Cup-Waterers - need help understanding - **UPDATE**

[Davaroo]

Well I dunno about 'alarmist' responses*, but those drinkers look pretty danged neat. I'd like some myself.
Do you have a plan for them when winter comes? I hear they get kinda cranky in the cold. Sometimes even break....

* Personally, if Glenda had a concern, I'd politely defer and give it some thought. She's probably forgotten more than we'll ever know, combined. I'm just sayin'...

 

[hiddenmagnolia]

I use those water cups for my birds. They do not stay full of water. When the bird reaches in they only have to slight touch the yellow valve and a small amount of water is released into the bottom that the chicken drinks. I check my valves daily to make sure the are working. Almost two years and no problems.

 

[hippichick]

Quote:
Good to know. I'm in Louisiana also. Have you ever had problems with the hoses freezing, and how long did it take for them to catch on? We're getting ready to install about 25 of them in my breeding pens, and I'm wondering if I should just do a few at a time(since someone here said it took a few days for them to get used to it). I don't want to be stressed worrying about that many of them at once.

Thanks,

Paula

 

[lisahaschickens]

Thank you to Buck Creek Chickens and Hiddenmagnolia -

That makes me feel better. I will just give it some time. I have watched some of them use them over the last two days now and I just can't tell if they're getting enough water from them. I have thought about taking the other waterer away but I'm afraid some might not figure out the new waterers right away and go thirsty, which I don't want.

I have been keeping an eye on the water level in the bucket and it does seem to have gone down a bit. I'm just not positive it's enough yet, but hopefully with time they'll really get the hang of it. It would be SO nice not to have to haul my 5 gallon waterer into the house constantly and clean the poop and food out of it. The little cups will be so easy to clean and they take up far less room.

Davaroo - The reason I called Glenda's response alarmist is because I asked for advice on how they work and I said that I left them their regular water in the meantime. Glenda's response was to YELL at me - "did you think to CALL McMurray's?" I like I was asking a dumb question. Then she said it sounded like a "lemon" even though I didn't say anything was wrong with it. Then she told me to please get water to the birds because they need it, even though I said I left them their regular water so they could drink no matter what. To me, none of that was helpful.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Okay, okay. Touchy are we?
I read her response a little differently and in this medium, one must be careful to jump to the wrong conclusions. I know she is working on good sense and concern for your flocks welfare.
Give her a chance, okay?

But I never did see my question answered. What happens to these drinkers in the winter?

And as I understand it, they are gravity fed from a reservoir, right?
What are your thoughts on keeping that full?

As a backup plan, there is a way to keep poop and food out of the water with the other waterers. Well, several actually.
First keep them apart - water on one side of the coop and feed ont he other.
Second, put the waterer on a wire mesh covered frame of 2 x 4's or suspended, si it's up off the floor.

 

[lisahaschickens]

My feeder and waterer have always been several feet apart on opposite sides of the coop and the waterer is up on the plastic mesh stand. The food comes from their beaks, I have to guess. The poop - I don't know if they stand on the plastic stand and turn around and poop in it or if they perch on the hand of the lid of the waterer and poop falls in the water... I have never seen them do either, but the poop ends up in there immediately every day.

I don't know about freezing in the winter... it won't be a huge problem here as it just doesn't get that cold, but it does get into the low 30s/high 20s sometimes... usually only overnight. We'll cross the bridge when we come to is.

As for keeping the reservoir full, it is a 5 gallon bucket on a stand outside the coop and a rubber hose runs out of the bottom of the bucket and fills the cups. I just pull a hose into the coop and fill the bucket. Since it's covered and the chickens can't get to it, it will stay quite clean and won't have to be hauled around to be filled, unlike the regular 5 gallon fount waterer that I've been using. Same amount of water + less dirty+ less spillage + easier fill up = less work and more, cleaner water for the chickens in less space, hopefully.

 

[TammyS]

Dear Lisa

Thank you for purchasing one of our 2-cup watering systems from MM. I want to let you know that water does not stay in the cups at all times. Most chickens will learn how to use them and go to the water. They can smell it. I have been using these for the past five years and have never had a chicken go with out water. Again if they are thirsty they will go to it.

If you are still unsure, you can fill the cup by hand by pushing on the yellow tab for a few days until you think they have gotten the hand of it.

We hope this helps but if you should have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at 800.257.8744 or by email.

Thank you again
Tammy
Easy-Garden

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Sounds great! I was going to recommend hanging the waterer, but that wont be needed now.

 

[ams3651]

the tripod one looks interesting. Its a real pain some days to carry water out only to find out it was empty and I dont know how long they went without. I would have to replace it with my heated bowl in the winter but thats ok. This would be nice during the summer so they always have water.

 

[lisahaschickens]

Morning update:

Well, I'm not sure what to think today. I closed their pop doors (chicken doors to the run) last night at 11pm, closing them in for the night (they had already been roosting for hours anyway, of course) with just the cup waterers. Their regular 5-gallon fount was out in the run. This morning I let them back out into the run at about 8 am (they'd been awake since about 5:30, but I try not to let my roo wake the neighbors).

I checked the level in the bucket to the cup waterers and it had gone down about 3/4 of an inch from last night, so they are drinking some. However, when I let them out, maybe half of them ran directly to their old waterer or to an empty dish that had filled with rainwater overnight and started drinking like crazy - they drank a ton of water like they had gone without. Some did not drink. I guess those are the ones that are using the cup waterers just fine.

So, some did seem to go thirsty for the first few hours of the morning. That doesn't make me very happy... I don't know if they'll figure it out or not. It's been three full days now....

Tammy - any thoughts?