through a plastic funnel made. Fill the food container should be a little more than half. Next, the bottle is carefully turned over (the neck must be held with the palm of your hand) and inserted into the cropped part with holes. In this case, the neck should rise to the bottom.
Of course, the weight of homemade feeders (and drinkers) for chickens made from plastic bottles are small. Their dimensions are quite significant. Therefore, chickens can easily turn such a device. In order to prevent this from happening, the structure should be fixed to the wall through the holes made in the plastic hopper.
Chicken construction
A bunker chicken feeder, the manufacturing technology of which was discussed above, for small chicks, of course, is not suitable. A chicken can climb through a hole of 5x5 cm very easily. Therefore, for chicks, feeders are made from small bottles (1.5 l). The assembly principle in this case will be slightly different. A chicken feeder is made as follows:
From a bottle of 1.5 l, the bottom with walls 10-12 cm high is cut off.
In it, as in the first case, holes are made. Of course, they should not be very large.
The top of the bottle is inserted into the bottom with openings with the neck down. Of course, the cork should be removed first.
How to make a feeder out of a bucket
Bottle accessories are easy to use and are made elementary. However, sometimes the owners of household plots are interested in how to make a feeding trough with their own hands from a bucket. After all, such a design can turn out to be more thorough and durable than a bottle one. The manufacturing technology of such feeders is also relatively simple. In addition to the bucket, in this case, you need a scaffold for seedlings. A “tray” convenient for chickens will be made of it. Make a feeder of this variety like this:
In the bucket at the very bottom, 5-6 holes of an arched shape are cut about 2-3 cm high.
To the bottom of the bucket screw the scissors. You can fix it on ordinary screws.
A strong cord is tied to the handle of the bucket.
The feeder is suspended at the required height.
Pipe use
The bucket feeder is spacious and can last for several years without the need for replacement. However, sometimes the owners of the houses make such devices from other materials. For example, from sewer pipes an inexpensive and convenient bunker feeder is obtained (a photo of it can be seen just below). To manufacture the device in this case, you will need to purchase:
A small corner (at 45) should first be put on the pipe. It needs to be fixed as tightly as possible. Then a small corner is put on a small one. The result should be a design with a bend, like a drainpipe (but with a slightly raised outlet). The feeder assembled in this way should be hung on the wall of the house, distributing the clamps evenly along the entire length.
The plug is only needed if the feeder is intended to be used outdoors. After filling the grain, it is simply put on the pipe from above. It turns out a cap that prevents the food from getting wet during rain.
Such an automatic chicken feeder works extremely simply. Under a suspended pipe a tin or plastic basin is substituted. If any hungry chicken starts pecking the grain from the corner by 90, it will wake up down. Other fowls will be able to eat grain that has fallen into the basin.
Use of plywood
A bucket and sewer are materials that are great for assembling such a convenient design as a chicken feed bin. However, the most durable and thorough are still devices shot down from plywood. In addition, a lot of grain can be poured into a feeder made of such material. They make plywood bunker devices as follows:
They knock down a long narrow vertical box without a bottom from the sheets. His back wall should be slightly higher than the front.
From narrow boards they knock down a rectangular tray of the same width as the vertical box. Its length should be 5-7 cm longer.
Attach the tray to the bottom of the drawer. The result is a large structure, in profile resembling the inverted letter "G".
A feeder knocked down in this way is not particularly stable. Therefore, it should be screwed to the wall of the barn. It is advisable to cover the vertical box with a hinged lid.
Such a bunker feeder for quail is very suitable. The only thing for this variety of household birds is to make an adaptation of much smaller sizes. After all, they contain quail only in cages. Outdoor breeding of such birds requires too much equipment for the shed.
In this case, a small “boot” feeder, knocked down from plywood, is simply installed next to the cage in such a way that the quail can stick its head out between the rods and easily reach the grain in the tray. For reliability, the feeder should be fixed to the cell frame on the screws.