How long does it take YOU to clean your coop?

[6of6chicks]

Have you tried the horizontal water nipple buckets??? They have made my life a DREAM! No more daily changing of waterers, no more daily scrubbing of the waterers....it's great! If you want more info in case you haven't seen them yet, just let me know!

Oh gosh, after the DIY bucket feeder fiasco I'm not up to trying another bucket project! Maybe someday I'll work up the enthusiasm to try it, but I'm still stinging from the last bucket project, lol!

 

[iwiw60]

Oh gosh, after the DIY bucket feeder fiasco I'm not up to trying another bucket project! Maybe someday I'll work up the enthusiasm to try it, but I'm still stinging from the last bucket project, lol!

Oh now....c'mon....be brave!! Listen, if I can do it, ANYbody can! I'm 70 years old, single retiree, all by myself, have always in past years been the "gopher" on projects, never the 'doer'. Here's how, and TRUST ME! It has been a lifesaver...just think...no more cleaning out yucky waterers every day and no more filling up the waterers every day...it's da bomb!
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1. Get yourself a good plastic bucket. For women flock keepers I recommend getting ahold of a 2-1/2 gallon bucket (they're easier to bring back to the coop/run when you do rinse them out and refill).

2. Purchase a small set of horizontal water nipples ..they look like this:

You can get them in lots of places on the internet. HINT: Don't get the 'cup' style if you have freezing weather in winter months OR the 'vertical' ones...they freeze up on you.

3. Use a drill with a 3/8" bit (important, only use 3/8" bit) and drill holes in your bucket about 1-1/2 to 2" up from the bottom, spacing them out. The ones I bought came in a pack of 5 so I just evenly spaced them around.



4. Then all you do is screw them in. HINT: be careful you screw them into the bucket straight-on. These are "self-tapping" water nipples and they DO make a water-tight seal. Keep the nipples good and straight (you'll see an indentation of sorts where any possible drips could go..make sure they are level).

5. Guess what? After about 20 minutes you are DONE!

6. After filling your bucket put the bucket lid on the top but only 'snap' 1 or 2 snaps-worth...you have to have air or they won't work.

7. If your girls have never used water nipples before it is EASY to teach them. I sat in the coop and kept "clicking" the little stainless steel thingie. Out of curiosity one of my girls came up to it and tapped it herself and figured out "hey! There's water here girls!!" It didn't take but an hour or so and they were all using them....HINT: you must remove ALL other water sources .. all of them..that's the trick to it. Don't give in if your girls are timid to switch over....trust me....they WILL switch!

8. Now aren't you proud of yourself??

 

[Blooie]

Between cleaning off the poop board (or the "poop deck", as my 8 year old granddaughter calls it - we're a Navy family), turning over just the very top layer of litter, and filling the feeder it takes me less than 10 minutes a day. I have 20 chickens.

 

[henless]

Oh gosh, after the DIY bucket feeder fiasco I'm not up to trying another bucket project! Maybe someday I'll work up the enthusiasm to try it, but I'm still stinging from the last bucket project, lol!

How is the bucket doing?

Seriously, the nipple buckets are nothing to do. Just drill the hole and screw in the horizontal nipples. I did mine about an inch from the bottom of the bucket. BEST thing ever!!!

 

[iwiw60]

Morning Everyone! Just got through doing a cleanup/freshening of the coop this morning while it was still cool enough to even move around. Hadn't refilled my horizontal water nipple bucket for 5 days and with this terrible heat I figured it would be down to the nubs...not! I still had over 4" of water in it. Thoroughly cleaned it up, refilled it. Re-filled my PVC feeder pipes with fresh feed and added more grit to the side feeder thingie. Only took me 30 minutes today...wheee!!

Have a wonderful day today with your flocks...love on them and they'll love you back!!

 

[6of6chicks]

How is the bucket doing?

Seriously, the nipple buckets are nothing to do. Just drill the hole and screw in the horizontal nipples. I did mine about an inch from the bottom of the bucket. BEST thing ever!!!

The bucket seems to be working okay. They like the tube feeder in the coop better, and will troop in there and stand in line to chow down. But they do use the bucket as well. I need to come up with some sort of anti-perch to put on the top. They keep standing on it and pooping on the tubes. Doesn't get in the feed, but still super annoying to have to clean.

The bucket waterer does seem easy, but things are a little on hold at the moment. I've got a sick flock and I'm freaking out over that. If they survive and I can get them healthy again then I might give the bucket waterer a try. Thanks iwiw60 for the instructions - you do make it look easy (and we both know how stupid I am with buckets, lol!).

 

[iwiw60]

Quote: Depending on what size PVC pipe you used for your feeders just go to the hardware store with your outside-to-outside measurement and buy a PVC CAP ... they're cheap. When you do put the cap on the top of the feeder just put it on there til it "snugs" SLIGHTLY otherwise you risk having it suck itself down onto the top and there ya go...new problem!

 

[ALJhappychicken]

Why use a nipple bucket? What are the benefits? 'Cause my old, faithful 5 gal. waterer isn't working quite right. When that isn't useable anymore, should I get a nipple bucket? Do stores sell them? Seems one of us should have started a nipple bucket thread!
Have a happy 7/11 ! (The date, at least in my time, is 7/7/14!)

Hope y'alls' flocks are thriving! :cd :yiipchick :cd :yiipchick :cd :yiipchick :cd

 

[vehve]

Why use a nipple bucket? What's the benefits? 'Cause my old, faithful 5 gal. waterer isn't working quite right. When that isn't useable anymore, should I get a nipple bucket? Do stores sell them? Seems one of us should have started a nipple bucket thread!
Have a happy 7/11 ! (The date, at least in my time, is 7/7/14!)

Hope y'alls' flocks are thriving!

When properly constructed, contaminants don't get in contact with the water, so you don't need to clean it as often. Also, they don't spill around water the same way as open waterers do. There are probably threads about them in the 'Feeding and watering your flock' section.

 

[RonP]

nipple bucket

Funny, do a search on "nipple bucket" , over 2300 threads...

Lots of information.

Why use a nipple bucket? What's the benefits? 'Cause my old, faithful 5 gal. waterer isn't working quite right. When that isn't useable anymore, should I get a nipple bucket? Do stores sell them? Seems one of us should have started a nipple bucket thread!
Have a happy 7/11 ! (The date, at least in my time, is 7/7/14!)

Hope y'alls' flocks are thriving!