Has anyone DIY a water "fountain" (with running/dripping water)?

[als77]

Whenever I decide to top-up the water in my brooder (instead of taking it out and cleaning which I do 2-3 times pr day) I have 1-2 (sometimes 3-4) out of my 11 quail that just has to try and catch the drops from the small flask I use (when that happens I let the flask drip droplets so that they can drink, instead of rushing and filling the water bowl).

It seems that these (might be the same 4) really love "running" water. I haven't tried the water nipples (maybe they will love them just as much), but it made me wonder whether someone here has an easy DIY design to make a small "fountain" with constant (small amounts of) dripping water that they could enjoy as their water source - without ending up with a lot of wasted water in a (would become) wet coop, and at the same time being able to reuse the water without it becomming dirty from droppings etc.

It would involve a small pump for the unused water + some covering/uneven surface to catch the unused water without the birds getting it dirty.

 

[NatJ]

It sounds like a cool idea!

I've seen things for dogs & cats that have a fountain or otherwise move the water. I don't know if they would work for quail: the bowl might be too big, or the pump may break down once the water gets dirty.

I've read of people doing some ingenous waterfalls, streams, or other moving features for pets like frogs or lizards, so clearly it's possible to get a small pump that moves the water. If I google for "terrarium waterfall" or "vivarium waterfall," I can get lots of pictures and some descriptions--it appears they are using water pumps designed for aquarium use.

For keeping it clean, you might have it fall through some kind of mesh (hardware cloth or window screen, or maybe plastic needlepoint canvas because the plastic won't rust), and maybe then through a finer filter like fabric or foam (some kinds of foam are sold for aquarium filters--they should be safe to use with an animal's water supply). Then the pump could suck up clean water to pour through again, and you'd just have to clean the filter frequently.

Making the birds walk across some kind of mesh to get to the fountan might keep it cleaner, by making it harder for them to scratch or track bedding into the water.

(I have no personal experience with such a project, but obviously I've spent some time looking at cool stuff on the internet...)

 

[SarahGfa]

I have a little hydroponic garden... Basically a cheap $20 water pump pumps water into one end of the pipe, and it flows around and falls back into a lidded 5 gallon bucket with a small hole. My chickens love drinking water where the water falls back into the bucket

 

[als77]

It sounds like a cool idea!

I've seen things for dogs & cats that have a fountain or otherwise move the water. I don't know if they would work for quail: the bowl might be too big, or the pump may break down once the water gets dirty.

I've read of people doing some ingenous waterfalls, streams, or other moving features for pets like frogs or lizards, so clearly it's possible to get a small pump that moves the water. If I google for "terrarium waterfall" or "vivarium waterfall," I can get lots of pictures and some descriptions--it appears they are using water pumps designed for aquarium use.

For keeping it clean, you might have it fall through some kind of mesh (hardware cloth or window screen, or maybe plastic needlepoint canvas because the plastic won't rust), and maybe then through a finer filter like fabric or foam (some kinds of foam are sold for aquarium filters--they should be safe to use with an animal's water supply). Then the pump could suck up clean water to pour through again, and you'd just have to clean the filter frequently.

Making the birds walk across some kind of mesh to get to the fountan might keep it cleaner, by making it harder for them to scratch or track bedding into the water.

(I have no personal experience with such a project, but obviously I've spent some time looking at cool stuff on the internet...)

Yes, bedding and poop will be the issues (I have a couple of my quail that has dug down the couple of inches of bedding in the brooder - teamwork it's called, another quail is kicking out food from the feeder to motivate them )

The issue with bedding could be avoided (or at least minimized) by raising the fountain up a level (well, not too high since it's quail, but they should be motivated to jump or use stairs).

