How to Build a Zero-Waste Gravity Chicken Feeder from a Recycled Tire and Bucket

 Every poultry farmer knows that feed is the biggest expense on the farm. But what makes it worse is feed wastage. Chickens have a natural instinct to scratch and bill their food, which means store-bought hanging feeders often end up spilling precious grain all over the dirt, inviting mice, wild birds, and dampness.

If you want a heavy-duty, un-tippable solution that costs practically nothing, this DIY Gravity-Fed Chicken Trough is the perfect weekend project. By recycling an old vehicle tire, a plastic bucket, and a 20-liter water bottle, you can create an automatic silo feeder that keeps grain clean, dry, and locked in place.

🛠️ Tools and Materials Needed

You don’t need to buy expensive hardware for this project. Look around your homestead or visit a local garage to source these items:

• One old vehicle tire (any standard car or small truck tire works)

• An old plastic bucket (a standard 15-to-20-liter utility bucket)

• A 20-liter plastic water dispenser bottle (the clear kind)

• A piece of flat iron sheet (mabati) or heavy plastic sheet for the floor

• An old wooden mop stick or broom handle

• Binding wire or heavy-duty nails

• Tools: A sharp utility knife (or hacksaw), a drill, and a hammer.

📐 The Design Concept: How It Works

This feeder uses three interconnected zones to manage and protect your poultry feed:

1. The Base Trough (The Tire): Heavy and wide, it provides an un-tippable circular feeding track.

2. The Silo Housing (The Bucket): Flipped upside down inside the tire to store the feed and release it gradually through bottom arches.

3. The Extension Hopper (The 20L Bottle): Inverted at the top to act as a massive funnel, allowing you to load days' worth of feed at once.

4. The Structural Lock (The Mop Stick): Skewers right through the entire assembly, locking the bucket dead-center to the tire so aggressive roosters can't knock it apart.

🏗️ Step-by-Step Assembly Instructions

Step 1: Prepare the Tire Trough Base

Take your old tire and wash off any dirt or grease. Using a sharp utility knife or a hacksaw, carefully cut the tire completely in half horizontally. You only need one half for this project.

Next, trim the inner rubber lip slightly. This widens the interior feeding channel, allowing your birds easy access to the grain without rubbing their necks against rough rubber.

Step 2: Seal the Bottom Floor

Flip your tire half over so the open hollow side faces down. Place your flat scrap iron sheet (mabati) underneath the tire hole. Using a drill or a hammer and a thick nail, punch holes through the lower rubber rim and the iron sheet. Secure them tightly together using heavy binding wire or nails. This creates a solid, leak-proof floor that keeps the feed off the damp ground.

Step 3: Prepare the Central Bucket

Take your old plastic bucket and flip it upside down. The original wide mouth of the bucket will sit flat on the iron sheet floor right inside the center hole of the tire.

• Cut the feed arches: At the bottom rim of the bucket (the open mouth end), cut out 2 or 3 small arches about 2 inches wide and 1.5 inches high. These arches will allow feed to automatically spill out into the tire track via gravity.

• Cut the top entry: Cut a circular hole out of the base of the bucket (which is now your top facing up) just wide enough to receive the neck of the 20-liter water bottle.

Step 4: Secure the Mop Stick Cross-Beam

This is the most critical step for stability! Place your upside-down bucket inside the center hole of the tire.

Mark a straight line running directly through the center of your build. Drill a hole through the outside wall of the rubber tire, through the left side of the blue bucket, out the right side of the bucket, and finally through the opposite side of the rubber tire.

Drive your wooden mop stick straight through all four holes. This anchors the central storage bucket firmly to the heavy tire base. Even if heavy dual-purpose chickens stand on the feeder, it will not budge.

Step 5: Insert the 20-Liter Extended Hopper

Cut your clear 20-liter water dispenser bottle completely in half. Take the top half (with the pouring neck) and turn it upside down like a giant funnel.

Slot the narrow neck of the bottle directly into the top cut opening of your bucket. If the fit is loose, you can secure it with a bit of binding wire or water-safe adhesive.

🌾 How to Use and Maintain Your New Feeder

Your DIY gravity trough is now complete! Simply pour your chicken mash or mixed grains into the top clear plastic funnel. The feed will flow down into the central bucket core, pass through the mop stick support layout, and slowly pour out of the bottom arches into the tire track. As the chickens eat the feed from the tire ring, more grain will automatically drop down to replace it.