leaky waterer

[puddlejumper]

This is my first New England winter with my chickens. I've been hanging their waterer inside their coop so they don't have to go outside for a drink. I use one of those double walled galvanized waterers and hang it from the ceiling so that they don't poop in it but they bump it or something and it leaks all over their bedding. I'm constantly scooping out soggy shavings and replacing them. I think this kind of waterer is best hanging in the run area of their coop. Is there another, maybe smaller type I can mount inside? Maybe on the wall(I found a great wall mount feeder that 's in there). Does anyone have an idea for keeping their bedding dry?

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Try setting it on something to raise it, but still keep it from being bumped

 

[Airilith]

I use rabbit waterers. And I love them. They do tend to cause a few drips to fall to the shavings when they are drinking, but the water is limited to quite a small amount, and only right until the nipple. And they can't get shavings or poop in them.

The only problem I'm having is that the biggest bottle I can find is 1L. I bought the conversion kit from TSC, but with a 2L bottle then tend to drip more than I'd like. Though once it warms up I plan on having a 2L setup in the run.

With my 6 birds one 1L bottle and a 20oz bottle cover water needs for about 2 days though, so that's not too bad either.

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

Quote:
The dripping problems you have with the rabbit waterers are these;
They are rabbit waters. They work OK for chickens in your situation but they will waste more water while the birds drink because there is no niopple stem to guide the water into the chickens mouth.
The 2L bottle flexes more and this affects the vaccum within the bottle. Also there can be a bigger air cell in the larger bottle and change in temperatures can cause that air to expand or contract with a greater effect than with the less flexible 1L bottle.

 

[puddlejumper]

I did some more poking around online and found someone who uses piglet waterers inside their coop. I found 'em for cheap money and I'm going to give it a go. I'll still use the double wall galvanized one outside, but these little piglet waterers will take up less room in the coop, they mount on the wall, and hopefully they won't be as messy. It's not a very big coop...for 3-5 chickens...so I'll have to mount them so they're not under the roost, but I think it's going to solve my problem.

 

[LynneP]

Yeah those galvanized poultry waterers are a pain. You need a level surface to make them work, and even then you need to rotate them to find the perfect spot to prevent leakage. I switched to a heated dog bowl, which I dump into a bucket, wipe clean then refill from a small jug. I have only 12 hens, though. Interesting information on the piglet waterers, must check them out at the co-oo.

 

[gryeyes]

I use - unfortunate name - poultry "nipples." They're like very small versions of the LixIt things you may have seen for dogs, which usually attach to an outdoor faucet.

These are (obviously) very much smaller, and the water comes out in a drop when the chickens peck the metal bit. I've installed one in the bottom of a plastic, one gallon milk jug, for inside my small coop. And installed four more in a PVC pipe, fed from a 5 gallon bucket, in the run area. It's a gravity waterer and has solved the problem for me. The chickens learned to use it very quickly - even when they were chicks in the brooder.

I bought the nipples online from FarmTek, for $1.99 apiece. (Shipping was pretty exhorbitant for the small size of the actual nipples, but I really needed the things.)

Some places call them "peckers" instead of "nipples." Either name is unfortunate, but they do the job! No mess. None.

I don't know how they'd do in a location fraught with hard freezes, but ..... We only get maybe four, five days of mid-20s temps each winter, around here. Usually, anyway...

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

Quote:
I would really like to see the same information about pig nipple drinkers that you did.
I think you are headed for either a big mess or very thirsty chickens. As a matter of fact I am certain that you are.

 

[puddlejumper]

The piglet waterers I found are not the kind with the nipple...I just can't imagine my girls figuring that out. It just looks like a regular plastic waterer that sits in a base that's wall mounted and easy to switch out for freshening or cleaning.http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/provico_2088_1037039

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

Quote:
oops!

I should have been addressing my comments to Airilith.

That vaccum pig waterer should work well for you puddlejumper.