Has anyone used a rain water gathering system to

[patandchickens]

The water hydrant in my chicken building has been busted since, well, a long time

so during parts of the year when precipitation is liquid and we get precipitation or a heavy dew most days, I use roof water for the chickens. Nothing high-tech, I just set a couple buckets under the too-short downspout from the only one of my run roofs that has a gutter. Inelegant, but it does the job.

The sediment settles out and I don't "serve" it.

In principle it is probably safer not to do this, as you are getting wild bird "germs" along with the water. OTOH the risk is not large IMO, and certainly for people whose flocks are free-ranging (or have an open-topped run) ANYhow, it ain't really any much more exposure than you had already.

I do not store roof water more than a day, however. (For the garden, yes; for animals, no -- too easy to ranch up problem bacteria)

Also I don't use the first water off the roof if it's been more than a coupla days since the last rain, as I want the roof to be 'washed' before I start collecting water from it.

JME,

Pat

 

[kuntrygirl]

Can everyone post pics of their set up? This is the next project that we will tackle on our little farm.

 

[oberhaslikid]

I have gutter ran across 2 of my chicken houses into 55 gallon drums .I took the bung plug out of the top and centered so the water drains into the hole.
I covered the hole with gutter screen to keep nasties out of the drum.I drilled a hole at the bottom of the drum and attached a spigot.
I free range my chickens so every morning I fill a 5 gallon tub set up under the spigot.
On the other set up I ran a cut off piece of water hose to fill a bucket to fill their water pans.
On my goat barn I ran gutter across the one side to fill a 500 gallon tank my boys salvaged from the dump.I put a spigot in the drain hole at the bottom and hooked a hose to it.
I water in the Spring and Fall from it.The other side runs into the goat side and fills a drum and then over flows into a half barrel tub for the goats.In the dry season I run a water hose and just fill the barrels once a week.

 

[LynneP]

The problem with rain water is wild bird droppings, of course, and occasional water molds/bacteria/viruses that can thrive in barrels. Now, some people with free-rangers use it, but I have birds in covered runs, and I don't. Another option, if you have electricity, is in install a pump and a UV filter to clean the water. It all depends on your location; people in drought-prone areas certainly use systems like that.

 

[Dogfish]

Water goes into the gutter and into the bucket. The pipe below the inlet to the bucket is the overflow. I fasten that to the coop after taking the picture as I had just completed the set up.

In the bucket is a filter (old sock), and the outflow to the interior waterer is about 2" above the bottom of the bucket.

Interior waterer

 

[WestKnollAmy]

How do you keep the water cool in the summer?
We have a hard time with the water getting hot in the summer here. When summer temps are 90 degrees the water has to be changed in 27 water containers for our birds.

We want to expand our operation but I have a hard time getting everyone taken care of now.
There is not a lot of shade on our farm and even so, we have a lot of tractors we move around and they aren't always near shade. We would love to have containers on every tractor that collects water and dispenses to chickens inside. Obviously even white 5 gallon buckets are going to get very hot sitting out in 90 degrees.

I am not worried about rain water either. The crazy birds play and drink from mud puddles when clear fresh water is right beside them!

 

[gmendoza]

Quote:
I like your set-up. It gives me confidence to have my set-up with a 55gal barrel.

 

[In His Service]

Great pics, great info, thanks to all. I am inspired. Lining up projects for me and the kiddos for school breaks - this will be on the top of the list.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Great pics! I love it. You did an excellent job. Thanks for sharing.

 

[farmer_lew]

Quote:
Those are the pics I saw! I really like this set up. Great job!