Gravity-Fed Feeders Simplify Chores

Gravity-Fed Feeders Simplify Chores LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 31-4-26 Feeding both cats and chickens is quick and easy for Galen Mommens of Tecumseh, Nebraska, who uses home-built gravity-fed dispensers. His chicken feeder is a 55-gal. drum mounted on the outside of the chicken house. It saves space inside and eliminates the mess chickens make roosting on the feed bins inside. Mommens bolted an old feed grinder cyclone on the drum to create a funnel at the bottom. The funnel reduces down to a 4-in. pvc pipe secured with metal screws, which goes into the building. Inside, Mommens added a coupler and two plumbing caps, with slots cut in each cap. The slot of the interior cap is at the bottom. A piece of wood attached to the inside of the exterior cap stops feed from overflowing. Mommens attached a pipe to the cap for easy turning. He turns the slot to the bottom to release feed, then turns the slot back to the top to close it off. Total cost for parts was less than $10. The drum holds 9 1/4 bushels of ground chicken feed, which Mommens augers in, or fills with 5-gal. buckets. The top of the drum is about 9 1/2 ft. off the ground To feed his cats, Mommens made a smaller unit. "I got tired of opening the lid on the bucket every day, so I decided to make it easier to dispense the cat food," Mommens says. He cut the bottom out of a 5-gal. bucket, leaving a rim around the edge. He used metal screws to attach the reflector from an old heat lamp to create a funnel, and sealed it with caulking. He attached a 45-degree, 2 1/4-in. pvc elbow to the bottom and added a cap. He opens the cap, taps the bucket to release feed and replaces the cap when he's done. "The bin will hold over 18 lbs. of dry cat food, and I only have to open the lid once every 6 to 8 weeks instead of daily," Mommens says. Cost for new plumbing parts runs about $6. "It has really been helpful to have it around," he says. "Not only is it easier to feed the cats, but it also gets it off of the floor and out of the way." Mommens sells plans for his cat food bin at his web site. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Galen Mommens, 72648 618th Ave., Tecumseh, Nebraska 68450 (ph 402 335-1216; doxn@alltel.net; www.scroungeman.com).

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