11 Easy DIY PVC Chicken Feeder Ideas

There are many joys to raising chickens, but food time can be a major drawback. Chickens can make a mess of their meals. Bugs, parasites, and other vermin seek out their feed, and it can also attract dangerous predators. You may think you need to go and purchase a fancy automatic chicken feeder to stop these issues. The good news is that you don’t have to do that — not when you have some PVC pipe and the DIY chicken feeder ideas below.

1. Rain-Proof PVC Pipe Chicken Feeder

Want a quick and easy DIY idea? This rain-proof chicken feeder uses a 2-foot long length of 4-inch PVC pipe and a sanitary tee to create a space where your chickens can eat without getting rained on. This also keeps the food from getting damp and gross. When completed, the reservoir section of the pipe holds about 10 pounds of chicken feed. However, you could easily lengthen the pipe to increase the holding size.

You will need a Dremel or file to smooth out the edges of the pipe that you cut, as well as some galvanized hook straps to secure the pipe feeder to the fence or coop and keep it upright.

Read the full tutorial on PrepForSHTF.com.

2. Pest-Free PVC Pipe Feeder

Many PVC chicken feeder ideas rely on you having drills, hole saws, and other pieces of equipment and hardware. Maybe, you do not like the idea of punching the PVC full of holes, opening up the possibility of moisture or pests getting inside. Either way, this pest-free PVC feeder is also hassle-free, because it requires minimal hardware, leaving the pipe in a solid piece.

Basically, you are using a good portion of PVC pipe glue or caulk to bond things together. Once completed, you can mount these candy cane-shaped chicken feeders to the fence or coop and let your chickens enjoy their meal. At the end of the day, put the cap adapters on the feeding end of the tube to seal off the feed for the night.

Check out Sugar Maple Farm House for the full tutorial. If you want to make a single PVC feeder instead of getting four by using a 10-foot piece, get a 2-foot or 3-foot long piece of PVC and follow the instructions from there.

3. Metal and PVC Chicken Feeder Idea

Worried about rodents chewing through the PVC pipe or plastic and getting at the food? This design takes that into account. This DIY chicken feeder idea is focused on using a metal garbage can that is fixed with a single U-shaped (or elbow) piece of PVC. In the morning, you take the cap off the PVC end and let your chickens enjoy their food. At the end of the day, the cap is sealed, so nothing can get inside. Plus, metal feeders are guaranteed to last a long time, due to the solid construction.

Check out the directions here:

4. Semi-Automatic Multi-Chicken PVC Feeder

Tired of filling up the chicken feeder every single day? This semi-automatic PVC chicken feeder may be the answer. The feeder is designed to hold several pounds of food and slowly release it into the feeding trough via gravity. At the end of the vertical tube is a T-shaped feeding area, which has rectangular holes for two chickens to eat at one time. The design is meant to be mounted or hung, so that the T-shaped trough is off the ground.

This does not take very long to make, and you can customize the storage part to suit your needs. For instance, in the tutorial, you will see the vertical end snaking out of the coop and up. You could do the same or change the course of the PVC pipe with a few curved or angled pieces.

Check out the tutorial:

5. No-Spill, No-Waste PVC Chicken Feeder

Sometimes, chickens are messy eaters. They will spill their food all over the place if you happen to give it to them in a shallow pan. Worse, they may even defecate in it. This no-spill, no-waste design prevents your chickens from ruining their own food. It also includes an overhang around the feeding hole to keep your chickens dry whenever it rains. Additionally, the feeding area is slightly elevated, making it easier for chickens of varying heights to poke their head in.

Here is the instruction video:

6. Bulk Container and PVC Chicken Feeder

Have many mouths to feed and tired of your chickens wasting a lot of their chow? This bulk feeder solves those two issues. You can put this PVC and plastic container chicken feeder together in a couple of hours and for a reasonable price. You will need 6-8 PVC pipe elbows to go around the bottom of the 4-5 gallon plastic storage container. Consider investing in a hole saw to make carving out the insertion points a little easier.

Once you have the chicken feeder set up, you can dump a full bag of feed inside to keep your chickens well fed throughout the week.

Here is the video with all the details:

7. Off-The-Ground PVC Flock Feeder

When you have more than one mouth to feed, you want to make sure everyone gets a little something during mealtime. This suspended PVC chicken feeder is trough-shaped, so that multiple chickens can eat together. It hands off the ground just high enough for the heads of your chickens to poke over. This keeps the feeder mess-free.

