The Poultry Guide A Free Source Of Information for poultry Keepers,Raisers, Beginners and poultry food lovers
Food wastage is one serious issue chicken raisers face. But by building a DIY chicken feeder and a waterer, you can reduce water and food wastage and save yourself both time and money.
A DIY chicken feeder and auto waterer is easy to make and is less expensive compared to those sold at the store.
If you are interested in building one for your chickens, then you should check out these 27 DIY chicken feeder and waterer Ideas that we have gathered round the internet.
DIY Chicken Feeder And Waterer For Keeping Feed And Water Safe From Being Waste
1: Simplest PVC DIY Chicken Feeder
Get the simplest yet effective diy chicken feeder for your coop with the help of some elbows (90 degree) and PVC pipes. It is a kind of “T” shape system, which can be used for both feeding and watering the chickens by backyardchickenlady. The two ends of the system can be used either for feed, water,or for both.
Here are brief instructions to make this diy chicken feeder.
- Take 5′ pipe and cut two 3” long pieces.
- Pour pvc cement into one of the side holes of the “T” and place one piece of 3″ long pipe.
- Dry-fit (do not cement yet) the Elbows onto the 3″ pipe stubs.
- Use glue to fix the pipe onto the top hole of “T”
- After turning the cap upside down cut four slots in the sides of cap.
2: PVC Chicken Waterer
Another problem of regular chicken water cups is that they can only contain very little water. Also all the water can be easily thrown out if a chicken steps on it. But with this DIY chicken waterer by instructables you will solve both problems. Its designed such that a number of cups are attached to the pipe line, and a water source at the top.
Build this diy chicken waterer for only $55 and it leaves your chicken house very tidy. You will need a large and a small PVC pipe, PVC couplers, PVC joints, threaded caps, small cups and a few other materials.
The project is easy to build and can be completed in hours. The plan highlights all the required materials and step by step instruction on how to complete the project.
3: Automatic Chicken Feeder
Build this homemade chicken feeder by lumnahacres for only $30 ; some of the materials are stuffs you already have at home. Aside the bucket, you will need a few other materials like a three inch PVC, masking tape, aluminum rivets and much more.
You will need to drill holes on the sides of the bucket and attach the PVC, which will provide access to the grain.
The plan contains adequate step by step guide and photos to build this DIY chicken feeder. The project is placed at a beginners DIY level and can be completed in a few hours.
4: Wooden DIY Chicken Feeder
Looking for a simple and cost effective diy chicken feeder? Here you can make the simplest one with wood – you need excellent assembling and wood cutting skills. You can use plywood as it is resistant to fungus and other bacteria. In order to get more details about assembling, accurate cuttings, go through the this diy chicken feeder by backyardchickens.
5: Automatic Chicken Waterer
Leaving your chickens alone for weeks when no one is in the house is very dangerous, as they need water continuously. But by building this automated diy chicken waterer, you will have less to worry about. The design is a large tank placed on a wooden stand. The tank is made to have hose to supply water to the chicken water bowls. The big size of the tank makes it possible to hold more water and refill the bowls immediately its low on water. This will ensure you worry less and reduce the work load of setting up water for your chickens every day.
You will need a big drum; a 55 gallon drum was used in the original plan. You will also need plywood for the stand, hose, threaded fittings, and other materials. The project can be completed in a day following the plan.
6: Glass DIY Chicken Waterer
To make this diy chicken waterer take a canning jar of 1/2 gallon capacity and clean it up twice or thrice, so that nothing is left inside. Make sure you make a hole in the bottom, and flat the edges. Take a plastic plan or even a glass bowl and keep the water filled jar on it. Here is the simplest and cost effective kind of automatic diy chicken waterer by naturalchickenkeeping.
7: Bucket Feeder And DIY Chicken Waterer
If your budget is limited and can afford only 10 to 15 dollars to spend, this is the best idea you can come up with.
Here are brief instructions to make this diy chicken feeder and waterer on Facebook.
- Take bucket, which has a lid, screws and oil pan to make a diy feeder.
- Use a bucket with lid to make a waterer.
- Drill in holes at the opposite sides, at a little level from the bottom.
- Insert it in upward down position in a pan.
Therefore, now you do not have to think how to make a chicken waterer.
8: Nipple Sucker DIY Chicken Waterer
To build this diy chicken waterer, take a bucket, drill holes in the base. Insert the nipple suckers in the bucket, and fill it with water. Hang it anywhere you want, or simply place upside down in the coop. Your chickens would suck the nipples each time they want to have some water. See the complete guide to build this chicken waterer at Peak Prosperity.
9: Container To A DIY Chicken Waterer
This type of diy chicken waterer by apronstringz is simply the best to have in the coop if you have angry birds all around. An upward side down container in the pan filled with water helps in making the best waterer. However, you need to drill in holes, at the side so that it can work under the gravity principle.
