DIY wooden feeders for pigs. Pig breeding

When breeding pigs, every pig farmer strives to create favorable conditions for your pets, it is extremely simple and cost-effective to set up the process.

A properly selected feeder will minimize feed consumption

Minimizing feed losses plays an important role in pig farming. Which directly depends on the pig feeder.

Requirements for feeders

Piglets cannot be called clean animals. Cleanliness must be monitored daily to prevent the risk of infectious diseases or other undesirable effects on the health of piglets. That is why basic sanitary standards should be observed:

feeders for pigs should be easy to clean and wash, and be clean;
Contamination of containers with waste products of piglets should be prevented;
for dry and wet food it is better to have different feeders to prevent spillage and spillage from the containers;
the fastening must be such that the piglets can conveniently and easily get to the feed;
mandatory division of containers into compartments so that pigs cannot climb into them;
the material for the structures must be high-strength (plastic or stainless steel).

Pigs should not climb into the feeder with their feet

Feeder sizes

The size directly depends on the age of the animals. They must change throughout the life of the piglets.

The feeding front per individual and the dimensions in centimeters are presented in tables No. 1 and No. 2 below, respectively.

Table No. 1

Table No. 2

The size of the feeder varies depending on the age of the pig

Types of feeders

There are different feeders for pigs. There are permanent ones that do not move around the pigsty and are securely fixed. Mobile ones are convenient for feeding large pig herds. You can feed in group and individual containers. Depending on the design, they are divided into conventional (cans and troughs) and automatic (bunker).

Hopper feeders

Hopper feeders for pigs are used for dry food.

The operating principle is demonstrated in the drawing. The upper part of the bunker is filled with feed, which comes down, the container is a trough, from where the pigs eat. When a dose of food is consumed, the lower hole of the feeder is released and the food comes in again.

The main advantages of the bunker feeder are: uniform distribution feed among pigs, reducing consumption (piglets do not climb into the feeder and do not throw feed around) and constant access to feed.

And thanks to the simple design, pig farmers spend less time feeding piglets.

Drawing of a hopper feeder: 1) hopper, 2) tray, 3) limit bar, 4) tray, 5) cheek

DIY feeders

Anyone can make feeders for pigs with their own hands. Various drawings can be found on the Internet. Inventive pig farmers share their expertise in the field of adaptations. The main thing to remember when making feeders is that:

the material must be corrosion-resistant and durable;
The feeding device should be made according to the age and number of pigs;
the design should be easy to clean;
It is necessary to have a barrier (rods made of steel reinforcement) to prevent piglets from getting to the food.

You can make a drinking bowl and feeder for pigs with your own hands

Economical options

Feeders can be made from wooden boards. To do this, you need to saw off two rectangular-shaped parts and two small parts - triangular-shaped plugs. Then you need to connect all the parts with self-tapping screws or nails, nail the stops and legs for stability from the bars. The only drawback of such devices is their rapid destruction and difficulty in cleaning.

The simplest option is sections made from plastic barrels. One barrel can be cut into two, three or even four sections. To ensure the stability of the pig feeder, legs made of wooden beams should be attached to each section.

As feeders for pigs, an asbestos-cement or ceramic pipe is modified by sawing it lengthwise and closing it on the sides with wooden (cement) plugs. The upper bars are covered with galvanized iron.

Simple wooden feeder

The most practical feeder

A container made from a gas cylinder will be durable. Making it is a painstaking task and requires special care.

To do this, you need to release all the remaining gas and cut off the valve with a hacksaw. Then fill the container with water to the top and use a grinder to cut it into two parts.

Be sure to thoroughly treat the resulting parts with a burner to remove the smell of gas.

The service life of such a structure will be about 20 years.

To make a feeder, the balloon needs to be cut

Galvanized

You can make an elongated feeder from a sheet of galvanized iron. The sheet thickness must be at least 0.5 mm.

The prepared sheet can be bent on a mandrel with a steel hammer or mallet, not forgetting to make a flange along the edges so that the animals do not get hurt when feeding.

To ensure stability of the structure, it is necessary to attach legs on the sides made of the same material or wooden blocks.

The choice of feeders is huge. There are also many variations on the theme of making it yourself. What to choose must be decided by the pig farmer himself, based on financial capabilities and available means.

Before delving into this issue, it is worth familiarizing yourself with general requirements, which apply to feed containers.

