Gravity feed chicken watering?

Hi all,

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! I have decided on a new project for my girls (and boys!): a gravity feed chicken waterer.

My ideas. I want to collect rain water from the chicken coop into a 44 gallon drum and supply that via a gravity system using nipples/rabbit waterer for on demand watering. And off course I would like to use around the house materials if possible. My problem is that I am stuck with my idea.
I was wondering if someone has done something similar (I would be surprised if nobody has ) and if that person could share their instructions and possible photos with me!!!

thanks

Poupoule

Absolutely!!! 1st time posting pix- I hope this works?? I have installed a "250 gallon" elongated water trough on the roof of my coop. OK, the coop is a 1942 90 MM anti aircraft field cannon. The turret rail is still on top, but no cannon. This would have REALLY been protection from predators, no? It has many opening/closing ports for ventilation, ALL metal construction, both inside & out, and about as bullet proof as anyone can get for protection of my hens from even a WANNA BE predator. I attached a 12' W X 6' H X 20' L outside run right to the outer wall. There was even a low portal door to utilize for a chicken entry ramp. The water comes down to 10 water nipples- five of them inside, five outside! These 10 nipples are all on the same single line, simply flowing the water to the nipples inside. This only required one small hole to complete the entire line. The nipples are installed into a 2" X 4' pvc, capped on the end. Did I say this unit was also heavily insulated, right from the manufacturer?? Gravity feed, all the way!! The nipples work fine, it's a dry set up, & I simply pump water 8 feet high about every 4 months. I use a 12 V RV battery powered water pump to refill the trough. "Works for me"!!! One of these days, I hope to get around to painting it.

Hard to see, but there also is a 24" bed of welded wire below the run edges- 12" inside, 12" outside, plus a line of heavy rock all around the perimeter of the run, above the weld wire. I have added roll up windscreen on the exposed section of the run from both sides & top, much like you see the "super heavy duty" rubber tarp. One day, I hope to show the underside of this tarp. It's a recycled portable sign. When I 1st saw it myself, I almost fell over laughing. Hilarious, @ least it was/is to me. I only discovered the sign a couple days ago. My personal friends will fall over when they see it. The sign alone can prevent predators. (tune in later for chapter 2)

i would love to get more info on the gravity feed waterer .........how are the nipples positioned for the birds to drink from ???? i get the entire thing except the part where the birds get the water from ........help me out please ,,,,, pics would be awesome !!!

Quote:
The nipple water system I show above is END mounted directly coming out of the coop wall where it also is connected to the inside water nipples. They need to be pointed directly down, Just barely above the chickens head height. Your water SOURCE can enter from either direction you prefer. As they tap/peck it, water droplets come out & they drink from it. They stop pecking, the water stops! If/when you decide to go w/nipple system, directions are included as to drill hole size. If you mount it near a wall or structure, leave enough room for the chickens to approach from either direction. Mount it STURDILY, as they will sit on it, roost on it, poop on it, etc. I made mine out of 2" PVC pipe. Be sure to install a shutoff near the water SOURCE!!!!

i was thinking about using rain water ...... i dont have plumbing or electric at the coop ,,,, its 93 yards away from the house .. i wanna put a 55 gallon plastic barrel on a shelf outside the coop , run a supply line into the coop ( i know that it will freeze in the winter , so im planning on using regular waterers in the winter ...

We live where the water freezes. We have a 5 gallon bucket with a heater in it. There are nipples on the bottom of the bucket. The heater in the bucket keeps the water fine. BUT
our Silkie Chickens.......were not raised on nipples. AND they don't get all the wate they should have.

We purchased a heated waterer at Tactor Supply. It is 3 gallon. When we carry it down most of the water is lost. We have tried carrying a gallon and putting it in the waterer. Ther is never 3 gallons of water in the waterer. Do you have a better way?

A much cheaper way to keep your waterers from freezing is by using fish tank heaters, only cost a few bucks, way cheaper than the heated waterers....I have the 5 gal buckets with the nipples on the bottom and use the fish tank heaters all winter long, works great, never freezes!

Hi Everybody!
I like the idea of nipples protruding from a 5 gallon container; one with an aquarium heater in it. The drawback is that the wattage is set rather high in those things wasting my savings on which I rely for sustenance. If I could keep the setting so that the water just does not freeze I would be happy. My uneducated guess is that a setting of 40 degrees F might be adequate. I live just south of Sacramento about 35 miles so we rarely get a reading of 20 degrees in winter; most winters not at all. But one would have to be prepared for that worst case scenario. Maybe some sort of weather proof outdoor thermostat over riding the heater would be the answer. Any recommendations on such a thermostat? I also would like to know more about the nipples and their installation. An up close photo of such a nipple would be helpful. Also the proper terminology for those things and a source or two would be greatly appreciated. My imagination envisions one that might screw into a tight fitting orifice backed up by some sort of rubber washer to prevent leakage. Cementing them in place is not attractive since anything near chickens has to be taken apart for cleaning periodically. If you have photos of your ideas you are invited, nae, encouraged to send them by e-mail to me at [email protected]
Thank you very much,
Neal, the Zooman