We are in the process of building our coop. My 10 year old daughter will be responsible for feeding and watering the chickens. We were thinking about hanging the food and water to keep them off the floor of the coop and cleaner. However, my daughter wouldn't be strong enough to lift the filled water and food to hang them back up. Does anyone have any creative ideas that would solve this problem?? I appreciate any suggestions....thanks!
I fill my feeder while it's hanging by simply using a scoop, and storing the feed in a trashcan in the coop. The waterer will be problematic for her
I don't like hanging the feed and water because the chickens try to walk/hide under them or bump into them and the feed and water get flung everywhere. I usually set mine up on cinder blocks. I want to set up a homemade auto waterer like this one; then you can just fill it with the hose. I want to hang the bucket on the outside and run PVC tubes with the nipples into the pen. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=369163 My feed bucket I'd probably leave on the cinder block and your DD could scoop feed into it.
Just don't hang it. Take 2 or 3 of the round walk way stones stack them and place your waterer on top of them. It also helps keep the dirt out of it. If you don't have one of those really large 5 gallon waterers and just a 1 or 2 gallon she should be able to handle it. Missi
Thanks for the responses! I really like the idea of the waterer with the nipples on it. I'll have to talk to my husband about it. If not, I think we will just go with putting them up on blocks.
My chickens are a good way from water so I went with a rain barrel setup. The goat shed is in one area of the fenced in "yard" and the rain barrel is set up to get roof drainage from there. I have an underground pipe to the coop and use a Little Giant 2500 Automatic Poultry Bird Waterer. Works really well for my situation. The rain barrel was set up to be able to get "new" water to the goats, without having to carry it a long distance. The rain barrel is 55 gallons and will be hooked up to a second one in a week or so. I am probably going to insulate the exposed piping, since winter can be an issue at times. http://cgi.ebay.com/Little-Giant-25...ultDomain_0&hash=item35a7116b79#ht_2436wt_894
Quote:First of all, and ! Where are you located? I'm asking because you mention insualting the pipes for winter, so I'm wondering how cold it gets where you are.
Regarding 10 yr. old daughter; If you have rooster(s), be aware that MANY children have been blinded by a roo jumping and nailing them with a spur. Just like skunks have good aim, roos are good at spurring eyes. It's in the genes! Please keep this in mind...
Thanks for the warning, Ellend. We purchased silkies because they were supposed to be one of the less agressive and more friendly breeds. Originally, we intended on only keeping the hens. However, we may keep a rooster and "see how it goes." If the rooster is aggressive at all, we will end up finding another home for him.
