AUTOMATIC WATERER

HI

Thought it would help someone to post what I have done to solve my water problem.
I have several chickens and got tired of taking water out to them everday.
I now only fill it up every three weeks . As far as keeping the water bug free I add a cap full of
bleach and it keeps the water just fine. PLEASE POST PICS of your watering sytems so I can see how you solved
this problem. Any questions are welcome, as well as ideas.

General picture. Trash can is about three feet of the ground and has about 2 1/2 feet of hose connecting the system together.


55 Gallon commercial rubbermaid trash can.


Spigot with rubber gasket and then some silicon weather proof to seal it up.


Inside is a rubber ring and a screw on compression nut from the plumbing department comes with every thing but the rubber gasket (Hard to find) Once again I sealed it all up with silicone. Once first put together no water in it for at least 24 hours has to set up good.


Float device and bucket got from a feed store in there larger animal section. Nice thing is it goes straight from the spigot into the bucket via water hose. All is made of high quality plastic not like those cheap water feeders for dogs you see. Nothing is mounted together that way to clean it all I do is lift the float up take the bucket spray it out and put it back together. I lowered the water level some so you could see the float in it and the water stirred up some of the dirt on the bottom. I clean it out once a week. Takes about 20 min. to fill on own.





I hope this is a help to someone.
The total cost was around 40.00 And I paid cash for it all .


ALSO this is a link to my page on more pics of the watering system. https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=5284-AUTO_WATERER

This is absolutely GREAT!!!!! I have sent a link to my dh at work, so he has until tomorrow to study it, figure out what we have laying around the house and what he has to buy on the way home in the morning! That being said, I hope to have one done by tomorrow night. Thank you for the awesome pictures and the detailed instructions.

Rachel

I get the trash can, the spigot..hose...makes sense

you LOSt me w/ the bottom 'bucket' and float device..can you explain the purrose and function of that stuff?? What's the black thing on the green 'bucket'?

First let me add I made this thing b/c my wife got tired of watering my chickens while I was at work

Think of it like your royal throne. The toliet!!!!
(THE BLACK THING) The float allows water in and out. If it is lowered thus low water level it fills then as the water rises it lifts the float up there bye stopping the flow of water. Very much like your throne just take the back off of it and play with the float and you will understand it is the same principal. I have seen people rig a toliet float to do the same thing however you end up making several plumbing conversions. and can be difficult to rig up.
The green water bucket is actually a feed/water trough for large animals. simply buy a float match it to the bucket and your good to go

The one I bought was at tractor supply company.

I could have dug a hole and placed the bucket in it for the proper level but I wanted somthing very easey to clean the only thing permenatly attached is the spigot.
If ya got any question just ask I am more than happy to help ya.

OH...ok..let me see if I got this correctly...

The green bucket is what the chickens drink out of and the black thing on THAT bucket is a float.
When the water gets too low in the green bucket the float somehow releases the seal on the hose so water will flow out of the rubbermaid trash can (your reserve) and into the green bucket. So as long as you keep the water in the rubbermaid trash can clean (which you said you do with the little bit of bleach) you just need to make sure it's full. Which you also said takes about 3 weeks to get to empty. Is that correct?

What a brilliant idea!
Now I just have to think about how I can incorporate that into my set up....lol

You got it. A very simplistic creation, but thats not wht is important. MY WIFE LOVES IT thats very important.

Its well done. The cistern (trash can) offers a low pressure water source for the float-fill unit. You might want to look into routing rain water from the roof to the cistern, too.

There is also a nice waterer on BYC that uses a toilet float valve and regular water hookups. It would also work, as it isnt pressure dependent. Check it out:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=4655-Auto_Waterer

how come you add a cap of bleach to the water. this doesnt hurt the chickens?

Nice job, Michael.

BTW, I don't think a capful of bleach will hurt the chickens. It disperses in the water, and eventually dissipates. Remember that goldfish can live in water that has bleach in it after a while.

MSRMA7670 watering system looks great!! Read it out loud to DH he liked it. So we may adapt one of our own . Especally since I brought home 11 new Rouen charges for my Drake Peanut to care aftere. They really go through the water. BYW I just came on to this wonderful site and your great group a few days ago. Hope ya don't mind my pecking in once in a while. I can see this will be a real habit Will have to get a better handle on posting photos yet though. Love my critters & gardening (we are building a greenhouse to open next spring it goes well)

sorry I get windy sometimes.
Karan