My Duck Waterers
I have ducks. I had the one-gallon standard chick waterer, and two things happened: it got very muddy and it ran out of water. I needed to do something; we are gone part of the time, and two standard waterers were not enough.My waterer is a duck waterer. It will also work for chickens. It is cheap, easy to make, and the parts are easy to find. I made a big one and a little one. First I made the big one. It is a standard plastic oil change pan that I got at the auto parts store for $2.99. Into this I put a large bucket. I don't know how much it holds but it is 12 3/4" high and 11" in diameter. My guess is 6 gallons. I bought some of these buckets for $0.50 each; they were previously used for some food product.
My husband drilled some holes. The height of the holes determines the height of the water. We started out with low holes, then made higher ones. It works wonderfully, but it is very heavy. To use, fill the bucket with water, put the oil pan on top (upside down
and invert. Here are some pictures:[insert pictures]
This was too heavy for me, although it worked very well and lasted a week with 13 ducklings. But, I had to make a lighter one. I saw some chip and dip trays at the grocery store, on sale for $2.99 (Bi-Mart has them at this price all the time). I used a bucket from the Tillamook cheese/ice cream factory; they are lightweight and cost $0.50. I'm guessing they hold You can probably find an equivalent bucket if you are in a different part of the country.
Same holes, same assembly. I can invert these with relative ease, and two of them easily last several days. Here are pictures of the two side by side.