by Texas Homesteader ~
Did you know you could make a chicken feeder from a repurposed coffee can? Yep, it’s true.
You know what I say: “Use Whatcha Got!”. Check out this Homestead Hack & see how we easily (and with NO out of pocket) repaired our chicken feeder for many more years of service.
Backyard Hens, Inexpensively
RancherMan & I enjoy raising chickens. And we’re also fans of doing things ourselves. So when we bought our first hens we knew we needed a chicken feeder. But we didn’t buy it. Instead we took a trip to a thrift store to look for supplies that could be used to make our own chicken feeder.
It was a success! We made that first Homemade Chicken Feeder from thrifted supplies costing only about $2 total. All we used was an old metal lid and a plastic Rubbermaid canister.
When we brought our thrifted supplies home we got to making our chicken feeder.
The metal lid already had two holes in the middle to use for putting our feeder together. So we drilled holes in the side of the plastic canister for the seed to come out.
Then we attached the large plastic canister to the metal lid through the holes that were already there.
Then we filled our new chicken feeder with feed & set it out in the chicken coop. When the feed spilled out of the holes in the canister it was retained within the walls of that metal lid. As the chickens ate the feed, more would gradually spill out for them.
But the small feeding area for the seed kept the chickens from wasting their feed. That’s because it was too narrow for them to sling it out of the feeder with their beaks. It worked beautifully!
And it worked just as well (maybe better?) than purchased chicken feeders. But for much less money.
That homemade chicken feeder served us well for several years. But being outside all that time meant it was continuously exposed to the sun’s UV rays.
So after years of use the plastic canister portion succumbed to the elements. That plastic tub cracked & fell apart. The chicken feeder needed to be replaced. Now what??! Do we buy the replacement?
Making A New Chicken Feeder
But wait a minute, not all of the parts are destroyed. We knew that metal lid would last forever. There’s no need to throw out the entire feeder and buy one. We only need another seed reservoir.
Hummmm… what to do?
Repurposing A Plastic Coffee Can
Eureka! Using the same method of drilling holes for the seed to dispense we attached one of our empty coffee canisters to that metal lid!
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Now this feeder’s even easier to use than before because the coffee canister has a built-in handle. So picking up the feeder and moving it is even easier and can be done with one hand.
Just pop the top off the coffee can and refill. Easy peasy!
The beauty here is twofold: By reupurposing something to fill another need you have saved something from being recycled. (or in some cases even perhaps being sent to the landfill.) And a need has been filled by using something we already had.
Plus we’re avid coffee drinkers so there’s a never-ending supply should the need arise in the future.
Repurposing, baby! Now that makes my crunchy-green heart happy.
We’ve done many things with these empty coffee canisters. Curious? Check out the other useful things we’ve done with repurposed coffee canisters.
~TxH~
Coffee Canister Repurpose Ideas:
- The Trick to Removing The Print On Coffee Cans
- Making A Cute Country Bread Box
- How To Make A Flour Canister
- Storing Bulk Items In The Pantry
- Replaceable Food Storage Dishes
- Using Repurposed Canisters In The Garden
- Repurposed Coffee Canister To Cute Inexpensive Planter
- Making A Low-Waste Chicken Feeder
- Coffee Canisters Into EcoBricks For The Garden
- Empty Coffee Can Repurposed For Grape Harvest
- Repurposing A Coffee Can For Deep-Soak Watering
- Coffee Can Repurpose In The Laundry Room
- Fun Ways To Repurpose Coffee Canisters
More Repurposed Coffee Canister Ideas
Chicken-Care Posts
- How To Teach Free-Range Chickens To Come HOME
- Keeping Chickens Safe From Predators: Automatic Coop Door
- Breaking The Broody Hen
- What Color Eggs Will My Chickens Lay?
- MYO Low-Waste Chicken Feeder
- Repurposed Coffee Can Chicken Feeder
- Keeping Wild Birds Away From Your Chicken Feeder
- Nutritional Difference Of Free-Range Eggs
- How To Protect Seedlings From Free-Range Hens
- Keeping Our Chickens Mite Free
- How To Get Free Chicken Food
All Posts About Chickens
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4 Responses
Seriously, you are a genius. I hope to get chickens next year, and this will be a great idea to have in my arsenal of homestead DIYs
After reading about your other escapades with coffee canisters I felt a need to comment.
I haveseveral coffee canisters from back in the day. I don’t drink coffee so when my parents were still with us if i saw a cool looking coffee can ( yes “can”) i’d buy it and they’d drink the coffee. I often wonder why coffee companies can’t do the same with their plastic canister in this day and age.
Well, they didn’t always get the brand they liked. I remember one time I saw a really cool set (Currier and Ives-ish) so they had to drink some other brand. I ended up with 3 cans before they ended the promotion. At least it wasn’t the large size I think they are 2 lbs, possibly 3. I think it was Yuban(?). They, also had a certain brand they bought.
I miss having chickens. I’m hoping to get a few when we get out of the apartment. They would be a relaxing past time to watch their antics. And they always came running to meet me when i drove in from work. As good as a dog!