Homemade Chicken Feeder and Waterer

JULY 2010 UPDATE: We now have an automatic chicken waterer design. This post outlines all the parts and steps needed to create your own. Click here to check it out.



Original post:

Last week I noticed that the chickens were starting to eat and drink their starter containers dry. I realized that they needed larger receptacles to hold the food and water (or else I was going to have to fill them more than once a day). Initially I was going to buy them from the feed store, but after some research I decided to make my own.

Making a homemade chicken feeder and waterer is quite simple. The parts I used are as follows:

Feeder
2 gallon bucket (bought at Home Depot)
Lid for the 2 gallon bucket
12 plastic plant saucer

Waterer
Plastic bucket slightly smaller than 2 gallons (we had one that was part of a gift)
12 inch plant saucer

Tools
Drill
1/4 inch bit
1 inch bit

Building the feeder:
1. Attach the 1 inch bit to the drill (as shown in photo above)

2. Drill 6-8 evenly spaced holes along the bottom edge of the bucket. The bottom of the holes should be about 1/2 inch up from the bottom of the bucket.

3. Place the bucket in the saucer and fill with food. The food will spill out of the holes using gravity.

4. Place the lid on the top of the bucket to keep the food clean.

This feeder is easily filled by removing the lid and adding more food. I have found it useful that the plant saucer is not attached because it allows me to shake the last bit of food out of the bucket into the saucer. This reduces waste.

Building the waterer:

1. Attach the 1/4 inch bit to the drill

2. Place the bucket upside down into the saucer (see photo below)

3. Mark 2 spots on the bucket that are lower than the edge of the saucer

4. Remove the bucket

5. The marks should be on the top edge of the bucket, near the open end

6. Drill 2 holes where marked

7. Fill with water and put the saucer on top

8. Holding the bucket and saucer together, quickly flip the waterer over. The water will slowly start flowing out of the holes and fill the saucer up to the level of the holes due to the vacuum created inside the bucket.

Since making the new feeder and waterer, the intervals of feeding and watering are longer now. The food will last about a week with 4 chickens. The water lasts about 5 days.

This is just one way to create a homemade feeder and waterer. If you would like to share your ideas and experiences, please leave a comment below for others to see.

Ladybugs on Patrol

The ladybugs are out doing their job: eating other bugs. Since ladybugs are beneficial insects, I am happy to see them in the garden. They are out in quantity right now. Good news for our plants.

















The first one I found was patrolling a pepper plant.


















This other one was hanging out on an onion.

Vegetable Garden 2009

We planted most of the garden last Saturday morning. After prepping the night before, we were finally ready to put the plants in the ground. Following my planting diagram and reference list, we measured, fertilized, and planted the seedlings according to plan.

My husband installed the drip watering system on Sunday. Later in the week, I finished up planting the herbs, peas, beans, and additional flowers. We have been out several times to adjust the direction of the water from the drip hoses to make sure each plant gets its share.

The plants seem to have made it through the shock of transplant. I am sure that the rain for the past three days has also helped. Once this rain stops, I will get some shots of the actual plants.

Hens and Chicks

These are the other type of hens and chicks, which are growing well in a half wine barrel shown here. Apparently they also look nice planted in a strawberry pot. As I learned when writing this post, be clear what type of hens and chicks you are discussing when talking with others (especially those with chickens). When I said "Hens and chicks look good in a strawberry pot," my husband started wondering what I had planned for our chickens and if I was going to put them in a strawberry pot.

Tiny Mandarins

It has been a little over a week since the citrus blossoms started blooming. I was pleased to discover tiny mandarins emerging from the wilting blossoms. Some of the other mandarin trees are getting blossoms and the lemon tree is still in full bloom.