Auto Waterer Set up

[kentuckyroo]

I have done this set up for the past 2 years. it works great. and there is no problem with slime building up inside the barrel. i suppose the blue barrel will not let enough sunlight in so it can grow. what i do is build a platform about 4 feet high and place my barrels on top of that. laying it down of course. then have a valve coming out of the bung on the barrel. i then connect pvc 1/2" pipe to that. this runs down to the water pan. i go to Rural King farm supply and pick up a float type valve that connects to the side of the water pan. the gravity flow is good enough to fill the pan. in fact it will compleatly empty the barrel. the barrel will stay cool in the summer as i have it in the shade. i have 20 or more chickens at any given time and they only use a barrel a month if that much. there is two problems with the set up that i see. first the water pan needs to be cleaned about every week or so and it needs a piece of 2x4 wire around it so the chickens will have to stick there heads through to get a drink. if you don't do this they will set on the edge and make a mess. also it has to be drained in the winter because the pipes will burst. hope this helps

 

[MissPrissy]

Can you all show photos?

 

[kentuckyroo]

I'm sorry Missprissy i have the camera but don't know how to put pictures on here. even if i did we have about 8 inches of snow on the ground and i have a hard enough time getting to the barn let alone trying to get photos.
if i can answer any questions i would be happy to.

 

[jray]

I figure that 4' will do it with some type of "breather" in the top bung as well. How much water does 20 chickens drink in a day during the hot summer?

 

[smoothmule]

I just found this forum by looking for some of the same ideas so I haven't even set up an avatar yet.

I have a 12 by 12 coop in my barn. It's open to the front of the barn. I just have 9 hens and 2 roosters, one of whom will be going to a friends coop soon. They are mostly mixed breed and nice layers. They are turned out in the day and closed up at night. We also have guineas that are all just loose but pets. I had been wanting to have some sort of watering system, just for convenience.

My idea is to utilize and old hot water tank. They are insulated and have a drain at the bottom. I figure to clean it out and the top can be taken off and a seal put on it so when the top is put back on, it's got a decent seal. I figure it will keep the water cool in the summer since it will be in a corner of the coop, inside and no direct sun. It will be set on 4 or 5 bricks to elevate the spigot on the bottom slightly.

I plan to cut a hole in the top to allow for a cord to go up through for a tank heater that will be plugged in for wintertime to keep the water from freezing. I have stock tank heaters that are thermostatically controlled but I'm looking into some other methods.

What I'd like to find now, is a cup type thing to attach to the spigot at the bottom that has a regulator in it. Something small enough for them just to get a good drink and I'll never have more than a dozen hens at one time so they can just drink one at a time. I have never tried one of those low flow little spigot things that they are using in the larger water systems yet but that might work as well once they learn to drink from it. My chickens have plenty of water from 2 clean ponds right there when they're turned out in the day but there are days they are not turned, like when there are chicks for a while.

I remember the small cup type water systems and they were just a few dollars for one cup but now I can't find any. Suggestions and advice is welcome.
Thanks
Cat

 

[hiddenmagnolia]

Our feed store did carry a small red watering cup.It tooks several different parts to make the waterer work. We used a five gallon container for the water. We put a float valve in the container so that they would never run out. We cleaned out the system twice a month. We attached 1/2 " pvc pipe to bucket. Ran water line to pens. Drilled proper size hole to attach a saddle valve to pvc pipe. Then the drink cup is attached or screwed into the saddle valve. Sound complected but it is to fix up. Check with your local feed store they should have all of the parts. If all twenty chicks are in one pen I would use one waterer for every 5 hens.