Best way to water the flock?

[Dead Rabbit]

you need a water softner installed. all that mineral in the water is not good for your clothing, glassware, your hair, or even consuming it. our water is extremely hard here and the only way around it is a softner system.

 

[gale65]

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I looked at that post but I can't figure out where or how the chickens actually get the water. What type of cup does the water go into? We have hard water too and I'd like to find an easy solution, because I can only tote a gallon or so at a time and not neatly either.

 

[gale65]

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speaking for myself-we do have a water softener. But it only softens the water that is in the house. The outside spigots are not hooked up to the softener and the water that will be near the chicken run is from a pump that is nowhere near the house.

 

[Dead Rabbit]

that would be a problem. at one time it was said that plants would die that were watered by softened water. so some would hook their exterior spigots up bypassing the softener.............. but ive found that not to be true. and so have most everyone else that lives in my area. we have some of the hardest water there is. it registers off the chart.

do a little plumbing and connect your spigots back up to where they receive softened water. and for my chicken yard, i ran a couple hundred feet of pex plumbing underground to carry water to that area. it connects to the house, hence the softened water.


plus hard water tastes nasty. but that really doesnt matter to fowl.

 

[gale65]

hm I don't think it's possible for us, or cost effective. We have 10 acres and feed beef cattle and sometimes hogs and the water supply out there also waters the cattle. Like I mentioned, that water supply is nowhere near our house. The water comes from the well pit/pump which is across the property to our house and then in our basement, it goes through the softener and to the house. I don't think there is a practical way to run it through the softener and back out to the cattle/hog area. And the only way to use soft water in the chicken run will be to run it from one of our household outlets (not the kitchen cold since that is also not soft) and carry it out, which ain't gonna happen.

So what I want to find out is how the Colonel is watering his chickens beyond the water tower since he has the same hard water issue I have.

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

I just finally ran out of water in my rain barrel (that is cut down to aboiut 35 gallons) after installing it 4 weeks ago (I think it was 4 weeks ago). I have hard water and so far, our plumbing and fixtures haven't gotten too corroded or screwed up by it- I have a 2 times a year faucet maintenance schedule to prevent that stalagtite build-up on the faucets...
I let the water in my tank run out because i was anticipating the need to unscrew the little giant water valves and flush out the screens (because I ddin't do a flush through the system when I first installed it). I noticed the brass was a little green-but I don't know if the green is from the duck's gross drinking habbits or the hard water. I scrubbed the valve clean, took it apart and put a dot of oil on it before putting it all back together. I plan to clean my valves once a month this way (I'm big into maintenance) just to keep tabs on the system. So far my waterers are amazing and they just do such a great job with a gravity feed system. The only draw back is that I have to rinse out the bowls ever other day to get rid of food and sand buildup from the ducks-they are sooooo messy) But I no longer have to lug water around, waste water or worry about them running out.

 

[Joycats]

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This is what I'm planning to do, rain barrels with drinking cups at the bottom. Do you have a pic of yours? Or can you tell me which kind of cups you bought that are working well with the gravity feed in the rain barrel? I have ducks too, they are the messiest creatures ever. Thanks!

Ok, sorry I posted before looking at your BYC page. I see how you've got your duck yard. Looks great. I covered my duck yard in sand once the green was gone (which was only about 3 days here too). What I'm wanting to do is put the drinker cups right on the bottom of the rain barrels themselves. Has anyone here tried that already?

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

A few have used the drinking cup system with chickens, I don't know what type of drinking cup you are going to do though...I really do reccomend the little giant waterers because they allow the full submerging of the bill and nostrils of my ducks. If your drinking cop does this then great, Go for It! But if not, don't use them. My setup has been really nice, i just rake out debris in the morning before the ducks go outside and then stir the bedding in their coop after they are out and I'm pretty much done...except every other day I rinse out the water bowls and empty/refill their pool.

A note on the pool I use-specific to anybody who is wanting to run a gravity system from a 55 gallon rain barrel set up like mine:
I cut my rain barrel because it was very tall for my yard...I used the top of the barrel (with the top lid attached) as my pool. I can drain it with little effort now by putting a small aquarium siphon in the pool and letting it drain into the garden 2 feet away. But I will be making it easier... I will be raising the pool on some bricks and putting a pvc elbow and a shut off valve under the pool coming out of the pre-screwed (1.5 inch hole) spout on the lid of the rainbarrel...then attaching a hose to the pvc pipe and then I don't even have to use an aquarium siphon, just turn a valve and start watering... it took a while to get the ducks and their yard right, but I'm definately glad I have gotten to this point.

 

[gale65]

I think the cups do allow beak dunking. When they push the yellow thing the water fills the cup and then they can drink. But the cups are tiny so they probably empty quickly.

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

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Those do not sound ideal for ducks... I think if you are going to purchase something, it should allow the ducks to have water immediately and consistently. Just try the little giant waterer, I know you will like it...I don't fill mine up all the way-so I never worry about dripping or water waste.