How to Make a Treadle Chicken Feeder Tools Add a few wood screws and wood glue, and you have all the supplies you need to get started. Even purchasing all of the lumber, the cost was less than $20: $15.79 for the pine panel and about $2 each for the cedar fence boards. I used scraps from my chicken coop construction for the first treadle chicken feeder I constructed. You may substitute plywood for the pine and cedar boards. I constructed my feeder using one 21/32-inch-by-16-inch-by-72-inch edge-glued pine panel for the body of the feeder and two 5/8-inch-by-6-inch-by-72-inch cedar fence boards for the trim and arm pieces. Our chickens are growing just fine, and they don’t seem to have suffered any harm they’re every bit as entertaining as they’ve always been. But, once again, chickens learn pretty quickly. When the first chicken finished eating and stepped off the treadle, the second chicken would get whacked on the head. The first few days after removing the brick from the treadle, I did notice a process I called “eating from the side.” One chicken would stand on the treadle eating, while a second chicken would come in from the side and start eating without being on the treadle. Second, chickens learn quickly – they only have to get whacked on the head a couple of times before they figure out the process. First of all, cedar is a fairly light wood, so the lid does not crash shut with a lot of force. Several people have been concerned that the feeder will become some type of decapitation device, clamping down on a chicken’s head, leaving the chicken running around like a … well, you know. They had no problem adapting to the treadle after that. After the chickens got used to standing on the platform to eat, I removed the brick. I put a brick on the treadle and left the lid up for a few weeks. This was our first time raising chickens, and when I first put the feeder out, the chicks were too small and frightened to raise the lid by themselves. Teaching Chickens How to Use a Treadle Chicken Feeder Follow these directions to build a chicken feeder. You will be pleased with the result because the feed is kept dry, songbirds, mice and other rodents can’t get in the feed, less feed is wasted by the chickens scattering it, and the feeder will hold several days’ worth of food. The best part is that you can build a treadle chicken feeder yourself – in fact, it makes a fun weekend project that can be completed with common tools and basic carpentry skills. Through a bit of physics, it’s possible to employ some carefully designed levers and fulcrums that will cause the feeder to open when a chicken (or an object of similar weight) steps on a perch-like treadle let us teach you how to build a rat-proof chicken feeder. One way to keep the feed safe from spoilage and purloinage is to keep it covered – but how will the chickens gain access? Whether you have a large laying flock or just a few backyard hens, keeping them fed is a regular chore (never mind the expense), especially if the feeder isn’t weatherproof and allows rodents and wild birds access. This DIY treadle chicken feeder uses a bit of physics to keep your feed safe till your flock is hungry. Position the Platform Rocker Stops so that the Platform can only rock up and down about one inch on each side.Keep chicken feed dry and fresh longer with this DIY chicken feeder.īuild your own weather and rat-proof chicken feeder. The other critical dimensions of the feeder’s “shake down” mechanism are shown. Stretched about 1-1/2 inches inside the trough’s side and about the same distance above the bottom of the tray, these wires make eating just difficult enough to prevent a flock from pulling excess mash out of the feeder. If the mash was TOO easy for them to pick out of the feeding tray, however, they would waste it, so a feed saver wire is run down both sides of the eating trough. The idea is, of course that the chickens jump on the platform to get the feed and by so doing (since the platform is supported so that it will rock up and down on either side), continually work more feed down to where they can get at it. The cutaway below shows you how they all go together. A couple of 5-inch hinges, short length of light chain, an old broomstick, some wire, a few nails and a small selection of 3/4-by-12-inch lumber are the major ingredients. Most homesteads should already have most of the necessary materials kicking around the workshop or back shed. One just like this handled many hundreds of chickens over a years-long period back on the farm in Indiana. One that holds about 100 pounds of mash is about right and as promised last issue here’s the detail on a simple, sturdy self-feeder that Dad designed years ago. You can feed baby chicks out of flat troughs but, once they’re 6 to 8 weeks old, you’ll need an automatic feeder for them. These chicken feeder plans include materials and step-by-step instructions to help you get started.
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