Poopwise a filter might work. Would have to use a filter that can counter bacteria. Although I'm wondering whether I could give it such a shape that I don't need a filter; if the water falls unto (and into) something where the birds can't reach/stand (and poo), while at the same time they easily can reach the water itself, then this could become a low-maintenance and safe fun water-bowl

 

[als77]

I have a little hydroponic garden... Basically a cheap $20 water pump pumps water into one end of the pipe, and it flows around and falls back into a lidded 5 gallon bucket with a small hole. My chickens love drinking water where the water falls back into the bucket

Will the chicken stand on the bucket and poo on it? Since it's for hydroponic it might not be an issue with some extra (diluted) nutrients to fall in the water - being filtered by the time it comes back to the bucket next time for the chickens to drink.

 

[SarahGfa]

Will the chicken stand on the bucket and poo on it? Since it's for hydroponic it might not be an issue with some extra (diluted) nutrients to fall in the water - being filtered by the time it comes back to the bucket next time for the chickens to drink.

The bucket has a lid, with a 1/2" hole for the water to fall through. Adult chickens are tall enough to drink directly from the stream... you would need something tiny for a quail.

This is the exact one i built, except at the endpoint i let the water flow directly into the bucket instead of using a tube https://www.instructables.com/Small-NFT-Hydroponics-System/

 

[Iveta]

Whenever I decide to top-up the water in my brooder (instead of taking it out and cleaning which I do 2-3 times pr day) I have 1-2 (sometimes 3-4) out of my 11 quail that just has to try and catch the drops from the small flask I use (when that happens I let the flask drip droplets so that they can drink, instead of rushing and filling the water bowl).

It seems that these (might be the same 4) really love "running" water. I haven't tried the water nipples (maybe they will love them just as much), but it made me wonder whether someone here has an easy DIY design to make a small "fountain" with constant (small amounts of) dripping water that they could enjoy as their water source - without ending up with a lot of wasted water in a (would become) wet coop, and at the same time being able to reuse the water without it becomming dirty from droppings etc.

It would involve a small pump for the unused water + some covering/uneven surface to catch the unused water without the birds getting it dirty.

Yes I have! an actual 5 foot pond with 2 fountains and a spitter statue- for the fish tho; but the type of pump and filters I have is good for cleaning up after ducks too-as they don't sit in the water all day-their waste is comparable to that of koi fish -which eat and poop a lot too! you can see part of the pond with different fountain heads and spitters I wired by myself ( I dug the pond by myself too) on my media. I think that this pond is too big for a duck however; so far mine just wants her head in, and splashes everything around with water. I have smaller pools(large bins) around the backyard where she can dive in, but have to trick her with fish to get her fully inside. Domesticated ducks are not those swimmers we were thought to believe...tho they like to have the option they would just like to make themselves wet and fool around in the water then really swim.

 

[Iveta]

Whenever I decide to top-up the water in my brooder (instead of taking it out and cleaning which I do 2-3 times pr day) I have 1-2 (sometimes 3-4) out of my 11 quail that just has to try and catch the drops from the small flask I use (when that happens I let the flask drip droplets so that they can drink, instead of rushing and filling the water bowl).

It seems that these (might be the same 4) really love "running" water. I haven't tried the water nipples (maybe they will love them just as much), but it made me wonder whether someone here has an easy DIY design to make a small "fountain" with constant (small amounts of) dripping water that they could enjoy as their water source - without ending up with a lot of wasted water in a (would become) wet coop, and at the same time being able to reuse the water without it becomming dirty from droppings etc.

It would involve a small pump for the unused water + some covering/uneven surface to catch the unused water without the birds getting it dirty.

If you want to have water fountain in your coop..that is pretty limiting- but there is a small fountain pump for ponds in wall mart you can use; only you can put the water to it underground- like get a lid cover for aquarium, put stones on it, let the later stay below and only the running water head stay up so the 4 which like the running water can have access to it and keep it clean;
also you can get a small spiller waterfall-just raise the level a bit to fit that pump, have an inclined walkway- this way the duckies can actually dip themselves on top of the spiller