How I made my adjustable 5 gallon bucket watering system

[daddykirbs]

The meat chickens are very thirsty birds. Here's how I decided to keep up with the demand for water.

 

[my sunwolf]

Cute meaties! Love the design. If I did that I think I'd put some sort of hardware cloth covering over a plastic basin to catch any dribbled water so the bedding didn't get too wet. I assume the rest of the broilers caught on and started drinking too?

 

[daddykirbs]

Oh yes all the birds caught on just fine. It's a much better approach to watering!

I have a sand floor so the water dripping isn't too big a deal, but the plastic basin is a good idea.

 

[nok13]

i have to say thats the best video so far to explain how to do a bucket waterer... ihave to show hubby how to do that and having language difficulties to explain so the video does the trick.

i have decided (executive decision) to do that for our far away coop (thai fighting chickens and moscovy ducks) because we cant manage to get there every day and the ducks have been wrecking havoc with the water containers... winter is not problematic but summer could be catastrophe... wo ive ordered some nipples from ebay, not sure hopefully the correct ones, and we have plenty of plastic buckets , just curious, how do u fill them? the next DIY will be feeders.

but dont have the waterers have to have a cover on them to help the water go out , or am i mixing something up with my physics?

bina
israel

 

[daddykirbs]

These have no covers. They are simply gravity fed. I go in once a day to fill the buckets a little over half way full. When I filled them to the top it was a bit too heavy for the wire handles.

 

[daddykirbs]

... oh, you asked "how to fill them"... I just use a garden hose. I drag it in, fill 'em up and drag 'em out. I have thought about plumbing some pvc above them with a valve, but haven't gotten to that yet.

 

[Tofer76]

These have no covers. They are simply gravity fed. I go in once a day to fill the buckets a little over half way full. When I filled them to the top it was a bit too heavy for the wire handles.

same thing happens to mine so i took a scrap piece of plywood and cut a 11"(i think ) hole in it and then screwed 3 legs to it so that the 5 gal bucket sits down into it
the ridges around the bucket old the weight , not the handles

 

[nok13]

pics? im a bit slow in envisioning what u wrote...

 

[daddykirbs]

pics? im a bit slow in envisioning what u wrote...

If I get what Tofer76 is saying correctly... basically it will be like a three legged stool. The stool "seat" will have a hole in it. The bucket will sit on top of the the "seat" or possibly wedged down in the hole (like if the bottom of the bucket is 10.5 inches across, the hole will be 11).

 

[nxb161]

My (6) chicks are still inside the house, just a week or so old; got them from TSC this time last week. I quickly went from the standard waterer to water bottles in their brooder. I was amazed at how quickly they caught on. I have a stand setup with a 5G bucket for when they're outside. It also has a chain going up from the handle. I'm a bit worried about the weight on the handle (I haven't hung it with it filled with water) I think I'll just have to find a height that'll work and do the plywood thing as well. Last thing I want is to find one of the girls crushed underneath it. it'd be over 40lbs when filled. Has anyone used the 5G bucket method during the winter (assuming you're in freezing temps)? I wondered if one of those submersible bird bath heaters would work to keep it from freezing, any thoughts?