How large should my waterer be?

[beerguzzler]

Can you not do an auto waterer? I got VERY tired of filling my 4 gallon for 15 birds and cleaning it when it started to get green. I bought one of those that is a red bowl with a spring loaded gadget that actuates on weight from the water. Works like a charm. It's super easy to take on and off (usually do this once a day since there is lots of muck they have on their beaks when they drink that falls into it). I had to run a water line but the 1 hour of effort and about $50 worth of parts (pipe and actual waterer) was well spent. I used my edger to cut a trench to lay the water line in but you may have to go deeper depending on your freeze line.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might get a free 2-1/2 or 5 gallon plastic bucket with lid from a grocery store if it has a bakery or deli. They get their food grade ingredients in them. Depends on the manager.

 

[ams3651]

my 1 gallon lasts my 6 nearly 2 days. One thing I noticed is that it needs to sit perfectly level or the gravity feed 'thingy' will keep going and all the water will spill out.

 

[al6517]

I use 2, 5 gal waterers for 45 hens and everyday when I do their chores there is always plenty of water left. Just buy the biggest ones you can find, and have more than one in case of a problem with one, or being prepared for any time they may need extra water, summer heat, certain feed, illness. I have both a plastic fountain & a galvanized one, both bought at the same time just to see which would stand the rigors and test of time best.

AL

 

[zigzag3337]

I am thinking about switching my 5 gallon waterer over to a auto waterer. I have looked at a few designs and I just bought 2 AQUABUDDY for dogs, however I think my girls won't mind. He is a link to the ones I bought, maybe you can consider it too.

http://www.gundogsupply.com/aqdiauwa.html

As far as the "green slime", just add a little vinegar in with the water and you can prevent the slime from coming back. It doesn't take much, depending on how large your waterer is. Being vinegar, you don't have to worry about hurting the birds if you give them too much.

 

[Akane]

My dozen not full grown chickens with 2 being bantams go through 1 gallon a day in winter. I have been hauling a 1 gallon water container out to refill their heated bucket every afternoon. If I'm an hour or 2 late it will be dry.

Automatic waterers have always proven to be such a pain for us. We're back to filling the stock tank with buckets because my horses' auto waterer is broken again and can't be fixed until the weather stays above freezing. We used to have automatic waterers in every stall and at least monthly a stall would be flooded or the water would not be working. Running pipes in northern climates also isn't so simple and usually requires heavy duty construction equipment. Sometimes the extremely well buried pipes in the stable still freeze. Even if I eventually end up hauling 5 gallons a day to the chickens running a line for water to the coop would not be worth the effort.

 

[cmom]

I have 2 waterers. Ones is 5 gal and the other is 3 gal. Also I have a lagre shallow ceramic planter I keep water in too.