The feeder should always be clean, which means the container should be one that can be easily removed from food debris and washed.
Feeders can become clogged with particles of bedding, hay, etc., and this is best avoided.
Feed should not spill out of containers; this applies to both wet and dry components.
Each type of food has its own container. For drinking water drinking bowls are intended.
For liquid feed, containers are properly sealed to prevent leaks. Such wastefulness of feed leads not only to losses, but also to pollution of animal premises.
The design is made so that pigs can easily get to food. All corners must be properly sealed and free of sharp edges to prevent injury to animals.
It is best to install the feeder at a slight slope, so that all the food will be on one edge, and the leftovers will be easy to remove.

A few words about sizes

It doesn’t matter what choice the owner makes: buying feeders or making them. It is important to note that containers for young animals are not suitable for adult animals and vice versa. It is preferable to feed piglets from small containers with low sides; adult pigs will need other sizes. With a large number of livestock, to save maintenance time, you can install long bowls so that the animals can feed at the same time.

The following table provides more detailed information on the dimensions for different feeds, which will correspond to one or another age group in width. For suckers, the width and height are indicated.

The second table shows length norms for animals belonging to different groups.

What types of feed containers are there?

As mentioned above, each animal of a certain age needs its own container. Based on this, they can be divided into two types:

Simple design. Any container that is at hand will fit this definition: a basin, a bowl, a pelvis, a pig trough.
Bunker type. Everything is automated here. Food comes from the upper compartment when the lower one is empty. Making such a feeder with your own hands is not so easy.
Stationary. They are installed in animal housing and secured in such a way that pigs cannot move them from one place to another.
Mobile. They can be one-sided or two-sided (with longitudinal partitions). Most often they can be found on a large complex with big amount animals.
Individual feeder - designed for one animal.
Group design - for several pigs.

The best option for any farmer is to approach the issue of creating a container for feed creatively. This not only saves money and time on searching, but also as a result you can get a feeder that will be ideal for your household.

DIY pig feeder

Plastic barrel

Any disused barrel will do. The main thing is to make sure that it was not used for storing pesticides.

What should be on hand:

large capacity plastic barrel;
wooden bars;
several screws;
felt-tip pen;
electric jigsaw;
sandpaper.

Step-by-step instruction:

Divide the barrel into several parts, for example, 4. Apply appropriate markings.
Using an electric jigsaw, cut the plastic along the contour lines into 4 even pieces.
Sand all sharp edges and sandpaper perform grinding.
The legs are made of bars and attached to the sides of the structure using screws.
The feed container is ready and can be placed with the animals.

Using a gas cylinder

Such a thing exists in any household. It is not necessary to get rid of an unnecessary cylinder and think about where to donate it. If you have pigs on your farm, you can make a strong and durable feed container. The service life of such a structure is at least two decades.

What tools will you need:

used cylinder;
a brush and a solution with added soap to check if there is any gas left in the container;
a large amount of water;
scissors for cutting metal;
Bulgarian;
reinforcing bars;
metal corners;
gas stove;
welding machine.

Step by step instructions:

Open the valve on the gas cylinder fully. Residual gas (if any) must be released. You can check with a soap solution, which is applied to the outlet hole. If there is no inflated bubble, you can begin work.
The cylinder must be turned on one side and the valve must be cut off using scissors. The next part must be done with an assistant. While sawing work is going on, you need to water the cut to prevent heating and sparks.
Then the container must be filled completely with water, shaking it periodically to get rid of condensation. Used water should be poured as far as possible from living areas.
It is necessary to determine the desired depth of the feeder. If you intend to use the container for sows and young animals, then the container must be divided in half. Make one half larger and the other smaller. If feeders are needed by adult animals, then the container must be divided into 2 equal parts horizontally.
For sawing you need to take a grinder.
To prevent pigs from getting into the feed container, you need to weld reinforcement on top of the structure.
To completely destroy the gas smell, you need to use a gas burner and fire it.
The remaining reinforcement is used to create strong legs.
The feeder is ready and can be used.

How to use pipes

A ceramic or asbestos cement pipe is suitable for making feeders. The durability of the materials will make the container suitable for long-term use on the farm.

What you will need for production:

pipe, its length must correspond to the number of livestock;
boards or cement mortar;
reinforcing bars;
welding machine;
Bulgarian;
Master OK;
electric jigsaw, saw.

How to make a pig feeder:

Cut the pipe to the required length horizontally.
It is worth considering that such a structure is best made stationary, and therefore you need to take care in advance of choosing a place in the room for the animals, and create concrete supports there.
Install the pipe with plugs at the edges. Concrete or wooden planks are suitable for their manufacture.
The remaining reinforcement will be used to create a kind of mesh that will prevent animals from entering the feeding container.
The design is ready and can be used for its intended purpose.

