Homemade waterer--HELP!

[jrudolph305]

Getting some chickens soon and wanted to build my own waterer. I took a 5 gal bucket with lid, filled with water, drilled a small hole about 2 inches from top and filled. When I turned the bucket over and placed in a lipped dish a small stream came out of the hole for a few seconds then stopped. Do I need a bigger hole, a 2nd hole? Any suggestions?

 

[Joe Prepper]

One 1/2 inch drill bit should work fine but you can do another one on the opposite side. Don't put a hole in it anywhere the water level will not cover as it needs to be air tight to work. Make sure the hole is lower than the lip on the dish. With your post I am assuming your dish has a lip a bit more than 2".

 

[Den in Penn]

A small hole is much easier to be plugged by debris then a larger hole.

 

[jrudolph305]

I used a 1/4" bit so maybe I'll drill a bigger hole. Yes the lip is more than 2 inches high and the bucket is brand new and using tap water so should not be any debris.

 

[jrudolph305]

Made the one hole bigger and added a 2nd hole just above the first and it seems to be working. Thanks

 

[Joe Prepper]

Made the one hole bigger and added a 2nd hole just above the first and it seems to be working. Thanks

Glad it's working now. you can add a float valve inside the bucket via a hole drilled at the top (opposite the lid now that its flipped upside down). Run a water line from the float valve to a 55 gallon water drum sitting a few feet higher than the bucket and voila....60 gallons of water backup.

-Joe-