DIY Elbow Feeder Kits for Poultry
Product Details
New! Do-it-yourself port style poultry feeder. Turn any bucket, tub or barrel into a feeder for small-combed varieties of chickens and ducks.
- Easy to install; kit includes hole saw
- Elbow design reduces spoilage and wasted feed
- Rain hood keeps out water, snow, leaves, droppings and other debris
- Use with mash, crumble, and cracked grains
Prefer a pre-assembled feeder? Look to our 1-Port Elbow Feeder, or the 6-Port Elbow Feeder which holds 85 lbs!
California Residents: Proposition 65 Information
Instructions/Diagrams:
Benefits
- Reduces waste! Hens can’t drag or scratch feed out of the feeder.
- Less spilled feed = less invitation to rats, mice, squirrels and wild birds.
- Encourages consumption of “fines”. Elbow design reduces hens ability to sort, resulting in better utilization of the whole feed bag.
- Feeding hole prevents rain and snow from spoiling feed. Leaves, dirt, droppings and other debris stay out.
- Can also be used for oyster shell or grit.
How To Use
1. Mark center hole 4" from floor of container
2. Drill with 4" (102mm) hole saw
3. Insert access port until flush with side wall
4. Tighten by screwing collar onto port until secure
Prefer a pre-assembled feeder? Look to our Elbow Feeder which holds 20 lbs of feed.
Tips
- To train birds to the feeder, first remove all other sources of food. Chickens are creatures of habit and will always choose the option they are accustomed to.
- Set the bucket on wood or cement blocks. The base of the feeder should be at chest height of the shortest hen (approx. 8"). Chickens cannot bend their bodies to access the feeder if it’s on the ground.
- For the first feeding, add extra food into the feeding port. Chickens will more readily learn how to use the feeder if they can access the feed without having to crane their necks.
- Do NOT allow feeder to run empty, otherwise hens will fight for space during refill.
Precautions
Roosters with large combs or wattles may have trouble accessing the feed.
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Grit and Feed
Oyster Shell
Item #540360 -Great source of calcium that increases egg shell strength.
$11.00 -
Grit and Feed
Poultry Grit
Item #540361 -Helps maintain proper digestion in your poultry flock. Use with pullets/cockerels and hens/cocks. 5 lb bag.
$11.00 -
Buckets and Troughs
Square Bucket without lid, 4 gallon
Item #564800 -An inexpensive way to easily feed orphan lambs and goat kids. Use on the farm to carry livestock feed, minerals and water to barnyard animals.
$16.00 -
Buckets and Troughs
EzeLid
Item #564802 -Fits Premier’s 2 and 4 gallon square buckets. Easy to put on and off.
$5.00 -
Waterers and Accessories
Horizontal Nipple – Red, each
Item #530024 -Water nipples for chickens, ducks and other poultry. Side-facing with drip-catch design to reduce moisture build-up in the coop.
$1.60 -
Waterers and Accessories
Poultry Drinking Cups, pkg 2
Item #540391 -Easily turn any bucket or PVC pipe into a poultry waterer by installing one of these poultry cups. Works with all chickens.
$11.00
Write a Review
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Adam M from Illinois
Well, they are nice, and it didn’t take long for the chickens to figure them out. It also does eliminate the mess.
Now I would have given it 5 stars, but I had to modify them to work the way I wanted.
I made my own feeder frame and then sheeted it with 1/2" plywood using construction adhesive and 8d ring shank nails to secure the sheeting, 48 x 18 x 36, and with 31 chickens should now limit the number of times I need to feed them.
The issue was that after locating and drilling my holes, 5" up from the floor, and I still think it is slightly low, I realized the elbow didn’t have enough thread to get beyond the 1/2" plywood to secure the lock ring, even with the gasket off.
I ended up holding them in place and using a countersink bit to pre drill holes, then removed the hood from the elbow so I could countersink drill the flange for the screws to sit flush. I applied some construction adhesive to the flange of the elbow, installed it, and set my screws.
It turned into a bit more work, but I was determined to use them to make feeding easier and reduce feed waste.
I love them, and they are a brilliant idea, but I do think the manufacturer needs to make some design changes or offer other styles for cases like mine. Overall, I am happy with them and would do it again.
If anyone else has some carpentry ability, you will figure out how to make them work for you as well.
Carol F from Indiana
I am very happy with these elbow feeders. We were having a terrible time with feed waste on the ground with our other feeders. These are very easy to install. We put them in square-ish kitty litter pails. The chickens all took to them right away.
Donita S from North Dakota
Love these elbow feeders! Much higher quality than the ones I bought and returned to the store. These are 4", to better accommodate waddles and combs. The cheaper version I initially bought from TSC would not have worked for a rooster.
Tanner Z from North Carolina
The product is great, but it would be useful to tell people to get a 4 inch instead of 3-3/4 because it is too tight of a fit. Screws didn’t come with order.
Blake M from Pennsylvania
These are working really great and our hens learned right off after I put a handful of feed in each one near the edge. Note, three will not fit in a standard cat litter bucket without spacing the side one out with a 1" board. My biggest complaint was shipping seemed high.
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including Lead, which is known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to