ARGH!!!!!! Overflowing waterers

[randombrad]

81KQumO8L._SX522_grande

• randombrad
• Mar 13, 2018

This waterer works great. Auto refills with garden hose http://farmerbrad.com/bucketauto

 

[Peppercorngal]

I'm just a simple gal and like to keep things simple for me and my flock. I have 2 big pans of water that I fill every couple of days. If they freeze I break the ice, I have to go out check the girls and the feed every morning anyway. My husband loves automatic, but I just go with the simple. The chickens also love to stand in the water in the summertime, they can't do with a nipple! My cousin had an automatic bowl waterer, but it used to leak and overflow. I don't want to waste water so I just use big bowls! It's the KISS method!

 

[Trux]

A bit of an update just in case anyone is having as much trouble as me trying to keep the water from freezing or overflowing.
I tried putting my top-fill waterer inside a Fortex pan to prevent overflow, but it didn't work. The pan filled right up and overflowed anyway. Talk about frustrating! This is a non-vacuum waterer that appeared to work just fine for a few months, but apparently they fail after a while. I really like the top-fill capability, but I guess it was just not meant to be.
It got very cold here very fast, and my chickens never did figure out how to use the nipples on the bucket waterer I pictured earlier. I think it has a lot to do with them being used to having their waterer outside, but I can't put it out there in the winter even with an aquarium heater because the nipples will freeze up in minutes. I'll go back to trying it again in the spring because it's so easy, and it hangs, freeing up valuable floor space.
Meanwhile, I went out and purchased a base heater and a double sided galvanized metal waterer that seems to be working just fine so far.




I put it inside the coop yesterday and despite it being in the teens overnight, the water is still liquid. So far, so good! If it starts to overflow I am Going. To. Lose. It.
The waterer and heater setup were $80. The next person who tells me that I am lucky to have free eggs is going to get a poke in the eye. *poink*

I have both the top fill and the double sided like you have pictured...the double sided one shouldn't ever overflow, at least in all the years on the farm and where I am now, never had one do it. The top fill one I have does need maintenance however. The O ring is usually the culprit so I keep a few on hand. They need to be cleaned and oiled up periodically and they will work fine

 

[archeryrob]

My daughter has one of the Harris Farms waterer's and its been terrible this winter. I popped it open and the float was full of water. The center ring was really tight but the outer ring would leak water when I shook it. A float won't float when full of water! It might be possible freezing water popped it open. If it is, they need to find a way to seal to weld the two parts together to make a float that works.

I am going to RTV glue the inner and outer rings, let it cure for a day and put it back and try again.

 

[blackdog043]

@archeryrob Is it a heated automatic waterer?

 

[Timothy Menezes]

Anybody try these watering cups? Seems like it might work better idea than the nipples, I bought a pair of them but haven't installed them on a bucket yet.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/harris-farms-poultry-watering-cup?cm_vc=IOPDP1

 

[Farmgirl1878]

I use the metal waterer with the heated bases and have not had any problems (except girls wanting to sit on top of the waterer and talk to me...). I haven’t had any overflows, problems with the vacuum, or frozen water. Just make sure the whole set up is level. My coop and run are sand-filled, so the heated base sits on paving bricks sunk into the sand. Easy peasey.

During the summer, I use a nipple drinker set up similar to the one above, with a five gallon lidded bucket and pvc piping. No problems there either!

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Has anyone tried this waterer? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KRLX1MJ/?tag=backy-20

 

[archeryrob]

@archeryrob Is it a heated automatic waterer?

Unheated, our coop is on the far side of the yard, 70 yards or so. This one below, but daughter bought from TSC. She should have read the reviews as it got 70 1 star reviews and the water logged float was the problem. I have hers glued and could be put back together today.

We are using the black rubber bowl right now. I dump 2 gallons of hat water in it in the morning and dump it at night. At least until this is fixed and freezing stops at night.

 

[archeryrob]

I ran a bead of goop around the snap sections on the float and then snapped it back together. Then ran a bead around the outside and let it harden. Then filled in all the spots i sank in. Tested it this morning and it filled fine and watched the flow in the tray. I heard the float push up and cut the water off and saw the flow stream stop. It works, its just a bad float design.

Here you can see where I ran the goop beads to seal it up.