Automatic watering suggestions

[rjfoster03]

I use the Little Giant with a rain barrel system and it feeds the waterer by gravity. Since it's gravity feed,the pressure generated from the height of the rain barrel to the actual waterer, the pressure will be low. With my system it is slow to fill up, but once it is at the level I adjusted it to, it is fine. the 10 chickens that I have will never drink it to dry before it re-fills. I have never really timed it to see how much time it takes to fill to the set level, but I am guessing 3-8 minutes. If you want me to time it to let you know, just let me know

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When I first set the waterer up, it took a couple of times to get the water level set to where I wanted it to be. Being male, I did not read the directions on how to actually adjust the valve.

Connect water to the Little giant and turn the water on.
Take the bowl off the bottom to expose the valve.
Push on the bottom of the valve, you should have some water drip from the valve (drip = finger gets wet).

Since I did not read the directions on how to adjust the valve to get the water flow and it has been a little while since I hooked it up, I think that I went with loosening the nuts on the valve first. I reconnected the bowl and let it start to fill. I do remember thinking that this is slow..... is this thing going to work?

I left and came back. Looked at where the water level was and did not like that. turned the adjuster nut one full turn and re-connected the bowl. Left again.... Did this a couple of times to get where I wanted the level to be.

Once you do get it set, make sure you tighten the bottom nut to lock the adjuster in place.

It has been a little while since I had to adjust the level, but I think that tightening the adjuster nut gives more "flow" to the bowl. If loosening the nut gives more flow, then the bowl should overfill on the first try.

Hope this help. If I can answer, or at least try to answer, anything else, let me know.

Rick

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
It runs based upon weight. Enough weight and the valve shuts off water, not enough and it opens.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Most of the time when I have had problems with it being very slow to fill or not filling, there was blockage in the system--gunk in the water that plugged up the water path; usually plugged at the washer, but sometimes into the stem.

 

[rocketdoctor]

Quote:
It should fill up just fine, there is something plugging it. Get a tire Valve tool at auto or hardware store and remove the valve see if any water comes out then. Im suprised the company was little help they were very nice and helpful to me.

I had a differenet issue when i first bought mine where the water wouldn't stop coming out, I took off the bowl and noticed water was still coming out, at first I thought it was a bad valve and the company sent me a couple replacements for free. It turns out that the valve was not installed all the way so another good reason to have that valve tool with this waterer

 

[Mrs. Feathers]

Quote:
This is the frustration I run into with watering....the gunk that they transfer from the mash on their beaks. We have been considering the Little Giant but were concerned about the "gunk" issue. Do those who use it have tips for solving this?
DH has a float (like the toilet bowl principle) that we are going to try in a trough type set up. For now we have the dome waterers but don`t seem to be able to get away from the dripping (esp. with the rowdies in the brooder who are always banging into theirs despite the height). Our big guys are better.

 

[Kenshan1]

I just bought this little giant fountain. I thought it would be easy enough to install but I don't understand the directions so I will have to leave it to my husband to install it. I bought a hose for it only to find out the nut is so small & doesn't fit a standard hose. I'm also assuming it just hangs off the hose?

Shannon

 

[jeb251]

gvntofly05, have you considered freezing in the winter? Let me make a suggestion,,,,,, nipple are great, you can put them in pvc pipe and heat tape the pipe and you are good for the winter, I am currently upgrading my system to be fed off a rain water capture system with a 55 gallon storage tank and two nipples in each cage just in case one plugs up, I am putting an aquarium heater activated by a thermo cube and it is feeding 8 coops with 16 nipples and about 50' of 1" pipe. you can get the nipple from several different sorces, but use the screw in type the work great and no leaks, here is a link with some pics of how it is being set up

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=375826

 

[jeb251]

oh and by the way, I was looking at your page and saw you will be looking for bcms in the spring, I have them and they are about to start laying, they are from greenfire farms and probably the best around, get in touch with me when you are ready ad we will see about getting you set up, I also have pure white and black ameracaunas and lavender orpingtons if you are interested, and I will be starting an olive egger project next spring, should be loads of fun. All the birds I mentioned are of excellent quality, but I also have layer quality birds as well

 

[RedfogsFlock]

We took a 5 gallon bucket and drilled holes all around the bucket that were 4 inches wide, and 2 inches apart and about 4 inches from the bottom. Then we bought a float at the farm store & installed it. Hooked it up to a water hose, and whalla!! We hung it right up on the fence by the handle!