How to keep water fresh for up to two weeks without using a hose?

[citychicks99]

I'm leaving for ten days and asked my brother to watch my chickens but he may not change their water. I've seen him let his dog's water bowl get pink so I'm hoping the water will be fine for that time I'm gone. I got them a 5 gallon bucket so they should have enough but it would be great if there was a way to stir up the water during that time to keep it from sitting for too long. Unfortunately our hose leaks so the self-watering system may not help. I can ask my mom to come change the water too at the 5 day mark if nothing else.

 

[sourland]

I'd ask Mom to help out.

 

[Tonyroo]

Did you add water nipples to the 5 gallon bucket?

 

[MGG]

I'm leaving for ten days and asked my brother to watch my chickens but he may not change their water. I've seen him let his dog's water bowl get pink so I'm hoping the water will be fine for that time I'm gone. I got them a 5 gallon bucket so they should have enough but it would be great if there was a way to stir up the water during that time to keep it from sitting for too long. Unfortunately our hose leaks so the self-watering system may not help. I can ask my mom to come change the water too at the 5 day mark if nothing else.

Can you just get a new hose or get one of the hose mending connectors? Our house has three connectors on it right now, lol. It's super long and works great but the $2 connectors are way cheaper than buying a new hose. They make dog water bowls that can attach to a hose that work really well, I sit them on a big cookie sheet with a metal cooling rack in it so they can't kick dirt and bedding into them.

 

[citychicks99]

I tried it this morning, the chicks actually started to catch on but I think the hens were already set in their ways. I switched it back to the water cups because I'm leaving tomorrow and didn't want them to get dehydrated. I'm thinking of giving them both options, one with the nipples in their coop and the one with cups outside. So if they get thirsty in their coop they may try harder to figure it out.

Did you add water nipples to the 5 gallon bucket?

 

[RoyalChick]

Just want to make sure I understand. You have a 5 gallon bucket with cups and the question is how to top it up while you are away?
How much do your chickens drink in a week? Mine can be left with their bucket for more than a week.

 

[citychicks99]

Just want to make sure I understand. You have a 5 gallon bucket with cups and the question is how to top it up while you are away?
How much do your chickens drink in a week? Mine can be left with their bucket for more than a week.

I think it will last them. In total they drink about 16oz of water a day. I'm more concerned about bacteria growing in it. Maybe ten days isn't a big deal?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Can you set up more than one watering system? Put the waterer in the cleanest spot possible where it is not near the ground (dirt, mud, leaves) and not where shavings will get kicked into it. Another option is downsize the waterer (if you trust him to refill it when it gets empty). If you downsize it so it needs to be refilled every couple of days, then he'd need to freshen it up anyways. If you're worried that he wouldn't notice though, don't take that chance.
I, personally, have set up my birds during travel to take care of themselves while I'm gone. In my biggest coop, I'll put multiple feeders and waterers to last them as long as I've estimated those things will last for. Then I hire someone to occasionally come down to check on them. My waterers are all hanging waterers, so my biggest fear (as imagined), is that the waterers will be hung wrong and drain out. I highly point out how the waterers are supposed to be hung and deeply warn the caretaker of what can happen if the waterer is hung wrong. Thankfully, I've had success so far. Also, on at least one of the caretakers I've hired, I've found that they took better care of my birds than they did their own animals which I believe is because they were doing it for someone else, and possibly because they were being paid. If you're not already, maybe you should offer to pay your brother if he will take care of your birds correctly? Because he's your brother, you might be able to threaten him that you'll pay less if he doesn't do them correctly. (Please keep in mind though, if he's not experienced in taking care of chickens, you'll have to give him some mercy and leeway and not expect him to be the chicken keeper of the year.)

 

[citychicks99]

Can you just get a new hose or get one of the hose mending connectors? Our house has three connectors on it right now, lol. It's super long and works great but the $2 connectors are way cheaper than buying a new hose. They make dog water bowls that can attach to a hose that work really well, I sit them on a big cookie sheet with a metal cooling rack in it so they can't kick dirt and bedding into them.

Have you noticed your water bill going up since you started doing this? So you can turn your fountain on but it won't take up more water than they need? Sorry if it's a dumb question, I've never used it before and that made me paranoid.

 

[RoyalChick]

I think it will last them. In total they drink about 16oz of water a day. I'm more concerned about bacteria growing in it. Maybe ten days isn't a big deal?

I don’t have experience of cups but with nipples the water stays clean for much more than 2 weeks.