Outdoor Poultry Feeder

By L.M. Roehl and F.E. Andrews
Cornell Extension Bulletin, 1942

This poultry feeder is light, inexpensive, simple in construction, easily filled and cleaned, keeps feed dry, and serves somewhat as a shelter for the birds.

MATERIAL REQUIRED

Lumber of stock size is used:

• 1 piece, 2” x 2” x 10’0”, for legs.
• 1 piece, 2” x 2” x 8’0”, for reel.
• 2 pieces 1” x 2” x 10’0”, for braces and posts for end of box.
• 6 pieces, 1” x 4” x 8’0”, for braces and perches.
• 2 pieces, 1” x 6” x 8’0”, for sides of boxes.
• 2 pieces, 1” x 8” x 8’0”, for rafters, for ends and bottoms of boxes.
• 1 piece, galvanized sheet metal 36” x 96” or 1 sheet ¼” x 36” x 8’0” waterproof fir plywood and 1 piece of 1” x 6” x 8’0” wood for saddle board.
• 8 flat-head wood screws 2” No. 10, to fasten middle braces.
• 18 round-head wood screws 1 ¾” No. 10, to fasten roof.
• 1 pound, 6-penny box nails.
• ½ pound 2d. box nails and ½ pound 6d. finishing nails if wood roof is used.

DIRECTIONS

1) Cut six legs from the 2”x2”x10’ piece, each 1 foot 8 inches long (figure 2), cutting the upper ends to the angle of the roof, as shown by the dotted line in figure 3.

2) Cut four pieces from the 1”x2” board, each 1 foot 9 inches long for cross braces, and nail one to each pair of legs as in figure 2, 1 inch from the lower ends and with a projection of 3 inches at each side for the perches.

3) Cut the rafters from the 1”x8” board as shown in figure 3. The stock width of an 8-inch board is about 7 5/8 inches. Each rafter is nailed to the legs as in figure 4. The center rafter is notched and nailed as shown in figure 7. The ends of the middle rafter thus extend and support the roof as do the two end rafters. Two notches are made in the upper edges of the upper braces to fit into the notches in the rafter, thus making a half-lap joint.

4) The middle frame has two braces as shown in figures 5 and 6. The long bottom braces on which the boxes slide need to be attached before they are nailed to the 2”x2” posts, to allow placing of the screws. Cut the 2-inch middle braces 3’ 6 ¼” long to go in between the cross braces and fasten them with 2-inch No. 10 flat head screws at each end, as shown in figures 5 and 6.

5) The 4-inch braces are cut 7 feet 8 inches and the perches 7 feet 4 ½ inches long.

6) Assemble the frames by nailing the 4-inch braces and perches in place. The perches need to be notched as shown in figure 6, for the middle frame.

7) Make two troughs to the dimensions shown in figure 8. With the end pieces 10 inches high, the feed is protected from rain. To prevent the birds from flipping feed from the trough, ½” x ½” strip is nailed to the inside of each side board at the top edge.

A 2”x2”x3’-5 ¾” piece may be used as a reel to keep birds from the feed. As shown in figure 8, the reel is held between the ends of the trough. Four ¼-inch holes are bored on the center line of each end ¾-inch apart. A 10- or 16-penny common nail is driven into one end of each reel, and the head is cut off the nail. A hole as large as a 10- or 16-penny nail is drilled in the other end of the reel, and a 10- or 16-penny nail is inserted in a selected hole in the end and into the hole in the end of the reel.

8) Paint the frame with creosote or an outside paint as is done with other outside structures.

METAL ROOF:

9) Make a 1-inch fold at each side of the sheet metal to stiffen it and to provide a thick edge. Bend both edges toward the same side of the sheet. This may be done by placing the sheet between two pieces of 2” x 4”, allowing a 1-inch projection which may be bent to a right angle with hammer or mallet. It is then turned over on the floor with the right-angle bend up and hammered down flat.

10) To bend the sheet metal at the center for the roof angle, it may be placed between the 2”x4” pieces on a pair of saw horses, and the bend made by hand or by use of another piece of 2”x4” and a heavy hammer.

11) The roof is fastened by round-head wood screws, placing one into the end of each post and four more in each rafter, two near the ridge, and two near the end, as indicated in figure 9.

WOOD ROOF:

Make a saddle board by ripping a piece of 6” x 8’ material diagonally at center at the same angle as the roof. Nail the two pieces together with 6- penny, finishing nails. Then rip two pieces of plywood 17” x8’ using a fine crosscut hand saw. Nail the plywood pieces to the underside of the saddle boards, using the 2-penny box nails. Nailing this way holds the plywood tight against the saddle board. Next place the roof in position and fasten with screws as directed for the sheet metal.

Paint the roof on both sides and all edges.

On large poultry farms, where several feeders are in use, they are conveniently stored by placing them side by side and a second tier upside down on the first.