10: True DIY Auto Chicken Waterer
This automatic chicken waterer by backyardchickens is made with PVC pipes. To make this diy feeder you will also need poultry nipple feeders, PVC caps, PVC hose thread and some other materials. The design is a pipe system waterer with nipples attached at various points. This way, the chickens can easily drink through nipple.
The pipes are connected to a toilet fill valve which automatically sends water to the pipes. This homemade chicken waterer is easy to build and it’s suitable for someone with a large number of chickens. You may take some days for the chickens to get used to feeding on it, but after that, you wouldn’t need to worry about ever refilling water for the chickens.
11: Easy Fill DIY Chicken Waterer
It’s always a hassle to take water to your chickens when they are kept in a cage, especially after it rains. So, this DIY chicken waterer by bitmaps-misc.blogspot.com is designed to enable you to provide them water without opening or going into the cage. It’s built using PVC pipe and a bucket. to make this diy chicken waterer You will need a 5 gallon bucket with lid, an oil pan, PVC pipe, PVC fittings, PVC cement, gasket and a few other materials.
After building, the bucket will be held in the oil pan in the cage, while the pipe is extended outside, for easy refilling. The plan contains photos and details on how to build.
12: “L” Shape PVC DIY Chicken Feeder
This kind of feeder can be attached to the coop easily. PVC made feeder by instructables has two ends – open-ended side is exposed to chicken while the other end is closed, and the homemade chicken feed is added from there.
13: Less-Waste DIY Chicken Feeder
If you are looking to combat food wastage or time spent refilling food for your chickens, then this less chicken waste feeder by opencoop is your best bet.
The feeder is built with a bucket and it’s designed such that the chickens can feed through a hole on the side of the bucket.
In addition to the 5 gallon bucket, you will also need a 90 degree PVC, a gasket and a few tools. Endeavor to use a bucket with a lid. You can get one at home or buy from the local store.
This DIY chicken feeder not only limits waste, it also protects the feed from rain. It’s easy to clean and can store lots of food at a time. If still need a market bought feeder you can get from these top poultry feeder and suppliers
14: Homemade Chicken Drinker
The last thing you should be worrying about is whether your chickens have adequate water. Fortunately with this DIY chicken drinker by anoutdoorlife you don’t have to. The drinker can be made from any container strong enough not to collapse under vacuum pressure. An old home-brew pressure barrel was used in the original plan.
You will also need other materials, all costing not more than $5. The DIY drinker can be built within a few hours with no skill required.
It is designed such that water filled in the container will be let out into an attached smaller container through a regulated hole. This way only the required amount of water is let out for the chickens.
15: Automatic Chicken Feeder
This automatic chicken feeder by instructables is designed to make it possible for your chickens to help themselves with food, keeping off unwanted visitors. The design requires the chicken to stand on a pedal to open the feeder and access the food. With this feeder, rats, birds, mice and other pests won’t be able to access the chicken food.
The feeder can be built with galvanized sheet or aluminum; you will also need other materials like hinges, bolts, nuts etc and a few tools. The plan contains detailed instructions on how to build the feeder. You will also need to train your chicks to use the feeder by putting some grains in it, and within days they will get used to it. The project is placed at an intermediate experience level and can be completed in days with the right tools.
16: Treadle DIY Chicken Feeder
Most chicken feeders are made with steel or aluminum, which are expensive and too complex for a regular DIYer to build. However this treadle chicken feeder by woodworkingcorner made with wood is very easy and requires only basic materials.
The feeder is designed to save time and completely avoid wastage, ensuring the chicken have enough food for a long time. It has a cupboard –shaped top with a lid that’s connected to the lower feeding area. The designed is such that, food placed in the top cupboard runs down to the feeder every time the feeder is low on food.
Apart from cedar wood board, you will also need plywood, woodscrews, bolts, sandpaper etc. anyone can easily build this feeder following the plan; it contains instructions with pictures on how to build it.
17: DIY Chicken Waterer from Beverage Cooler
Leaving your chicken water open can cause infections which may lead to illness. To avoid this, you can build this DIY chicken waterer by practicalmama made with a concealed beverage cooler. The waterer is designed to have nipples where the chickens can drink from and the cooler will keep the water cool even in summer.
This is one easy DIY chicken waterer you can build within minutes and it costs very little, especially if you already have a beverage cooler. You can find the poultry nipples from the local store. You will also need a driller to get the job done.
18: Low Waste DIY Chicken Feeder
This automatic chicken feeder by thegardenprepper is made of galvanized steel and it’s tailored to reduce waste and carry more chicken food. To build this diy chicken feeder you will need an adjustable metal elbow, a long round pipe, ceiling collar, vent cap and a few other stuffs. You can get these materials at the home depot, and follow the plan to assemble.
