Grit and Shell Dispensers for Your Hens
Today, I go through the steps it takes to easily build supplement dispensers for your egg laying chickens. This project will cost about $20 dollars at your local hardware store and
should take you about 30 minutes to complete. The reason it is beneficial to provide your flock with grit, especially when using pellet feed, is because your chickens will use the grit in their crop, which is the first stop in their digestive system, and it helps grind up their food in order to be digested because chickens do not have teeth to chew their food. Not providing your flock with grit could result in digestive problems such as sour crop, or impacted crop. Oyster or egg shells are very good supplements for your egg layers because they contain high amounts of calcium. Calcium is a necessary need for your hens in order to ensure a good hard shell on the eggs and it also ensures that your hens will have strong and healthy bones. Not providing calcium for your hens could result in broken bones or poor egg quality. If you’re new to owning egg laying chickens, or an experienced handler, and are looking for new ways to give your hens the supplements they need, this project will be great for you because it’s super easy to build and can be done with minimal tools.
STEP 1
Cut a 2-inch piece off of each 2-foot stick of PVC pipe.
STEP 2
Primer both ends of the 2-inch pieces of pipe and one end of each of the now 22-inch pieces of pipe.
STEP 3
Primer the inside of the slip/threaded coupling on the slip hub on both fittings and primer the top and bottom slip hub on both of the wye fittings.
STEP 4
Now You’re ready to glue. Apply glue to one end of the 2-inch PVC pipe and the inside of the slip/threaded adaptor coupling on the slip hub, not the threads, and push them together.
STEP 5
Now apply glue to the other side of that 2-inch pipe, it now has the adaptor coupling glued to it, and apply glue to the bottom primed hub on the wye fitting and push them together.
STEP 6
Now apply glue to the primed end of the 22-inch-long pipe and glue to the primed top hub of the wye fitting and push them together.
STEP 7
Screw in your clean out plug at the bottom, slip on your cap as a lid and you’re all done.
STEP 8
Repeat steps 4 through 7 again to build your second dispenser.
STEP 9
Screw to a wall with pipe strapping and place the openings about 8 inches off the ground.
Now your hens will have the necessary supplements they need in order to keep their
digestive system healthy and their eggs strong.
