I have 8 meat birds, my husband made a five gallon bucket automatic feeder. Using pvc elbows. I love it and the chickens have wasted hardly any food since we started using it. When i get out of the city and have more chickens ill have him make a big one like this!
good job mike. one more step to make your homestead more efficient. Hooking up the water gutter to save rain water is a must have. You have a lot of rain there so it's a waste to throw rain water away.
The Fit Farmer - Mike Dickson one thing at a time 😀 you slowly make your homestead more efficient and more beautiful. Maybe an update video in the future about how the automated water and feeder do
That was so cute watching the chickens watch Mike while he set up the waterer. They were so interested in what he was doing. Have a Wonderful & Blessed Day!
Safe travel. Prayers as always are being said. So blessed to be going to the Bakers Creek nation heirloom. Not personally but through you and Lacie. Can't wait to see all that is new this year. With God's grace someday I will be able to go there and meet you and others. Be blessed Family and enjoy your time of sharing off the farm. God's blessing to you and yours.
Who gives Mike a thumbs down? This is a good idea and very scalable. Garden hoses will work for a while, but eventually to will want to run PVC underground to various areas of your farm.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I Will be trying this. I have tried several other "automated" water and feeder systems and None of them were successful. This looks simple and straightforward!
Brilliant Mike! Thanks for the great feeder idea. I need to start lifting weights and get fit just like you because when I feed my 70+ chickens, it gets very labor intensive. And the automatic waterer is awesome too, hopefully I can implement it into my system next year, berrr...cold is coming here in Wisconsin. Thanks again!
You could also use a pan that goes underneath a water heater for the bottom part of your feeder. There even round. Also some kind of metal cone inside the barrel to divert the food to the outside of edge where the holes are. Hope this is helpful.
I love how Lacie seems to be the brains of the operation. (We can do it! 💪) I'd like to see her have a bit more of a co-equal role in front of the camera, or have topics just she would like to cover. If that would be of interest to her of course. Mike, your brawn sure is handy too. I'm a recent fan & am enjoying. Thank you, Cheers!
Since I (Lacie) do a lot of the editing it is hard to find time to be in front of the camera more. This is a team effort. Teamwork makes the dream work!! Thanks so much for watching!!
I see this working to feed larger animals also like goats, sheep. Please remember to check your animals every day just for health and safety or have someone do it when gone. But having automatic feeders and waters helps ensure they have the basics if you have an emergency and can’t check them, or you take a vacation and they will be checked at different times of the day.
This is the most awesome thing I had seen in a long time I am so glad that I watched your video today sometimes I just think you're a genius. I love your videos
Did you know that the plastic garbage cans are sprayed with a chemical to prevent spoiling which really bad to any food sources that you eat . It may add these chemicals to the feed which would end up in the chicken meat and eggs.
I used to work on a commercial turkey ranch, our auto feeders worked generally the same as your feeder does, we had a heck of a time with mice getting inside the hoppers & dying until we installed hardware cloth over the openings. Big enough for feed to get out too small for those litter buggers to get in. Thanks for the video will try that for our girls soon, the waterer will be even sooner though lol thanks again for the vlogs.
Not sure if you knew but many hoses state on them they are not safe for drinking water from them. Additionally as they warm up from the sun it leaks toxic chemicals into the water. They have drinking water hoses although a bit more expensive to get the lengths you need. Same with non food grade plastics. Just some FYI for those who are concerned about those kinds of things like me.
as one that been building all my auto bulk feeders and waters for over 30 years, the holes you cut in the can are way to big chickens an ducks are smarter then people give them credit for, you see, they know very fast were the feed comes out, and they are very greedy, they dont care how much feed is in the bin, they just know the more they peck at that area more feed falls out, so they all pile into that opening and go at it, pulling feed out, next thing you know with big holes the bin is flooding over with feed onto the ground, but they keep at getting the feed thats in the big hole, not long the whole can of feed is all over the floor and the can is emty, you want them to have to work at getting the feed to fall, fut the opening know more then 1/2 to 3/4" high, and 6 inch long, with a round can, you need a cone in side the can so the feed emteys out, i build all my feeder out of scrap ply wood and board, 4 feet long box by 8" wide with 2 1x4 put in a L shape and set it on the bottom to make a peekand a peace of ply wood for the tray for bottom an as the tray with a 1x3 rim board for the edge, so the space between the box an inside trim board is no wider then 2" and i set the box 1/2" off the bottom,, no wasted feed. hold just over 100 ponds of feed
I have recently let all my flock live with my daughter and her family, I had horrible chicken math and grew my flock way past the size of my run and backyard. I made a 5-gal feeder similar to your much larger feeder...I found my birds were so stinking wasteful with brushing out feed with their beaks when my holes were too large and rather free flowing. Also I did upturn a (4 or 5 cup size) plastic bowl inside to direct the feed towards the outer edges of my feeder so all the feed wasn't left piled in the center of my bucket, it acted as a cone and forced the feed to land where they could get it from the edges of the bucket if it didn't completely fall out on its own. They had no problem pecking at the hole if by chance it got a back up and it would dribble out more feed again. On my daughters farm, they are all in a three room area of the barn and free range during the day while safely locked in the barn at night. Her boys are my favorite "Chicken Tenders" and they adore the girls!