The out-cut on the vent cap allows the chickens to access the food. The food is poured inside the feeder through the top, and it’s refilled as the chicks feed.
The feeder is pretty simple to build, after getting the materials; you will just have to assemble it as shown on the plan.
19: No Spill DIY Chicken Feeder
If you are fighting wastage or wants to lessen the number of times you go to the coop to add feed for your chickens, then this is the ideal PVC chicken feeder by theartofdoingstuff to build. Its basically made from Big PVC pipes, and its designed to have an opening through the PVC Y connector where the chicken can access the food. You will need a long wide PVC pipe, a Y shaped PVC connector and gum to hold it together.
The feed is placed in through the top, so the chickens can access it through the connector opening. You can use a PVC cap to cover the top of the feed and the connector opening to keep away rain and vermin.
20: Multiple DIY Chicken Waterer
Using a standard plastic or metal to provide water to chickens, ends up leaving the water dirty at the end of the day. This homemade chicken waterer by plantertomato made with PVC completely prevents this. You will need PVC pipes, poultry nipple, a water reservoir, PVC fitting, PVC end caps and others. The design is such that water supplied from the water reservoir is pass through pipes, allowing the chickens access the water from the nipples.
This projects is extremely easy to build, it can be completed within a few hours. The plan contains information on the materials and the steps to build it. You can keep the water reservoir outside the poultry, so you can add up water anytime and just pass the pipe with nipples inside.
21: Five Gallon Bucket DIY Chicken Feeder
This is a low cost but very effective DIY chicken feeder built with a 5 gallon bucket. Aside the bucket, you will also need PVC elbow and tools to cut it.
The design is very simple. The bucket is used as a feed holder with holes by the side for the birds to access the feed. This design reduces waste, and allows large quantity of food, reducing your refilling frequency.
This feeder can be built within an hour with the right tools. The plan contains detailed instruction on how the build from start to finish.
22: Trough Feeder Using Gutter
One major problem with most feeders is that they are designed to feed only a small number of chickens; requiring those who have more chickens to build multiple feeders.
However you can build this PVC chicken feeder by backyardchickens specially designed for a large number of chickens. The feeder is quite cheap to build, the original plan of which is about 200 inches long, costs $25 to build. You will need Vinyl gutters, cinder blocks, end-cap for gutters. The design is an open long feeder made with two Vinyl gutters, one at the top and bottom respectively; allowing multiple chickens access it at the same time.
23: Cheap Automatic Waterer
This project involves building an automatic chicken waterer by owlcation. To build this automatic waterer, you will need an old piece of garden hose, automatic animal water bowl, small scrap of wood, hose valves and fittings and a few other materials. It’s designed such that the animal bowl is held by the wood scrap and the hose is used to supply water to it.
This feeder is perfect for free-range chickens, but can be easily set up in a hen house to provide fresh water to the chickens 24 hours every day. This will drastically reduce your work rate and worry.
24: Homemade Chick Feeder
This project involves making a homemade chicken feeder by backyardchickens From Empty Cd Container. If you have an empty CD container lying around, then this will be the ideal project for it. This feeder is however best suitable for smaller number of chickens. The homemade chicken feeder is very easy to make, you will have to put a hole on the side of the Cd container; so the chickens can access the food inside the container. This project takes about 5 minutes to make and you won’t have to spend a penny.
25: DIY Chicken Feeder Made From 5 Gallon Bucket
Here is a chicken feeder by werefarfromnormal you can make from a 5 gallon bucket and pvc elbows. This is easy to make, requires less maintenance work, chickens can’t mess up the feed and you can keep the food clean and dry.
26: PVC DIY Chicken Waterer
If you have a PVC bucket lying in your junkyard, or discarded one recently, do not throw it. It can be used for making a perfect poultry waterer by homesteadrules. You may need to invest in a pan, which would be the direct source of drinking water for the chickens. The process is simple – take the pan, mark the holes in the bucket and place it upside down on the pan.
27: The Best 2 Systems
For constructing a complete homemade chicken waterer and feeder by ourlittlecoop you must choose this plan. You can get two beautiful, convenient and effective style funnels which can be made useful. By working on them and assembling in the right way, you can pour feed into the one, while pouring water inside the other end. The entire thing can be made from PVC, so it is not at all costly.
Conclusion
Conclusively, building a chicken feeder or waterer will help you stop food wastage, saving you more money and reduce the time requirement to care for your chickens. By making any of the waterers and feeders we have shown above, you will have lesser worry about your chickens.
