Feed and water bucket critiques/recommendations

[aart]

I got the horizontal nipples today and installed them,they screwed right into the existing holes from the cups.

Great!!
I like to fill it up, dry the outside thoroughly and let it sit for a few hours to check for leaks.

 

[pdirt]

I got the horizontal nipples today and installed them,they screwed right into the existing holes from the cups.

Excellent! I love these things...they make watering so much easier for us. It will take a short while for your birds to get used to them. If you remove all other water sources, eventually thirst will drive them to seek out water. Try flicking the metal piece in front of a chicken or two and make sure they see the water. Once they see the water, they'll eventually figure it out. If that doesn't work, you might also try picking up a bird and pressing her beak against the metal part to release some water and let her drink it.

I've found that if they get a hold of the edge of something they'll worry it. I use feedbags for various things and they'll pick at the edge unless/until I tack it down good.

Good to know, we'll see. I did read of another guy who cut the bottom off a 5 gallon bucket and then split it down the side, top to bottom. Then he wrapped and duct taped this around the Reflectix bucket. I might end up doing this if they peck at it anymore.

 

[aart]

Quote: That gives me an idea to cover insulation on my jug, thanks!

 

[ChcknNurse]

I'm new to chickens and preparing everything. Can I use a feeder like that for fermented feed too?

 

[Dandelioness]

Quote:

I'm new to chickens and preparing everything. Can I use a feeder like that for fermented feed too?

Hi there, Annjee -

I use a bucket feeder like this, and it's important to use dry feed so the feed is free flowing. When I use fermented feed, a trough type of feeder is best to use, and you need to bring the feed out once or twice a day. This type of feeder pictured is for free-choice feeding of dry feed (you put a 35-50# bag of feed in there at a time, so you're filling the feeder less often).

By taking a length of 4" pvc pipe and the corresponding caps, you can make your own trough and hang it with rope or a light duty chain. Cut the pipe lengthwise (you could have two troughs then, or save for another project). Attach the caps to the ends of your cut pipe. Drill holes in the top of the caps (formerly the side of the caps) to thread the rope or chain through, and attach to your ceiling at a height just below beak level for the chickens. It detaches, disassembles and hoses out for easy cleaning.

As far as how long to make the trough, it depends how you will orient it in your coop or tractor. The chickens need 6-8 inches of space each at the trough. If your trough is lined up against a wall and you have 8 chickens, you need a minimum of 48" (6 inches space x 8 chickens) of trough. But if they will be able to access from either side, you will only need a 24" long trough. With this trough system, you need to bring out feed once or twice per day regardless of whether your feed is wet, dry, fermented.

I use the bucket kind pictured on this thread for my meat bird flock in the summertime, and the trough in my layer house (I'm out there checking eggs 2-3x a day anyway, so I may as well bring them a bucket of food or treats, right?).

I was just on here looking up bucket waterer designs for the meatie flock this year and saw your post. I think I will use the OP's water bucket design.