Automatic feeders: what are their advantages?

The invention is really useful, suitable for dry food, and also very simple principle work. Top part is filled with feed, which goes into the lower compartment, from where the animals get it. As soon as it becomes empty, a new portion will go to the pigs.

This method promotes proper distribution of food - there will be no new food until the old one is eaten. These feeders help maintain cleanliness in pigsties. Animals cannot climb into the container and scatter the feed. The price of the devices is not that high.

Making feeders yourself or purchasing ready-made containers - individual choice every farmer. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages, after considering which you can either take the materials at hand or go to the store to make a purchase.

Don't know how to make feeders for domestic pigs with your own hands? And so you are forced to buy them. But in fact, there is nothing complicated in creating containers for food. If you master this technique, you can easily create almost any amount of such equipment. In this article, using photos and videos, as well as drawings, we will analyze several main types of feeders and how to make them.

Hopper feeders for pigs are used when keeping enough large quantity animals. Making them may seem difficult, but with experience, the whole process will take you very little time. Such automatic feeders for pigs are ideal for feeding feed and crushed grain. The following describes the method for making the simple option such a design.

Materials and tools

To make bunker containers for pigs and piglets with your own hands, you will need two basic tools:

Bulgarian;
electric welding machine.

You need to have good skills with these tools. If you don't have them, it's better to hire a professional or buy ready-made options.

The materials you will need are steel or aluminum sheets. Optimal thickness 2-3 mm.

Step-by-step instruction

At the first stage, a metal box is made. A bunker will be installed inside it. The box is made from sheets. In the drawing below you can see its optimal parameters.
Make a bunker from metal sheets by welding them.
The walls of the bunker should be inclined inward, then the food will fall down under its own weight. This can also be seen in the drawing below.
When the box is made and the hopper is placed in it, make double-sided trays at the bottom. Several animals can feed from them at once. That's it, your automatic feeder is ready.

Plastic barrel feeder

Surprisingly, even an old and basically unnecessary plastic barrel can be converted into an excellent container for feeding pigs. But you cannot use for this purpose a container in which some kind of food was stored. toxic substances. Even if you are sure that you have thoroughly cleaned the barrel, it can still cause poisoning to your animals. Therefore, when making such a feeder, you need to be careful. But this feeder is not the best the best option, it is better to give preference to more durable materials.

Materials and tools

To make a pig feeder with your own hands, you will need the following tools or materials:

plastic barrel, large size;
wooden blocks;
screws;
any marker or clearly visible pencil;
jigsaw;
sandpaper.

Step-by-step instruction

Further instructions on how to make a pig feeder from plastic barrel quite simple. It will require only minimal skills in working with a jigsaw and other tools.

Using a marker, divide the barrel into 2-3 sectors. The number of parts depends on the size of the barrel. It makes sense to divide the larger one into three parts at once.
Using a jigsaw, cut the barrel along the outlined lines.
Then delete everything sharp corners and carefully clean the surface, especially the cut areas, with sandpaper.
The legs are made of bars, which are horizontally attached to the container from below using screws. The feed container is ready, both the pig and the piglet can eat from it.

From a gas cylinder

Everything will come in handy on the farm, and your own old one will not be an exception. gas cylinder, made of durable metal. Instead of scrapping it, turn it into a food container. Its main advantage will be its amazing durability, up to 20 years and even more.

Materials and tools

You will need certain tools and materials for manufacturing:

gas cylinder, naturally empty;
soap solution and a brush for applying it, with their help the surface of the cylinder is checked for gas residues;
a large amount of water;
hacksaw for metal;
Bulgarian;
reinforcement bars;
metal corners;
gas welding machine;
gas-burner.

Step-by-step instruction

When working with gas cylinders, complete care must be taken and the following instructions must be followed carefully.

First, open the valve completely and wait until the gas comes out. To make sure there is no more left, apply the solution around the exit hole with a brush. If it doesn’t bubble, then you can safely start working.
Next, saw off the brass valve. The help of a second person will be useful, who will have to water the cut area during work to avoid sparks.
Fill the balloon with water through the hole, shaking it occasionally. This way you will collect all the condensation from all the walls. Pour the water somewhere away from the house and your field or garden.
Determine what size container you need. You can get as many as two from a balloon. If adult pigs will feed from one, and feeders for piglets are also required, then it makes sense to make the first larger and the second smaller. If you need identical feeders, just mark the balloon in half.
Cut with a grinder.
Weld fittings on top of the container, this will prevent the pigs from getting inside for food.
Burn inner surface balloon gas burner, this way you will finally eliminate the smell of gas from the feeder.
Weld the legs. Make them from ordinary reinforcement.

