On the shelves of all stores in different periods of the year you can buy fresh products.
There will be no problem to buy chicken meat.
But still, farmers themselves grow various vegetation and domestic animals on their plots.
All of them will tell you that home-grown products are much tastier and more beneficial than from the store.
Urban summer residents can keep a small garden, but now the cultivation of poultry is not for everyone.
But for our skillful hands to create their own drinker or feeder for poultry is not so difficult.
Properly made products are one of the important tasks in breeding poultry.
According to what signs can be classified trough and drinkers for poultry
In supermarkets you can see a diverse number of poultry feeders, which come in different colors and sizes. But at the same time the bird can eat from the self-made feeder.
Handmade troughs much cheaperthan purchased in the store, as well as the time spent on the manufacture of such a product is small.
On the Internet you can find a lot of different ways for the manufacture of feeders and drinkers. Some methods and materials used in their manufacture, you will read in our article.
Classification of feeders for the material used:
- The first manger is wooden. Such a feeder can be used for feeding poultry with dry feed, for example: grain, mixed fodder, various mineral components: chalk, shells or pebbles.
- The second trough is metal or plastic. In such feeders you can put wet food. After which they will be easier to wash.
- The third trough is a trough made of mesh or metal rods. This type of feeder is suitable for feeding fresh greens.
Classification of feeders by type of feed:
- Feeding trough in the form of a tray.
Such feeders look like a small flat container, which has sides on its sides, which serve for not spreading food in the poultry house. This type of feeder is best suited for feeding small chickens.
- Feeder in the form of a gutter in which a pinwheel or bounding removable grill is attached to the tray.
There may be several compartments inside the tank so that several types of feed can be poured. Such feeders are placed behind the cage, which greatly facilitates their maintenance.
- A feeder in the form of a bunker, such a feeder is made for feeding dry food to birds.
This type of feeders makes it easier for you to work, since in the morning such a volume of food is poured there to last for a whole day. Then the feed comes from the bunker to the tray, as needed. And with a closed bunker design, the feed is protected from various contaminants.
How to classify feeders according to their position in the room:
- The first are feeders that are placed on the floor. Such feeders are more often used, as they can be moved to any part of the house.
- The second - this trough, which have on weight. Such feeders are placed on any side of the house, they are attached to brackets or to any other retaining fasteners.
Requirements that must be followed in the manufacture of home trough
- The first requirement that must be considered is to ensure the correct use of the feed.
The feeder should be made in such a way that the birds could not climb on it, scatter the food, and even more spoil it. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to make bumpers on the feeder or any other covers for most of the food inside the feeder.
- The second requirement to consider is ease of maintenance.
This device must be constantly filled up with food, and from time to time wash and clean. With all this, the shape, size and material should not create uncomfortable conditions for these events.
Therefore, in the manufacture of feeders, you need to think through all the main points: small dimensions, ease of handling, cleaning and disinfection.
- The third requirement that needs to be considered is optimal size.
You need to make a feeder such that all birds can eat from it. About fifteen centimeters of length is needed for an adult chicken, and for chickens two times less space.
It is also necessary to take into account that the weaker birds could also have access to the feeder.
Description of the process of manufacturing feeders
Plastic feeders
The simplest versions of the suspended feeders can be made from an ordinary plastic bottle with a handle that is attached to either side of the house.
The main point in the manufacture of such trough take a solid bottle that will not break on the sides.
Approximately eight centimeters upwards from the bottom of the bottle it is necessary to make a hole in order to ensure that the birds approach the feed. With the help of a notch on the handle, this trough is easily attached to the net.
Bunker feeders are sometimes called automatic. To some extent it is much makes it easier for you to work and makes the process of feeding feed to birds more automatic, since dry feed independently comes from the bunker to the trays when it is eaten.
To do this, take a large plastic bucket with a handle, regardless of what was stored in it until this point.
At the bottom of such a bucket, you need to make several holes, through which food will later be poured into the partition of the partitioned plates. The size, which should be ten centimeters larger than the size of the bucket used.
If there are no partition cards, you can use a larger bucket. All parts of the feeder need to connect screws. On top of the bucket you need to close the lid. Such a feeder can be put on the floor in the house, and you can hang about twenty centimeters from the floor.
Feeders made from sewer pipes
Feeders of this type are of great interest in poultry houses.
The following materials are used for the manufacture of this type of feeder: PVC pipe or PVC with a diameter of about 150 millimeters, two stubs, one tee, all parts must be of the same material.
The length of the pipe, each takes what he wants. Of course, more grain will fit in a longer pipe, but a long pipe will not be as stable.
After determining the length of the pipe from it, it is necessary to cut off two pieces measuring twenty and ten centimeters. Then a longer piece is attached to the pipe with a tee and fix the holes with plugs.
To the branch of the tee attach a smaller cut piece of pipe that will be used instead of the tray. And all the feeder is ready, it remains only to pour food into it and attach it to any wall of the house, with the long end up. In order to stop the birds' access to feed at night, the hole can be closed with a plug.
