Directions for Making a Pet Feeder From a Five Gallon Bucket

Your pet deserves the very best from you when it comes to fresh food and water. You can make a pet feeder from a 5-gallon bucket to provide your pet with fresh food even when you aren't there. These types of pet feeders are ideal for when you travel or when you are too busy to make sure your pet has fresh food. They also are useful for barn cats and other outdoor animals that you might not see every day.

  1. Choosing a Bucket

    • Find a 5-gallon bucket to use for your feeder. It is best to use a new bucket. If you use a used bucket, select one that never has been used for chemicals, gasoline or anything else that might be poisonous. Choose one that doesn't have any stains or grime on the inside.

      Wash out the bucket with a mild soap and water, and rinse all of the soap out before it dries.

    Making the Feeder

    • Assemble your 5-gallon bucket feeder using the bucket, a cookie sheet and a jigsaw. With a permanent marker, draw a half-moon shape at the bottom of one side of the bucket. The half moon should be 1-inch high at its tallest section, and it should slope down until it touches the base of the bucket on the bottom. It should be on only the side of the bucket and not the bottom.

      Cut the half-moon section out of the bucket with a jigsaw. Use appropriate, protective eye wear and gloves because plastic pieces of the bucket might fall off.

      Set the cookie sheet in the place where you want your pet to feed. A corner is best. Place the 5-gallon bucket on top of the cookie sheet so that the half-moon opening faces away from the corner and toward the cookie sheet.

      Fill the 5-gallon bucket with your pet's food. Food will spill out of the bucket and fill up the cookie sheet at first. When the bucket is full, however, food will remain in the bucket. Place a lid on the 5-gallon bucket if you have one. If you don't, make one out of a piece of plastic or cardboard and secure it to the bucket with bungee cords or tape.

      Watch your pet to make sure that she understands how to get food out of the bucket. As she eats food off of the cookie tray, more food will fall through the hole in the bucket and onto the tray.