All in One PVC Feeder/Waterer

[AntRob]

Hey guys, I was inspired by several different homemade feeders and waterers on this site and decided to give it a shot. I love working with PVC so here's what I came up with. I plan to put together a How-To page at some point but we'll see if there's any interest. Anyhow, I was trying to find a low maintenance, easy way to feed and water the flock so that I didn't have to climb in and out of the chicken tractor every couple days or so. So far I've got about 6 months out of this without any issues at all. Let me know what you guys think or if you have any suggestions.

















Just a quick edit here, someone asked how it worked with the water and the feed in the same chamber so I quickly drew this sketch (warning: I'm no artist.. ). It shows (or I hope it does :/ ) how the feed tube goes down in the center of the water chamber and each are sealed from each other.

 

[Usrudd]

Wow, super clever!

 

[Usrudd]

Do you think there is a way to keep the water from freezing in winter? I live in Vermont and am only now setting up a coop for next spring! I've never had chickens before. Thank you.
Usrudd

 

[AntRob]

Do you think there is a way to keep the water from freezing in winter? I live in Vermont and am only now setting up a coop for next spring! I've never had chickens before. Thank you.
Usrudd

Yeah I plan to use one of those mini aquarium heaters that's small enough to go down into the water chamber. I've read somewhere else where a guy used one of those and it worked well. I haven't gone through a winter yet with this but I'm guessing it'll work fine.

 

[Mijmo]

Did you construct the watering part so that you could clean out algae or hard water deposits?

 

[mechanic57]

How much water is held in the water section?

 

[AntRob]

Did you construct the watering part so that you could clean out algae or hard water deposits?

No but I did think about it after the fact and if I had to do it again I would have put a threaded cap or one of those rubber caps with a metal clamp on the end of the watering extension. That way it could be easily cleaned. So far I've had it for about 6 months without any issues like that.

 

[AntRob]

How much water is held in the water section?  

It holds about 5 lbs of feed and 1 gallon of water. For my 8 chickens it'll last them around 2-3 days.

 

[9d84runner]

That is awesome! I made a PVC feeder for my girls. I also had the nipper waterers but they didn't like them and I found them drinking from puddles more than the nipples. We went back to regular bowls. Bet you could sell some on Etsy.

 

[plmbloco48]

what size pipe and fittings did you use? Looks cool