Auto quail waterer problems

[cdal1]

Hi, I'm new here but have been reading through the forum for some time now. I am currently raising rabbits and quail for meat.

What I'm trying to do is use what I already have and that's the small canister style screw on jar that tsc sells, the one with the red base. What I did is attach a hose to a 5 gal pale and teed the hose to each bin in my quail cage, then the hose just drops into the cage and then I drilled a hole into the top of the tsc waterer and pushed the hose into it. What happens is when I fill the 5 gal pale up, the water flows to the first waterer and just keeps filling it up until it overflows and just drains the bucket. By the way the hose size is 5/16".

If anyone has any ideas to make this work or an alternative solution that would be great. Thanks

 

[Sycamore27]

Hi, I'm new here but have been reading through the forum for some time now. I am currently raising rabbits and quail for meat.

What I'm trying to do is use what I already have and that's the small canister style screw on jar that tsc sells, the one with the red base. What I did is attach a hose to a 5 gal pale and teed the hose to each bin in my quail cage, then the hose just drops into the cage and then I drilled a hole into the top of the tsc waterer and pushed the hose into it. What happens is when I fill the 5 gal pale up, the water flows to the first waterer and just keeps filling it up until it overflows and just drains the bucket. By the way the hose size is 5/16".

If anyone has any ideas to make this work or an alternative solution that would be great. Thanks

Basically what you have happening is you're taking a waterer that works on a vacuum and pressurizing it. The only thing that holds the water inside the jar waterers is the vacuum inside the jar. When you plumb in a line from an elevated bucket that creates pressure flowing through the line and, as you've seen, just pressurizes the water right out of the waterer. You may be better off switching to water cups like these attached to your bucket or filling the holes in the existing waterers with silicone to seal them off again.
I can't personally think of a way to get a vacuum and pressure system to work as you have it set up but maybe someone else has an idea you could try.

Good luck!
Jessie

 

[cdal1]

I'm glad you brought up the cup waterer because that is what I was going to buy before I tried to use what I had. The only thing I was worried about is the quail not figuring out how to use it. Anyone having that problem, and how many would I need. I have 70 quail divided equally into 3 cages. Thanks

 

[veggiecanner]

I have chicken waters and they play with them till they run the water low. So on hot days I give them a crock of water to play in.

 

[Sycamore27]

I have chicken waters and they play with them till they run the water low. So on hot days I give them a crock of water to play in.

Are they the nipple or cup type? Some day I might switch to auto waterers so I like to hear everyone's experience with different ones.


As far as figuring out how it works, I wouldn't worry about that at all, cdal1.
Anything new in their surroundings quail will eventually peck, scratch, or generally mess with however they can. I used a rabbit water bottle for mine for a while, I ended up switching to a parrot waterer because they would play with it and soak their bedding while not drinking very much of it, and that works well for me now but is only good for very small scale situations like mine. Just make sure they're at comfortable head height and they'll end up using them once they get used to the alien thing in their cage.
I'm not sure on the number per cage, but I would probably put at least four along one side of the cage with that many so there isn't too much competition for water. Again, someone else can doubtless give a better answer on that one.

Oh and

and the quail forums!

Cheers,
Jessie

 

[dc3085]

My coturnix took a long time to learn to use the cups. They just don't peck at it with the force that a chicken does. They will learn but you will be involved in teaching them at first (takes a whole week sometimes). Also do not remove the other waterers until they do learn, I made the mistake of thinking one of my cages knew how to use it but on a hot day i lost one to nerve damage from not having water. The nipple waterers drip no matter what you do but it isn't really bad or constant. Its only a problem if you are keeping birds on the ground or in cages with trays. The cups also tend to get nasty debris in the bottom that has to be cleaned about once a week. I bought the cups from gqf for 22.95 for 5. I didn't buy the brackets i just zip tied the cup to the cages. The hose, bucket and brass fittings since i couldnt find nylon in the right size added up to about $40. btw if you don't buy the bracket you will need to use a hose clamp on the fitting going to the cup. If your cage is elevated with wire and no tray use the nipple waterers they are much easier.

edit: If it gets hot where you are i would put at least 4 cups in each cage. The cups will never be full of water. They don't work on a float, the quail are actually pecking a valve that only opens when it is pecked and closes immediately under spring pressure. The quail just get as much as they want and stop, so you have to make sure they all know how to use and have access to it.

 

[cdal1]

Thanks for the replies, but now I'm torn between the cup vs the nipples now. I have coturnix and my cage is elevated in wire. Anymore opinions on this?

 

[dc3085]

Something I didnt' mention is covering the tank. Whether you use a bucket or something else you can't leave the auto waterers tank in the sun. I came home one day and the birds that have the autowaters were raising hell and when i touched the water it was too hot for my skin let alone for them to drink. That was only a 90 degree day.

 

[cdal1]

Ok thanks, but I built a barn to hold my animals so its got a roof over it. And I have a lid on the bucket to keep bugs and other things out.

 

[cdal1]

I found this while searching the web. It looks like it would be perfect, has anyone tried this or something similar to it?

http://www.eggschanger.com/18/