When starting farming and breeding animals, including pigs, you first need to take care of the housing of future pets, as well as their nutrition. In order for the pigs to be well-fed and healthy, it is necessary to properly arrange the feeding area and prepare a suitable feeder for them.

Pig feeder: basic requirements

Feeding livestock is the most important component of both the health and life of the animal. The health of its and its offspring, the quality of meat and lard depend on how the pig eats, so the feeder plays a very important role.

The main requirements include:

type and size of feeder;
sanitary condition.

For the size of the feeder, the number of pigs that will eat from it matters; size and age of individuals and piglets (adults and piglets need to be fed separately); gender of animals (boys need more food than girls).

The length of the feeder depends on the “population”. For babies up to two months of age, 20 cm is enough, and adults need at least 30 cm. A nursing mother (sow) needs 40 cm, and a large boar needs all 50 cm.

If the structure is made long, then divisions must be made at every required distance so that each pig has its own “plate”. Liquid and dry food are served to the animals separately, just as water is poured into a separate tank.

Other requirements for the pork “table” include:

accessibility for easy cleaning (after each animal meal, the feeder must be washed thoroughly);
protection against foreign organic and inorganic substances(contrary to what most people think, pigs don't eat everything);
strong fastening (to protect against overturning and contamination of the enclosure);
tightness to prevent food spillage and spillage.

How to make a feeder with your own hands: 3 ways

Before you start making a feeder with your own hands, you need to choose available tools that will help simplify the process. Such means can be: metal, plastic barrels or an old gas cylinder.

Metal feeder

The so-called bunker feeders are usually made of metal - this is an iron structure that allows you to feed the pig in portions, due to the fact that its lower part is the usual divided “plates”, and the upper part is a cone-shaped iron box with a narrow bottom. This allows the food to spill out after the pigs have eaten the existing portion.

So, let's start preparing a regular bunker (dimensions are designed for 10 large piglets):

Take a square one profile pipe(approximately 12*12 cm), cut on one side along the edge, open, you get two “trays”, and in the middle there is a corner (the bunker itself will be attached to this corner).
To prepare the bunker, you will need two thick sheets of metal (length - 60 cm, height - 4 cm, width - approximately 1-1.5 cm), place them on a long edge parallel to each other at a distance of approximately 7 cm and weld the ends using suitable sheets metal (it turns out to be a long rectangle without top and bottom).
The upper part (the so-called cone) needs to be made of 4 sheets of metal: 2 wider for length (to make the length the size of the tray itself) and 2 narrower for width. We weld in such a way that the result is a four-sided conical triangle, with a hollow middle (the volume of food placed should be 3 buckets of dry food, the height of the hopper should be approximately 15 cm).
We weld the top part of the bunker to the bottom (long rectangle).
We connect the hopper and the feeder so that the middle of the bottom of the hopper coincides with the corner of the feeder (for even pouring of food).
We take ordinary fittings, cut them into equal parts as long as the width of the tray and weld them at the same distance so that only 1 pig can freely insert his nickel into the tray (thereby providing a “plate” for each pet).

Video: making a metal feeder

Important! You should not make bins that are too large: the piglets will not be able to stop and will eat until the food stops spilling out. Overeating is very harmful for your pig.

Plastic barrel feeder

The easiest thing will be to make pork " dining table"from an ordinary plastic barrel that you no longer need. The main thing is that such a base is environmentally friendly (only harmless natural biological substances should be stored in it).

To prepare such a feeder you need:

Important! It is advisable to make dividing beams so that each pig has its own place and no one else gets into its plate.

Feeder from a gas cylinder

Another one, relatively easy way, which requires an old used gas cylinder (for example, propane). It is important to remember that when working with special dangerous objects, which specifically includes a gas cylinder, you must follow safety regulations.

So, after the gas cylinder is found, you should check it: to do this, you need to take a soap solution, lubricate the place where the gas should come out, and open the valve: if there are no soap bubbles, the cylinder is empty.

Important! In order to get rid of the smell of gas, it is necessary to treat the cut cylinder with fire (on a fire or with a burner).