Coop Confessions: From Trash to Treasure – The Ultimate Chicken Feeder Hack!
Hey clucking comrades, Crissy O here, back with a confession! We all love spoiling our feathered friends, but that doesn't mean we have to break the bank on fancy feeders, right? Well, get ready to have your wattles wobble because I'm about to reveal a coop secret that's as genius as it is... well, trashy!
That's right, folks, I'm talking about trash bin feeders! You heard me correctly. Turns out, those sturdy, easy-to-clean bins lying around your house can be transformed into the ultimate chicken buffet stations!
Here's why this trash-to-treasure trick is clucking awesome:
Waste Not, Want Not: Scatter feeding is a recipe for waste unless that's your chosen method or how you enjoy feeding your babies (go for whatever you like). Our feathered friends love to scratch and peck, sending precious feed flying all over the coop. Sometimes it's fine and we do scatter scratch grains around along with grit and other snackies to help them forage but I don't like to waste expensive feed. I use round sturdy trash bins with good snap on lids to keep things neat and tidy, minimizing wasted large quantities of food. More food for happy hens, less for the neighborhood tree rats (squirrels)!
Budget-Friendly Feasting: Let's face it, fancy feeders can peck a hole in your wallet. Trash bins? Those are practically free or cheaper options to buy at the store (or, ahem, "gently borrowed" from your overstocked recycling bin collection). It depends on how much feed you plan to have available. We like to use the large round rubbermaid style of trash can costing around $25.00 each grey colored. Since I layer my feed for my large flock yard so everyone gets what they need it works great! It's a constant buffet for those who need dry clean food.
Cleanliness Counts: Those plastic bins are a breeze to clean and disinfect. No more germy build-up in those nooks and crannies of traditional feeders. Healthy hens, happy Crissy! It's stored in a dry shade covered area sitting on blocks so it stays off the ground and mud and gook doesn't accumulate to be scrubbed off. Yuck!
Multi-Yard Marvels: Got separate flock areas for chicks, teenagers, or your senior clucks? No problem! These versatile feeders can be easily adapted to each yard. You can choose the size of trash can you need for whatever size flock you got. I use smaller feeders for the quail, ducks and broody hen yards. I use the large cans for the larger yard. Just adjust the opening size to accommodate different age groups (think tiny chick-sized holes vs. wider openings for the grown-up gobblers). If you're like us and don't have any extra helpers other than yourselves and you want to take a day or two trip somewhere, these feeders depending on the size can be a great fit and feed up to 2 weeks depending on your away needs. As long as they got food and water bins to last until you get back all is well (except the eggs) might want the neighbor to collect those eggs while your away.
The Trash to Treasure Transformation:
Now, let's get down to the dirty details (well, not that dirty!). Here's how to turn your trash bin into a top-notch feeder:
- Bin Basics: Choose a sturdy, clean bin with a tight-fitting lid and round works best for our needs, no metal.
- Opening Act: Drill holes in the sides of the bin for the feeders you plan to buy or use or do like we did and use pvc pipe curved down on the inside (see the vlog on youtube) adjust things to the size for your flock's age.
- Lid Life: This is where things get fancy (or not). You can either leave the lid on and refill from the top, or create a smaller opening for a more controlled feeding experience. This is your choice but we prefer to feed from the top because we layer the feed that goes into the feeders depending on the flock we're feeding.
- Mount It Up: Secure your larger feeders on top of some sturdy block or level ground that the flock can easily reach in and get their feed.
Bonus Tip: For added stability on smaller bins use bungie ties to a fence or post and keep it from turning over. Trust me, you don't want a runaway feeder causing a clucking catastrophe! If you have rambunctious Roos like I do you may want to pre plan how you're going to keep the smaller bins upright and not spilled all out.
So there you have it, chickadees! Trash bin feeders – the ultimate budget-friendly, waste-reducing, coop hack! Your chickens will be clucking with glee (and hopefully not at the slightly trashy origins of their new buffet station). Now get out there and transform your trash into clucking treasure! Until next time, be as trashy as you like!
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I flocking love all ya'll!
Crissy O