If you have a lot of poultry, you can make several of these feeders, or make a more complex feeder. To do this, it is necessary to cut two pieces from the pipe, one of which must be thirty centimeters in size.
Now you need to connect the two parts with your knee. In a smaller piece of pipe you need to make a few holes the size of about four centimeters. Through the holes made by the birds will peck feed. In the end it is necessary to close both pipes with plugs, and a more complicated construction of the feeder is made.
It is also interesting to read about ventilation in the hen house.
Trough made of wood
Feeders made of wood are expensive than the ones listed above.
For the manufacture of wooden feeders need the following materials:
- Plywood with thick wall thickness
- Screws
- 90 degree hinges
- Skin
- Saw or jigsaw
- Roulette
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Band-saw
- Screwdriver
- Drill
- Drill
- Clamps
We list highlights in the manufacture of wooden feeders:
- First you need to decide on the size of the feeder
- On thick-walled plywood it is necessary to draw out all the details of the feeder.
- After drawing, you need to take a saw or jigsaw and cut out the parts.
- Next, in the cut-out parts with a drill, you need to make secret holes for mounting with screws.
- After that, you need to handle the feeder sandpaper, so that birds do not hurt themselves.
- Next, you need to connect the screws, clamps, front, rear and side of the feeder.
- On the back and front of the panel, you need to cut an angle of 15 degrees above and below. Next you need to install the parts on the same level with the top edge and using screws to attach them to the side parts. You can make the front wall of transparent plastic, which allows you to control the level of feed, without even opening the lid.
- Next you need to take a piece of timber and make the part with a thirty-degree angle and screw it to the trough.
- Then use the hinges to attach the cover to the sides. After that, the manufactured feeder must be treated with antiseptic agents.
A feeder made of wood can be made in the form of a long box or box, which is then placed outside the boundaries of the walking yard, this protecting food from damage. When using such feeders, your feet will be cleaner, because you do not have to go to the birds.
A timber is taken from which a frame is made in the form of a box about 25 centimeters high and about 20 centimeters wide, after which it is sheathed with plywood or board. One wall must be made at an angle.
The dimension of the grid cells must be such that the hen is able to stick his head in order to peck the food. From above the feeding trough is covered with a lid made of the same plywood or board.
Making drinking bowls for birds with their own hands
When constructing drinkers, you need to take into account some problems that you need to get rid of:
- Dishes with water that stands on the floor, constantly contaminated.
- Large tanks should not be placed in the house, as the water located in them quickly loses its usefulness.
- Birds in the floor drinkers jump and pollute the water.
- Bacteria and microbes quickly appear in the open water surface.
- Water in such drinking bowls needs to be changed several times a day.
- Water in floor drinkers can freeze in winter.
How to make a bird feeder from the bottle
Nowadays, automatic drinkers that meet all requirements are very popular. But novice poultry farmers can use their own hand-made drinkers. In our world, recycling plastic bottles is a big problem. But skilled poultry houses have found the use of such bottles.
Of course, you can simply place the water trays in the house, but chickens will not only drink their water, but also splash there, and even worse, defecate there. And lazy poultry farmers will constantly clean these drinkers. And others will make such drinkers that will be intended only for drinking.
An important aspect is that the water in the troughs was always clean. Since the drinkers from plastic bottles are open-type drinkers, they are contacted between birds through them, which means that a sick bird can infect a healthy one.
There are many ways to make drinkers from plastic bottles, we will tell about one of them in this article.
The best location for the drinker will be on the wall, not on the floor, because pots are polluted quickly.
You can make a frame for mounting the bottle to the wall, from which the bottle will be easy to reach. The frame can be made of wire or profile for drywall, where the bottle will be. The lower part of the neck must be below the side of the container, because of which water will not overflow. That's all the bird feeder is ready.
How to use this drinker? To do this, take a bottle, fill it with water, close the lid, turn it over and insert it into the frame. After that, you need to open the cover.
Water will begin to pour into the tank, but when the water level reaches the neck, the water will no longer pour out, because the atmospheric pressure will affect the water in the tank and accordingly keep it in the bottle. Then when the water level is below the neck, the required amount of water will flow out.
In order to equip a poultry house with drinkers, it is necessary to take into account the amount of water consumed by birds. These rates depend on the age of chickens, on food and air temperature and other factors.
Mostly adult birds consume half a liter of water per day. It is also necessary to take into account that the birds do not cluster around the troughs. Therefore, it is necessary to make the drinkers such that the birds can approach them from all sides.
Drinkers made with their own hands are very helpful to beginning poultry farmers. Later you can buy more automated drinkers.
Not a difficult option nipple drinkers do it yourself
To make such a drinker will not be difficult and material costs.
It is necessary to take a plastic bottle in the lid of which to make a hole with a diameter of nine millimeters. The nipple should be screwed into the hole, then the cap with the screwed nipple should be screwed into the bottle.
The bottom of the bottle must be cut. The finished drinker should be hung in the house and filled with water. Then on the cap to adapt the drip pan and microcell water bottle.
Also, instead of the bottle, you can use a bucket in which you can make several holes. And then do everything as well as for the bottle.