Pasture-Ready Turkey Feeder

Pasture-Ready Turkey Feeder LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment “We wanted to come up with a bulk turkey feeder that could slide around the pasture but be filled with an auger at the feed bin ” explains Phil Haynes assistant livestock manager at Carversville Farm Foundation a diversified non-profit farm Carversville produces grass-fed livestock pastured poultry mushrooms vegetables and more Most of their produce is distributed to soup kitchens and food pantries in the Philadelphia area The Foundation distributed more than 100 000 lbs of vegetables 23 500 dozen eggs 3 600 lbs of beef and 16 800 lbs of chickens and turkeys in 2020 Labor is always an issue especially with the pandemic so finding a simple solution to bucket feeding 700 turkeys a year was important Haynes and his co-workers came up with a design they thought would work and built 2 prototypes The galvanized steel bins are 8 ft long 6 ft 5 in wide at the top and 4 ft 5 in wide at the bottom This created an overhang for the 7-in wide feed troughs A 3-ft 5-in wide lid runs down the center of the bin Removable wheels at the rear allow it to be filled with an auger at the feed bin and towed down the road to the pasture Once in the pasture 3 jacks raise the bin up so wheels can be removed and then it’s let down on its skids A few problems were quickly revealed Cross bracing and sheet metal were added to the sides to prevent the feeders from bowing out when full Flow plates were added at the bottom of the bins This allowed them to be closed down for finer feed and opened up for less fine to ensure birds got the full ration Failing wheels were more difficult to fix “The engineering wasn’t strong enough for the weight of the full bin ” says Haynes “We used it in 2019 and made changes for 2020 At first we changed to solid rubber tires but that put the load on the bearings which wore out ” The original wheels had pipe stubs that slid into and then were pinned into pipes on the frame A larger wheel assembly was needed with a bigger wheelbase and heavier rims enough to carry 1 000 lbs “We are still working on the design with a local metal fabricator to get more feeders made ” says Haynes “We plan to use a complete wheel/axle assembly that unhitches from the frame The feeder will be much more robust ” One thing that won’t change is hitches on both ends of the feeder They were included to make pasture moves more efficient Turkey shelters on running gears can be moved with the feeder hooking the feeder to one being pulled with a tractor A second shelter can be hooked to the rear of the feeder “Our turkey houses are pretty bare bones structures yet multifunctional ” says Haynes A frame roof is attached to the running gear with 2 by 4s running the length of the running gear for roosts Each running gear also holds IBC totes for water Each tote outlet splits into 2 lines A container mounted to the running gear holds up to 30 lbs of grit which feeds down through a pvc pipe with an opening at the bottom for access Electric poultry netting around the running gear houses and feeder keep the turkeys and the feed safe Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Carversville Farm Foundation P O Box 204 Carversville Penn 18913 ph 855 228-8085; info@carversvillefarm org; www carversvillefarm org

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