Learn How To Make an Animal Feeder From Scratch... Using ONLY common single-use items.
All you need is a 3-gallon bottle, tin container, plastic bottle or jar, play dough caps, screw, and an adhesive.
Be sure to watch my step by step video on how to build your own Farm Feeder!
Materials Needed
- 3 Gallon Bottle
(or however much feed you want your container to be able to carry)
- Tin Container
(to be used as a dispenser... I used a cookie tin)
- Plastic Jar
* not necessary
(to be used as a screw-on top for easy access. I used a peanut jar)
- Play Dough Caps
* not necessary if you use a plastic container as a dispenser
(to cover ragged edges from the cut tin container)
-Screw
(to hold together the container and dispenser)
-Adhesive
(you can use hot glue or a sealant)
Diagram
This diagram shows the 4 necessary parts of any animal feeder. These include a large bottle to store food, a pan at the bottom to dispense the food, a screw-on top, and a screw to hold together the pan and bottle. Any other changes to the feeder can be customized to fit your specific needs.
How to Make It
Making The Dispenser
For my dispenser container, I used a metal cookie tin, which I then cut small openings into.
After cutting the container, I decided that I wanted larger openings to accommodate the animals. However, this is easily customizable and if you are worried about the structure collapsing, you can leave a smaller opening.
I began to make a hole in the middle of the cut container. You can use a drill to cut the pan, but my container was thin enough to where I could easily twist my screw in.
The Bottle
Because the storage bottle will need to be attached to the container, I took off its bottle cap and screwed a hole in the middle of the cap. I then attached it to the screw on the container and used hot glue to secure it.
After trying out this design at the farm, I’ve figured out that you should only make one or two holes at most in the bottle if you want the food to self-dispense itself instead of all falling at once.
These holes should also be positioned much lower than this design so as to minimize the amount of food being stuck inside the container.
Screw-On Top
I made a screw-on top from a peanut jar. Any jar can be used as long as it's rigid and has a wide opening that will be easy to put the feed into.
I then cut the jar to around 4 inches to be attached to the larger bottle.
The bottle now needs an opening to place the top in. My bottle’s bottom was too thick to be cut through, so I heated up a knife and cut the hole. If your bottle is thinner, you can cut it out normally with scissors.
To put on the screw-top, I used hot glue to secure it to the opening I created.
I then used a sealant to make sure the top would stay glued to the container. This wasn’t necessary, but I did so as a precaution.
Fixing the Ragged Edges
After noticing that my metal container’s edges were too ragged and could easily cut through skin, I used the outer rim of playdough caps as a side barrier.
Then, I used hot glue to stick them on the edges of the container.
The Final Touches
To make sure that the feeder was ready, I took off the labeling and excess plastic.
The feeder is now ready to be put together!