Hanging feed and waterers?

[Emak2323]

I’ve got a large run I’ve built, but am stuck on how to hang the feed and waterers (5 gallon buckets). The feed comes out of the bottom of the bucket (so it needs to be hung relatively high) and the water has nipples at the bottom. Someone just gave me this concrete post I was thinking of using somehow, but there’s probably an easier way. Also including a picture of the run. Any ideas?

 

[K0k0shka]

You can just hang the feeders from the rafters. That's how I have my hanging feeder, but in the coop instead of the run. I drilled a long screw in one of the rafters, sticking out about an inch or two, and hung the feeder on it from a thick piece of wire. Somewhere on here I read a smart tip to grease the wire so that rodents can't climb down to get at the feed. At the rafter end of the wire, I attached it to a piece of chain, and hooked one of the chain's loops through the screw in the rafter. That way I can adjust the height of the feeder easily as my chickens grow (or as the bedding accumulates and gets higher). On the feeder end, the wire ends in a carabiner clip, so I can remove the feeder easily for cleaning.

I would not hang the waterers though. Water is heavy, and it would be an unnecessary strain on your rafters (or whatever you hang it from). Put the waterer up on a couple of bricks or a cinder block instead.

 

[IamRainey]

Mine are hung -- a 5-gal. waterer with vertical nipples from the rafter on a chain and an equally large feeder from the bottom of the coop into the run below, also on a chain. I also have a 7-gal gravity feed waterer with a moat on a cinderblock platform on the floor of the run.

No probs in 3 years. Of course my coop and run were built to last from sturdy materials. I'd say the original poster's seems to be as well. I wouldn't be worried about the integrity of the rafter/s with a heavy gauge hook/s and chain/s properly installed.

The advantage of hanging them is that the water stays cleaner. I wash out the waterer with the moat every week because the chickens manage to fill the moat with mud. The hanging one has to get refilled but it can easily go a month between cleanings.

 

[K0k0shka]

The advantage of hanging them is that the water stays cleaner.

It depends on the type of waterer. An open waterer would definitely stay cleaner if hung, but the OP says they have a nipple waterer, which would stay clean regardless of whether it's hung or not.

 

[Unswydd]

My waterer and feeder are both hung. No muss no fuss!

 

[Emak2323]

You can just hang the feeders from the rafters. That's how I have my hanging feeder, but in the coop instead of the run. I drilled a long screw in one of the rafters, sticking out about an inch or two, and hung the feeder on it from a thick piece of wire. Somewhere on here I read a smart tip to grease the wire so that rodents can't climb down to get at the feed. At the rafter end of the wire, I attached it to a piece of chain, and hooked one of the chain's loops through the screw in the rafter. That way I can adjust the height of the feeder easily as my chickens grow (or as the bedding accumulates and gets higher). On the feeder end, the wire ends in a carabiner clip, so I can remove the feeder easily for cleaning.

I would not hang the waterers though. Water is heavy, and it would be an unnecessary strain on your rafters (or whatever you hang it from). Put the waterer up on a couple of bricks or a cinder block instead.

thank you!! I don't know why this little thing had me stuck when I built this whole damn thing! haha

 

[Emak2323]

My waterer and feeder are both hung. No muss no fuss!

thank you!

 

[Emak2323]

Mine are hung -- a 5-gal. waterer with vertical nipples from the rafter on a chain and an equally large feeder from the bottom of the coop into the run below, also on a chain. I also have a 7-gal gravity feed waterer with a moat on a cinderblock platform on the floor of the run.

No probs in 3 years. Of course my coop and run were built to last from sturdy materials. I'd say the original poster's seems to be as well. I wouldn't be worried about the integrity of the rafter/s with a heavy gauge hook/s and chain/s properly installed.

The advantage of hanging them is that the water stays cleaner. I wash out the waterer with the moat every week because the chickens manage to fill the moat with mud. The hanging one has to get refilled but it can easily go a month between cleanings.

thanks so much! I hope so - the rafters are 2x6x12 PT. I will hang it closer to the end to reduce pressure on the middle of the rafter

 

[aart]

the water has nipples at the bottom.

On the bottom or near the bottom?
Post pics.

 

[IamRainey]

...a nipple waterer, which would stay clean regardless of whether it's hung or not.

This is true.