Arizona Chickens

[H2OKarensa]

Harry's Pollos 1G :

One of these days I'm actually going to be a contributor to this forum and quit asking all of you experts for new advice and help. This time its the homemade waterer that I'm trying to make. I used the learning center as a starting point:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-waterer.html

So I went down to my local Home Depot (Power/Germann) and got all the parts I needed (side note - Jeff in hardware was the absolute bomb!!! Best customer service I've EVER had at Home Depot!!!) Rather than drilling holes all around the bucket (like the picture shows), I drilled 2 small 1/4 inch holes in the bottom of the bucket, as I was trying to make it more like the litte 8 oz. chick waterer I used when the girls were just little. Once the whole thing was assembled I went for the trial run. It didn't really work like I had anticipated. The water just kept flowing and flowing and flowing and...well you get the point. The water flowed constatly until the water level on the inside of the bucket was lower than the holes that had been drilled in the bucket. So my question to all of you EXPERTS is ***What am I doing wrong?***

I should mention that I would also like to make this waterer a hanging waterer so as to try and keep the water fresh and clean throughout the day. Nevertheless, either hanging in the air or on the ground the water just flows out until the water level is below the drilled holes on the inside. I think the holes may be too high, but they are pretty close to the very bottom. Anyhow, any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

PS - The feeder works great! I got everything at Home Depot for a total cost of around $30 including 10' of chain to hang from the coop roof.

I went through this same problem myself.
So you just have to "think" about it for a second.
Water flows downhill, right? What would stop the water from flowing out? The answer is suction.
This waterer will ONLY work if you can create a low pressure scenario with the remaining air inside the bucket. If there are ANY holes in the bucket ABOVE the waterline this will not work.
I had a waterer that worked on this principle once that had a lid above the waterline. Basically, that lid had to have a gasket that would seal perfectly.
The only waterers like this that work well do not have a lid above the waterline and are filled by turning the whole contraption upside down, taking off the bottom, filling, screwing the bottom back on, and turning the thing right side up again.

I use this type for my chicks now, but prefer to use an automatic watering bucket that I dump and clean daily for my girls.

Sorry about your waterer not working. Drill out the holes bigger and use it for a feeder. That will still work.​

 

[ArizonaNessa]

All my brooders are outside. I recently received an order of chicks and the only thing I have had to do is put an ice bottle in with them one day just to make myself feel better. I am not really sure the chicks actually needed it but it made me feel all warm and fuzzy to bring their temp down a notch or two. I have winter lids and summer lids for my brooders though. Winter lids are solid and summer lids are wood frames with hardware cloth. I only had to put a light on them for the first two NIGHTS. Days no light. I have not lost one and they are 13 days old now. Oh and I might add that I live in NW Phoenix. Hope that helps and good luck with your new chicks!

 

[Tonopah Pati]

I am so sad, I had 3 Roosters, my smallest Mr. Peep was picking on everyone, he caused lots of injuries to Willy his dad, and did his best to hurt Big Red. I had to keep Willy in a hutch alone until he got better. I then gave Big Red to my neighbor, ( He was really handsome) the second day he was dead. we think from the heat. My neighbor didn't have as much shade as I do, and his young hens, about 30 chased him all over the run and he dropped dead. I am so sorry, I raised him from a baby, he was so sweet. I wish I had kept him.
I let Willy out of the hutch to see what Mr. Peep would do, well the little terror went right after him, so I put Mr. Peep in the time out hutch. I was going to give him to the neighbor also, not now, I don't want him to die. Now I don't know what to do with him? Does any one have any ideas? I sure could use some help on this.

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Quote:
Does your neighbor have roosts and a separate cage to put the roo in? Seems he didn't try hard for your roo, so I wouldn't be thrilled about giving him another. Maybe for your two roos, you could have them trade off days in the cage.
Hope you find a good solution.

 

[dede_pira]

Quote:
Patricia, why do you keep Mr. Peep??

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Quote:
Ours are out in the heat. Some breeds handle it better than others. Make sure they have a lot of shade, lots of clean water (in the shade also), and crumbles, not scratch, till it cools off.

 

[Heelers&Chickens_OhMy]

How are everyone's chickens handling the monsoon weather? My coop is GOING TO BE FINISHED THIS WEEK (yes, I am making myself do that) and it is entirely open, however, it's positioned next to a wall. The coop is 3 ft high, the wall is between 5 and 6 ft high. The coop (more of a run) is under trees.

What kind of protection from wind and rain do my girls need?

 

[dede_pira]

We went to visit Superstition Farm today and my kids fell in love with the friendliest chicken we've ever seen!
We decided that we MUST adopt one of these even though we hear they lay sporadic small eggs.
I think she is a black Bantam Cochin. Anybody ventures a guess?

 

[a2ms4chickens]

Heelers&Chickens_OhMy :

How are everyone's chickens handling the monsoon weather? My coop is GOING TO BE FINISHED THIS WEEK (yes, I am making myself do that) and it is entirely open, however, it's positioned next to a wall. The coop is 3 ft high, the wall is between 5 and 6 ft high. The coop (more of a run) is under trees.

What kind of protection from wind and rain do my girls need?

The trees and wall should provide them with some protection. You may want to make them some kind of shelter they can get under if the rain gets really bad. And do you have roosts?

My chickens are doing quite well. We have our chickens in an enclosed stable. The wood walls are about 6 ft high, and then we have chicken wire run from the roof to the top of the walls. We have lots of wild birds, owls, hawks, etc that would love to get in that pen. So far, it has kept the birds out.
We also have another pen started, but need to enclose that because the chickens jump over the 5 ft fence and get out. Once we get that enclosed, we are putting in a door that can latch, so the chickens can go between the stable and the pen as they please.
We also have a doghouse in the new pen so the chickens can go in there if they want protection from sun or rain.

Good luck on getting your coop done and enjoy your chickens!!!​

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Heelers&Chickens_OhMy :

How are everyone's chickens handling the monsoon weather? My coop is GOING TO BE FINISHED THIS WEEK (yes, I am making myself do that) and it is entirely open, however, it's positioned next to a wall. The coop is 3 ft high, the wall is between 5 and 6 ft high. The coop (more of a run) is under trees.

What kind of protection from wind and rain do my girls need?

Love the monsoons. Didn't have enough branches lying around in the yard and the monsoon took care of that.

You need a solid roof for them, and at least 2 walls. My coop's north and east walls are only actually walls halfway up, and the top half is chicken wire. The west and south sides are all chicken wire. Monsoon winds typically come from the south, don't they? We have the door on the south side, so if we close it, they have that protection from the wind. We also have places in the yard for them to take shelter, especially among straw bales. Sometimes trees will provide good shelter during a rain, depending on the tree and amount of rain. We have a huge ficus that is good for that, except nothing stands up to monsoon rains.​