5 Gallon Water Fountain

[ldel4567]

Greetings All,
I made a water fountain for the chickens using a 5 gallon bucket. I used drinking straws at the base and used a clean trash bag as a bladder; to slow down the flow of the water dripping out. It seems to be working well,but have a couple of concerns. It is currently in the coop, with the chickens. Do I need to put another pail/can under the fountain to catch the water, or do I just let it drip on the ground? The chicks seem a little unsure how to use it, will they figure it out, eventually?
One of the chicks was mesmerized, watching the water roll off her back, as she stood under the dripping water.

 

[cupman]

Maybe we could be a little more helpful if we had a picture.. so we could visualize it. I'm interested at least.

 

[ldel4567]

Thanks for your interest. Any help is appreciated.

 

[flowerchild59]

I think I would spend a few dollars on chicken nipples and then you wouldn't risk your coop being wet and well, stinky.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Greetings All,
I made a water fountain for the chickens using a 5 gallon bucket. I used drink-ing straws at the base and used a clean trash bag as a bladder; to slow down the flow of the water dripping out. It seems to be working well,but have a couple of concerns. It is currently in the coop, with the chickens. Do I need to put another pail/can under the fountain to catch the water, or do I just let it drip on the ground? The chicks seem a little unsure how to use it, will they figure it out, eventually?
One of the chicks was mesmerized, watching the water roll off hea

I have read that garbage bags are not food grade. I don't know if that is important to you or not, but I wouldn't want to consume chemicals in the eggs, myself.

http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ftsep04.htm
U. of Nebraska Lancaster County says

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]'The use of plastic trash bags for food storage or cooking is not recommended by USDA "... because they are not food grade plastic and chemicals from them may leach into the food."[/FONT]'

 

[ldel4567]

Thanks for your input. I am rethinking the whole idea. I have plastic fountains that I purchased from a feed supply store and have been doing the job just fine. I thought this might be a better option.

 

[PequestFarm]

Not sure why you would use a plastic bag as a bladder, when the bucket itself (food-grade) would suffice. Chicken nipples at the bottom would solve the drip problem. I personally fabricated a tower-waterer out of 4" PVC, and a feeder as well. I have a friend with a large flock where I get my eggs and raw milk, and I am hoping to have him field test them for me soon. Toying with the idea of designing a gravity-fed, rainwater supplied system too, but I will probably wait until I get my own flock for that.

Really enjoying all the great advice in this forum - thanks to all!!
Anthony

 

[ldel4567]

Well, since I was using straws, the water was coming out, way-to-fast. By putting in the liner, and filling it with water, the flow lessened. I went back to the store bought water fountains. They work fine for six chicks and a rooster. I do appreciate all the help.