You won’t need much to get this PVC chicken feeder completed — just some PVC pipe, heavy-duty string, a drill, and a couple other pieces of hardware.

Check out the directions here:

8. Multi-Chicken Horizontal PVC Feeder

Do you have a large flock of chickens who like to eat at the same time? Then this horizontal PVC feeder is the perfect solution. Relatively quick and easy to make, this feeder is built with multiple holes, enabling more than six chickens to eat their fill at once. There is also an option for fixing string to the ends so you can hang the tube from a fence or from the ceiling of the chicken coop. To make this project easier, consider investing in a hole saw.

Here is the full video tutorial:

9. Double-Ended PVC Chicken Feeder

Both chicks and chickens will love the two accessible feeder holes. The PVC pipe is built like many of the others on this list and uses the power of gravity to keep feed in good supply. However, the two ends flare upwards at a 22-degree bend, which keeps the chickens from climbing in and scooping out more than their fair share. The typical length of the tube is 2-feet (which holds around 10 pounds of feed), but you can easily extend that length to double the height for more storage capacity.

Read the full tutorial at Backyard Chicken Lady.

10. PVC Chicken Feeder For The Coop

If you have a smaller coop but want to set up a gravity feeder that simply won’t fit inside, this DIY chicken feeder idea could be the inspiration you need. This feeder is engineered so that the open end where the seed comes out is inside the coop, while the back end for storage snakes away from the coop, giving you easier access to the cap. You could potentially mount the feeder to the outside wall of the coop as well. Once complete, your chickens can snag some feed from the safety of the coop, which is excellent on rainy days.

The full tutorial is on HobbyFarms.com.

11. Mess-Free Bucket Chicken Feeder

Want to feed your chickens and minimize clean up? Here is one for you: a bucket feeder with PVC inlets that let your chickens poke their head inside. Since the PVC portions are upside down U-pieces, the feed is trapped inside the bucket. No mess! You will need 70 mm PVC elbows or U-shaped segments, glue, rivets, plastic, a medium-sized bucket, and a few other tools to complete this project.

Check out the tutorial at Ideas 2 Live 4.

Commonly Asked PVC Chicken Feeder Questions

Now that you have been thoroughly inspired to make some PVC chicken feeders this upcoming weekend, take a look at some questions that may arise:

How Do I Keep Pests Out of the Chicken Feeder?

In many of the chicken feeder ideas, there are ways to seal off the PVC piping with a cap of some sort. That is the best way to keep rats and other pests out of the feeder. Placing a cap or plug on the pipe overnight will also prevent water from ruining the feed.

Should I Hang My Chicken Feeder?

Yes, you should hang the chicken feeder. One of the reasons PVC pipe feeders are so popular is because you can fix them to posts, keeping the majority of the feed above ground. If the chicken feeder rests on the ground, there is a high chance of the chickens pooping on it. The appropriate height of a feeder is about 8-12 inches off the ground. You could also hang a feeder or use one of the PVC chicken feeder ideas with a vertical orientation.

How High Does The Chicken Feeder Need To Be?

8-12 inches off the ground is the standard for most chicken feeders. However, that does not apply to some of the smaller breeds, including Cochin bantams and Silkies (who can’t fly or jump that high).

Why Should I Cap The PVC Feeder?

Ideally, you want to cap the top end of the feeder, as well as the bottom parts, whenever your chickens are not using it. There are two reasons for this. First, PVC is not impermeable to moisture. If you leave the top end of the feeder exposed to the air, the feed inside is going to get damp and start clumping. Since the feeder relies on gravity to give your chickens a continuous supply of feed, you do not want any clumps forming. Secondly, the caps keep rodents from entering the feeder overnight.

There are many ways to cap the ends of a PVC feeder, including cap adapters and regular flat caps. However, cap adapters tend to have a square-shaped end that makes them easier to grip and turn.

Final Thoughts on DIY PVC Chicken Feeders

DIY PVC chicken feeders are a wonderful way to reduce waste, keep the run and coop clean, and also keep creepy critters from getting into the food. Any of the designs in this list are cheap to put together and maintain. Plus, your chickens will love having access to cleaner food throughout the day. Which DIY PVC chicken feeder idea did you like the best?