Frisbee Feeder

Frisbee Feeder HOG EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Hog Equipment & Ideas (351) 20-5-36 When James Stafford, Hope, Ind., switched to an early weaning farrowing program last year he needed to set up feeders for his 10 to 14-day-old pigs that would get them off to a good start. However, he felt that most commercial feeders were either too deep or too expensive. He solved the problem by using frisbees and miscellaneous other materials to make what he calls "frisbee feeders". "We use them as creep feeders in our farrowing crates and as feeders in our pre-nursery. We spent less than $6 apiece to build them," says Stafford. A frisbee forms the base of each 20-in. high feeder. The frisbee is secured to a 6-in. steel plate. A piece of pipe welds to the steel plate and runs up through the frisbee and a piece of 3-in. dia. PVC pipe. A spring-loaded rod with a T-handle on top runs down through the pipe to a J-hook that extends down below the steel plate. The J-hook catches onto a slot in the floor to hold the feeder in place. Pigs work the feed down by nudging their noses against four rods mounted in the bottom of the frisbee. The rods weld to a 3-in. length of flexible auger that's slipped over the bottom of the center pipe. "Young pigs can't miss the frisbee and they waste very little feed," says Stafford, who has made 30 of the feeders. "Each frisbee holds about 2 1/2 lbs. of feed. I use a scoop that I made from a 1-gal. plastic jug to fill the the 3-in. dia. PVC pipes." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, James Stafford, 15480 E. Stafford Rd., Hope, Ind. 47246 (ph 812 546-5600).

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