Resources:
Hachette Book Group, By Gail Damerow, “Chick Care: Feeding and Watering Dos and Don’ts”, https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/storey/chick-care-feeding-watering-dos-donts/
permaculturenews, permaculture Research Institute, Animal housing, Peter Dilley, June 23, 2010, “How to Make a Home Made Chicken Feeder”, https://www.permaculturenews.org/2010/06/23/how-to-make-a-home-made-chicken-feeder/
University Of Minnesota Extention, farming system-small farms, “Farmbytes: DIY poultry feeder”, https://extension.umn.edu/small-farms/farmbytes-diy-poultry-feeder#building-instructions-439610
We tried the l-shaped feeder (#10), and it was a bad idea. If the pvc feeder/extension tube was too long the chickens rubbed the feathers off their chests trying to get to the feed, and if it was too short they flung the feed out with their heads, making a mess and wasting food. Back to the drawing board.
Well thanks for that information. Always good to hear from someone who tried and found the faults before deciding on what to build.
get the covers, and cut in half, and they can’t fling it out.
This one has worked the best for me. I used a 6″ piece of pvc pipe for the bottom foot and added a 3″ piece of pipe to the feed bowl. The chickens love it and I have almost zero waste now.
I Was about to toss a milk carton and thought “this will make an awesome chick feeder” and vioala! It’s perfect
Can you explain how you did it? Did you cut a pop hole in it? Just use the bottom?
I made a feeder similar to #10. I used black sewer pipe (1 piece, 3″ diameter, 36 inches long), one ‘wye’ (not a T or a 90) and two pipe caps.
1. cut 3 inches off of the 36″ pipe.
2. stuff the blue pipe cap up into the bottom of the ‘Y’ pipe. Now you should have two openings facing up and the one opening facing down is capped on the inside. Make sure that the cap is in there upside down. You want it to black as much of the inside of the ‘Y’ as possible to keep feed for going stale in a bottom corner. The blue cap is a very tight fit. It is supposed to fit over pipe, not inside a joint so it does take some effort to get it in there.
3. take the 3″ cut off piece and sand the edges so that they won’t scratch the chicken and then put it into the part of the ‘Y’ that is on a 45 degree angle and put the remaining 33″ of sewer pipe into the straight through part of the ‘Y’.
4. use the second pipe cap to cap the top of the 33″ piece as a dust cover.
5. remove cap, fill with feed and recap.
6. whenever I refill it, I dump out the dust and shrapnel back into the feed bag to make sure that there is never anything sitting in the bottom for a long period of time.
So far I have cut the feed wasted on the floor to zero. Does not work with crumbles because the birds will dig through it looking for big bits (which are not present in crumbles).
Can you send me some pics of the feeder you designed, I need a visual of how it looks. Thanks
Hello, this feeder sound quite interesting, I think it would work great. Would like to see how to set it up in the chicken coop. I am better at visual ….LOL . do you happen to have a photo of the finish product that you could email me PLEASE. .
Thanks
golly, its so vague, I cant get it. where do u drill the holes in the bucket for water and what holds it there so it wont turn over?
I don’t know where to put holes in bucket ???
holes in a bucket: the tray will fill to the level of the top of the hole you drill. Drill it so that the topmost part of the hole is as high as you want the tray filled. Drill too high, and a flood will ensue! I just made a diy brooder watering thing by putting a single hole (all you need for water) in a mayo jar, almost at the bottom of the jar, by melting the plastic with a hot metal rod. Fill the jar with water, covering the hole with a finger; put the lid on it; set it into a larger lid. Works like a charm!
Hi,
Great article on “10 best DIY chicken feeder and waterer plans and ideas”.
After years of frustration, we finally did it….
…my lady and I build the Coolest Chicken Feeder in the World!!!
http://www.weekendhippies.com/the_coolest_chicken_feeder_in_the_world/in_the_beginning
There’s a funny 3 min video that goes with it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ0nO34RwJM
And a 7 months later follow up:
http://www.weekendhippies.com/the_coolest_chicken_feeder_in_the_world/7_months_after
Warning about the nipple sucker waterer! The lid of the bucket can become ‘vacuum’ sucked as the chickens drink the water and then the it stops flowing through the nipples. At first I just left the lid on loosely only to find it stuck tight the next day. Drilled a small hole in the lid and it works beautifully!
I was wondering about this one! Do the chickens just “know” what to do? (this is my first time having chickens…) thanks a lot!
Chickens will themselves search for food and water you don”t need to train them, however you have to make sure food and water are in their reach.
I just the nipples that mount on the side of a bucket. They work wonderfully. They have a very small dish under the nipple so the water pools there.. literally about 5 drops. I drilled each nipple about 1” above the bottom of the bucket and tried to get the nipples shoulder length.
I also cut a 2” hole in the lid and ran 2” PVC outside of the chicken coop with a funnel device on the top. So now to water the chickens.. all my little girls have to do is pour water in the top of the pipe and it fills the bucket. I used a 2 liter cut in half to cover the pvc so no leaves or debris can find its way into the bucket.
Works great.