Lacey, I think it's awesome that you have a caring and loving husband. He has some great ideas for homesteading. I enjoy watching you do creative things with your hands and mind. If the opportunity ever arises to visit with you at your farm, I would love to have a lengthy chat about your homesteading techniques. I think it's quite awesome the way you meet your challenges and change your problems into solutions. I wish you well in all that you do as a family. Grow on folks! We all love you guys.
I like the feeder concept, Neat Idea! Those water floats really help out a bunch! One suggestion I’d make is Build a small wooden frame for the round rubberized water bowl to sit down inside of. Or a wooden frame to cap over the bowl. This would be to prevent a overturned water bowl from a bunch of chickens or animals from standing on one side & possibly tipping it over. Which could result in prematurely emptying your water barrels. Just a idea 💡. 👍
My husband did a bird feeder that way, but he put a large funnel in the bottom of the can small end up,to make seeds flow better. Love that feeder. Good for you and good luck. Thanks for the video.
Looks good. You could also get a second lid and cut hole to slide up from bottom and create a cover for the feeder so it can be in the field and not in tractor. Great idea for the cost
very cool!...I use a 5 gallon pail w/lid and an 6" pvc elbow (the kind with the lip thing)...cut hole bout 4" up from bottom and put in the elbow facing down inside and caulk it in place...the chicken stick their heads into the elbow and eat...they love it...it is water proof and I hang it from the metal handle to keep out rodents....but I don't have 25 chickens...lol... I only have 6.... :)… love your channel and your beautiful family!
Great info!! I already have a very heavy dury trash can so all I need to buy is the pan. I like the water idea also. I already have a 5 gal water bucket, so that will do for now. Thanks so much!!! Will look at your items after paying for 2 vehicle batteties and license for truck. Batteries were a shock!!! Lol
I'm looking and not finding LOL acpic or video of what the 275gal IBC water tote is raised up on safely with that amoint of weight stable, to get gravity flow height
We did almost exactly the same feeder but put our garbage cans inside a kiddie pool. And our water source all have 4 way splitters. 🤣 Great minds think alike!
Smart! The chickens watching you work was funny. Your children are so adorable. Love your videos. Learn something new every time I watch them. God bless you and your sweet family.
I enjoy your videos but just to give an other opinion on throwing away eggs that are a couple of days old. The chicken originated from the tropical jungles of southeast Asia. It is always hot. The chicken egg is made to withstand being left for up to two weeks or more before the hen sits on them to start the incubation. A couple of days will not spoil the eggs. You can check them by putting them in a pot of cool water that is at least 3 inches deep. The good eggs will sink right to the bottom. If they bounce up and down but still settle on the bottom I would probably throw those, away...any floaters, definitely throw them out. You can also scramble them up with the shells and feed them back to your chickens.
Thanks for sharing. I just bought a house and inherited 7 hens. Cant be around every day so intend to build this. I got you a smoker for your bees from Amazon. I got a bee hive as well. So let us know how it works out. Cheers!
Very good ideas, I especially like the water tote idea as I have a tote like that, my issue is freezing in the winter ( Michigan), but I’m gonna figure something out, thanks for the ideas
You say you worry about the galvanize can causing cancer.... plastic has petroleum and chemicals in it too and when it heats up from the sun or just being warm it releases all those chemicals into the water I would think so ???
You need to put washers on the bottom of the bolts before you put the nuts on to prevent the nuts from wearing their way into the plastic in the future, since the plastic is not rigid. But that is a great idea for bulk feeding a bunch of fowl! I just saw a homesteader use that same automatic waterer device on a large 100 gallon trough for his cow! Great ideas and God Bless!
Hi there im an Australian chook love and have a small flock at the moment but it's growing ,this is one of the best idea I've seen sofar so I'm going to in the new coop use it thx subscribe to your channel and liked thx great idea .
N BTW I'm not sure abt her gender she's just 5 months old so am not quite sure if it's her or him. But looking at her comb people around say that it's a hen.
Any advice on closing the coop up at night while away? Do you have an automatic door? I open and close mine each morning. Would hate for someone to have to do that if we ever did leave..
nice to see someone share this, i have been doing basically the same thing since rubber maid came out with their rubber garbage cans, but i made a wood base and use smaller holes in garbage can. saves a lot of time and energy when feeding over 200 birds a day.
Mike, I really enjoy what you and your family have built together. There isn't anything a strong family unit can't achieve or overcome. Also, don't let the haters rent space in your head. Grow on!
Have a wonderful time at the BAKER CREEK HEIRLOOM SEED EXPO on Sept 10, 11, and 12! Can't wait to find out all the new things you learn at this event! -- "Lord willin' and the creek don't rise"... I should have enough money saved up to attend next year. Best wishes from Kate in Olympia, WA -- 9/9/2019.
Pro tip: when using a skill-saw, always adjust the depth of so that blade comes just below the material your cutting. Its safer AND gives better control of the saw, making a cleaner cut. Thanks for sharing.
