Anyone who uses nipple waterers and PVC pipe????

[kennedyscochins]

I am considering setting up PVC pipe with nipple waterers. I have 6 different breeding pens side by side and plan to run one long piece of 1/2" PVC pipe through all of them and attach nipple waterers. My question is this:I have a 55 gallon plastic barrel currently set up to an auto waterer bowl. Would that barrel be enough to "pump" the water by gravity over 25 ft. of PVC pipe (this is what it would take to cross all the pens)? The barrel is about 2.5-3 ft. off the ground.

 

[Organics North]

I use nipple waterers on 3" schedule 40 pipe. (Just a short L section gravity feed.)

I would think your set up would work as long as the 55 gallon tank is higher than the nipples.

I absolutely love nipple waterers. Took my birds about 3 min to learn how to use them.

ON

 

[Gonzo]

If you do it.... can you post some pics? Sounds like a good idea!

Quote:

 

[K-Chick]

Be careful, if dirt gets in the 55 gal bucket, the niples can clog easily. What if you put the bucket in the middle and instead of at one end. I love my bucket with PVC pipe, however I keep a warmer under my bucket and I have to have a heating lamp on the pipe because it would freeze in the pipe if I didn't have the heat lamp.

 

[kennedyscochins]

Quote:
I thought about that too, but I plan to cut a hole in the barrel also to put the down spout in it to catch rain water and I can't do it with the barrel in the middle. I guess to make this make sense you would have to understand how my setup is. We have put a large run on the back side of our garage and cut holes through the garage for walkways and then built 6 individual coops inside the garage. So, when the chickens go up at night, they are actually in their coop inside the garage and in the mornings can walk out to the outside run. So, if I put the barrel in the middle, it would be at the point of the garage where I couldn't collect rain water.

You said it would freeze. I'm only planning on using this setup in the warmer months of the year, so I shouldn't have to worry about it then, should I? I also thought that I would push each nipple with my finger each day just to make sure the water's coming out. Do you see any problems with this?

I appreciate the advice and any other advice would help.