Poultry, especially the duck, needs high-quality and proper maintenance, which can be achieved by making it a convenient feeding trough with your own hands. A duck feeder can be any design for the manufacture of which you will need imagination and several improvised materials. Whatever the design of the duck feeder is, it is important to take care of its maximum comfort. Self-made feeding troughs will reduce costs and simplify the feeding of ducks.
- Features of feeders and drinking bowls for ducks
- Making duck feeders
- Alternative
- Production of the feed structure yourself
- Production of nipple drinkers
- Recommendations <
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Feeder for ducklings with your own hands
It is necessary to breed domestic ducklings, only carefully observing certain temperature conditions and controlling I am humidity. Bird feed and drink must be of high quality. The best option for breeding ducks, of course, is considered to be open water, simplifying the process of feeding and growing. When there is no possibility of open keeping, farmers have to resort to building vital equipment with their own hands.
Features of feeders and drinking bowls for ducks
It is important to make feeders for ducklings on their own take care of their strength, therefore, when choosing a material, metal structures are preferred. The location of the feeders should be on the floor, which simplifies the placement of feed for ducks. It will not be superfluous to build a feeding trough from a tree due to the carelessness of ducklings and indolets when eating grains.Mostly, a wooden feeder contains several compartments and does not differ in large size. Choosing a ready-made feeding trough or making a container for grain with your own hands, give preference to options that are:
- convenient to use;
- just amenable to cleaning and filling;
- do not cause discomfort to the birds.
The same vigilance and awareness are needed when choosing drinking bowls, because they are of no less value to the birds. A standard drinker should be quite roomy due to the attachment of ducks to water. Drinking bowls can be represented by a basin, vacuum or nipple container.
Despite the fact that the use of basins simplifies a person’s life, this method has disadvantages. These include constant clogging of water, the need for frequent water changes, the possibility of capsizing the tank.
Making duck feeders
The most common type of feeders is a duck hopper feeder. Its advantage is ease of manufacture and the constant supply of fresh food to birds. In addition, you can make a bunker feeder using any lockable plastic container and stand, which has several compartments.Do-it-yourself bunker feeder can be prepared in several stages:
- first, holes are made in the bunker;
- then, using a jigsaw, holes are cut in the form of rectangles or squares over the entire surface;
- the final stage of production is checking and reconciling the compartments with the feeder in size.
Another do-it-yourself bunker option for the feeder is to use a box, thanks to which ducklings can eat clean food without dust. The bunker feeder box is also made in several stages, for which you need to purchase a wide board and jigsaw. So:
- first you need to make a wooden hopper of any shape, leaving the slope to the side where the feed will be fed;
- after the hopper is connected by a lifting mechanism that represents the board;
- the board is equipped with ordinary home-made lifting mechanisms that need to be attached to the lid.
Making this type of feeder at home is simple and can be done even without a lift. But in this case, the feed is unlikely to be able to present a dry clean product, protected from the invasion of other animals. You can see how the previously described feeding troughs look like in the corresponding photos. Details of the manufacturing process are in turn described in a variety of videos.
Alternative
The next do-it-yourself manufacturing option needs a bit more materials than for the previously described feeders. You can make this model yourself after purchase:
- sewer pipe with a diameter of one meter;
- polyvinyl chloride tee for the pipe;
- two plugs of the appropriate desired size;
- saws or other tools that simplify working with metal.
Buying material is easy in any hardware store, and having done this, you can begin to make the structure. To do this, pre-cut the pipe into 3 unequal parts. So, one of them should be a 70-centimeter specimen, the other – a 20-centimeter specimen, and the third should end with 10 centimeters. The next stage is the assembly of the base, for which it is important to fix the plug to the parts of the pipe with a length of 20 cm. Next, a tee is inserted so that the side elbow is positioned upward. The longest pipe section is inserted into the tee.
The prepared second plug is placed on the free edge of the 70-cm section and fixed there. The smallest piece is needed for attachment to the tee on the side. It is important to ensure that the fastening is carried out with emphasis. Now you just need to attach the resulting structure to the ducklings house. It is best to mount the feeder with iron or slats. Ducklings will receive food on the side of the tee.Such a feeder for ducklings with their own hands is characterized by maximum practicality and ease of operation. On average, you can fill it with grains once in a couple of days, without fear that the ducklings will not be fed.
Production of the feed structure on its own
Plus the independent construction of feeders on their own at home in that you do not need to make heavy calculations, drawings. It is enough to use improvised material, for example, pipes. The following design has the lowest possible cost and is not difficult to operate. The owner and the ducklings will be satisfied. To make such a miraculous construction, you need to purchase or find:
- a pair of pipe segments of different lengths, it is best to choose options equal to 30 and 50 cm;
- polyvinyl chloride elbow with the appropriate parameters ;
- two plugs;
- equipment for carrying out the work.
Preparation of the structure should begin by making holes in the pipe, which will allow ducklings to freely reach to feed. The number of holes to be made depends on the desire of the breeder. In addition, it is important to consider that ducklings need more holes of a smaller size than ducks.
Performing this step, it is better to place the pipe on a flat surface, where the sections of the holes will be marked. At home, a regular drill will help to make several holes.Next, you need a jigsaw, with which you can cut the holes you need in size. One hole on average should be about 8 cm, but the figure is not categorical and is subject to change. Place the cap to one edge. You can learn more about manufacturing a feeder in this way in the video clearly.
To complete the construction of the feeder, you need to assemble it by closing half of the pipes with a knee. You can attach the structure with a wire, which fixes the feeder in the house. In order to ensure the free flow of grain into the invention, an integral half of the feeder should be left for use as a hopper. There you also need to fill the feed, closing it after a special plug that protects food from the ingress of excess elements.
Making nipple drinkers
The advantage of nipple drinkers is their convenience and ease of use. In order to make them yourself, you need to decide which nipple is needed. If the drinking bowl is made for ducklings, 3600 are used, for ducks – 1800. A pipe that is square in shape is selected. It is important that the distance from one nipple to another should not be less than 30 cm. To ensure clean and dry floors, it is important to install drop catchers in the house.
To make a nipple drinker, you need to purchase a silencer, a square feather a round pipe, a suitable container for water and a hose. You’ll need to use a drill, a tap tap and a drill.
So, following the steps below, you can provide the house with a high-quality and comfortable drinker:
- mark the pipe with a marking;
- drill holes with a diameter of 9 mm;
- cut the thread with a tapered tap;
- screw in the nipples.
Take a previously prepared container with liquid in order to attach it to the pipe. As a container, you can use an ordinary plastic barrel with a lid, where there are enough openings where the hose is connected.An important point is the winding of all places prone to leakage with a Teflon ribbon. Do not forget about the addition of droplet eliminators.
Recommendations
The liquid tank should be installed above the pipe. It is best that the tank is installed indoors, so that in the future the water does not freeze. If installation inside the house is not possible, you can use the aquarium heater at sub-zero temperatures.
Like feeders, drinking bowls must be practical and of high quality. It is important to take care of the comfort of the birds in the cage. When installing a drinking bowl for a small number of ducks, they use an ordinary wooden trough, which, in addition, has strong walls and construction in order to withstand the constant “bathing” of ducklings.
So, feeders and drinkers for domestic ducks are integral components of healthy birds. Therefore, the design should be durable, practical and economical. When making this or that construction, it is necessary to remember the ability of ducks to grow quickly, therefore it is better to stay on the budget option.