Automatic Nipple Waterer and Bulk Feed Bin

[Stanggt88]

I just built an automatic nipple waterer system for my chickens. I have 27 Broilers and 23 Laying Hens as of right now.

I made a stainless steel tank and put a coupler in the bottom of it. A coupler 2/3 of the way up the side of it, and one coupler at the very top of the side(as an overflow). I thread the pvc pipe into the bottom coupler and it runs out to the length of pipe with the nipple waterers in it.

The coupler 2/3 of the way up the tank had a garden hose threaded into the outside of it, then the inside has a franklin brand stock tank float/valve thing. So I can leave the hose on and it will automatically regulate the water level for me.

I will have pictures later today if anyone happens to be interested in seeing it?

(Pretty much a toilet tank mounted to pvc with nipple waterers in it)



AND

I made a small gravity bin for the chicken feed. It is 2 feet x 2 feet and stands approx. 6 feet tall. It holds roughly 9- 50lb bags of feed.

It has a 4 inch x 4 inch slide gate on the bottom, a 18 inch square lid on top to fill it.

I can also show pics of this later tonight.. but it is not completely done yet..

Let me know if anyones interested in seeing anything I have built for my chickens

 

[Amastacia]

pictures would be great. i'm planning on getting my husband to get things like this built for our hens and ideas are always helpful.

 

[Stanggt88]

Here is the waterer i made. It has a holding tank with a float in it to automatically fill as it gets drank.

 

[mpguay]

more please!
can you break it down, show how the float works?

 

[Stanggt88]

This is a view of the tank, and the union and the T. I only have one side of the T being used. The other side of the T has a Threaded Plug in it, so if I want to make the waterer bigger, I just unthread the plug and screw in another 5 foot pvc pipe with the nipples threaded into it already.


This is another view of the T and the threaded plug




This is a picture of the float inside the stainless steel tank. The white hose is a garden hose I just leave turned on all the time to make sure the chickens never run out of water. Other hole at the top most of the tank is a overflow hole. I still need to hook a hose to that one and run it outside the coop. I currently have the float set to only fill the tank to about 2/3 full. Float is adjustable so I can make the water level as high or low as I want.




Another view of the float and valve assembly.


The whole tank is stainless steel and all the welded fittings on the tank are also stainless steel. The nipple waterers are plastic bodied and stainless steel "needle". Rest of the pipes are all PVC. So I should never have a problem with the tank rusting. I also have a threaded plug on the end of the pvc pipe that has the nipples threaded into it(sorry no picture). This allows me to unscrew the plug and flush the whole system out. The chickens drink enough water that the water dosnt have time to become stagnant so I highly doubt I will ever have to flush it as a requirement. But will flush and sanitize it once a month.

Took about 10 minutes to teach one chicken to use it, then the others followed. They enjoy it now, least they sure act like it lol.
I really like it because its less labor doing the chicken chores, and the biggest thing is that the water doesn't get contaminated with chicken poo and bedding.

Opinions/thoughts? Good or Bad.. its constructive criticism.. Thanks!!

Garrett

 

[mpguay]

excellent post, thanks!

 

[Stanggt88]

Thanks! Id be interested in any input from others also...

Anyone else have ideas I can make this a better/easier/more practical idea?

Thanks!
Garrett

 

[aart]

Nice!

Have seen this same basic setup a dozen times, but people usually use a plastic vessel rather than stn stl. Did you build that tank or repurpose it?

You don't give your location and I wonder if you live where it freezes.

Have seen a similar system with an insulated tank, recirculation pump(small mag drive submersible pond pump), return line and submersible heater for locations that get a hard freeze.

Might want to connect a hose to that overflow and run it somewhere you don't mind flooding in case the shutoff ever fails.

 

[lissdoc]

Hi,
Your system looks awesome, but I can't figure out how you put the nipples 'inside' of the pipe?

Also, where did you get the tank system? repurposed toilet?

Thanks!
Melissa

 

[LoneOak]

Melissa, you should read his post more carefully. He says that he built the tank himself out of stainless steel and it is a fine looking tank in my opinion. If you search around in this forum for nipple waters you will see many different styles of waters built with the nipples and many of them explain how to install the nipples into the pipe. You simply drill a hole the proper size and screw the nipples into the pipe. When I build one I tap my pipe with a thread tap to make sure the nipples screw in easily and don't leak but it isn't always necessary. If your confused how it all works you might just want to visit someone like coops-n-more as they sell all the supplies needed except their bucket is plastic not stainless, there are 4 pages of feeders and waters here so make sure you look at them all, they also have the best prices of anyone I've seen.

Very nice looking setup you have there Garrett. I'm working on one using polyethylene pipe that doesn't need any type of clamps to hold the pipe on the fittings. Right now I have it feeding from a 55 gal drum in the hay loft of my barn and the pressure is nearly too high for the nipples, the drum is too high. Just as soon as my float comes in I'm going to put the float in a cat litter bucket and use it as a pressure regulator. The float will keep the small bucket full and then it will feed lower pressure to the nipples. let's see if this picture works.

I have nipples and a cup water in the back that you can barely see. I made the modified coffee can catchers because the pressure is so high that when the chicks peck the nipples it squirts water everywhere and gets the straw real wet. I'm watching to see if they like the nipple or cups best (half and half right now) and I may go entirely with the cups in the future as they don't make any mess at all. Using this type of pipe and fittings it is very easy to modify and do things like raise or lower your waters, just cut different lengths of pipe (it is only $18 per 100ft, can be reused) and use a heat gun to remove the old and replace the new pieces.

The Rhode Island White chicks all hens are gorgeous and very docile, love to be held and spend time with you. I plan on breeding some of them with Rhode Island Red Roosters to get some Gold Sex-Links, keep an eye out for LoneOak Golds in about 6 months