Lid for bucket with nipples on bottom?

[OtterCreekRanch]

What does everyone who uses a 5 gallon bucket with nipples in the bottom of it do for a lid? Maybe it is just mine, but my bucket has warped from the weight of the water pulling on the handle it is hung from and so a regular lid does not fit since it is now oval shaped rather than round. Until just a few mintues ago I had it temperarily open topped (no lid at all). The problem I was having was them flying up onto the board the bucket was hanging from and pooping (or even laying an egg) in the water. No biggie, I just cleaned it out everyday. I just went out and found out the real danger in having it open on top....one of my little 3 month old cockerels I guess flew up onto it and fell into the bucket and it was too full so he drowned. I am heart broken that he died in such a horrible manner but I really never thought of them falling into the bucket. I usually do not even keep the bucket full but my grandpa was taking care of my chickens while my husband and I were out of town this weekend and he was filling it all of the way up. We just got in last night and I noticed it was full but decided to wait until today to clean it out because it was late. Now I wish I would have dumped it last night. So anyway, does anyone else have a problem with lids not fitting on their water buckets?

 

[debid]

I knocked a Gamma Seal lid onto mine. The ring portion reinforces the top of the bucket and it's an easy-to-open lid. They're airtight so you do have to make a tiny hole someplace but it's working great!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I have similar waterers that I have sitting on top of a couple cinder blocks (rather than hanging), which keeps the buckets from deforming. The lid the bucket came with is kept on at all times. My birds aren't really all that athletic so they haven't ever jumped up on top of it. I'm sorry about your bird.

 

[gryeyes]

The buckets I use are all placed on something rather than hung, so I haven't had to deal with 'em warping. I DO keep the lid on at all times, because the little chickens - banties and youngsters - can fly to perch on the lids. And they do so quite regularly. Having lost chicks to drowning in kiddie pools, I know your pain and despair.

 

[OtterCreekRanch]

I never thought about sitting it on top of cinder blocks. It is so unlevel in my run though I wonder if I can find a place it will work. I am going to toss the bucket I have now and start over again with a lid on it from the start. I will see if we can figure out a way to sit it up on something rather than hang it. Thanks for the idea.

 

[mons02035]

I have a home depot bucket and I hang it. My lid does not fit securely on top but it fits tight enough that no dust or debris gets in there.

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

Several options.
Use the original lid that came on the bucket. It will most likely to be hard to get on and off so bore a hole (probably not over 2" in diameter) in the lid to fill the bucket. This hole should be large enough to easily fill and rinse out the bucket for routine cleaning. When a serious cleaning is needed the lid can be removed. A smaller cover can be used for that small hole.

At Lowes (and probably other such stores) you can get a 5 galllon bucket cover that doubles as a seat. They have a generous rim inside and will keep the bucket in shape.

If the lid fits very tightly a very small breather hole needs to be bored in the top of the bucket so air can enter.

Suspend the bucket from two overhead drops. One on each side of the handle on the bail. Buckets with plastic bails are difficult to work with in a hanging situation, avoid them.

There are many disadvantages to setting a bucket with nipple drinkers on any thing. Best to avoid doing it that way.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Try a shower cap! I use one on my 1 gallon nipple water buckets. Not sure if it would fit, but it's worth a try.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

Quote:
What are the disadvantages of this?

 

[RedDrgn]

We're actually using a piece of the bottom of the chickens' brooder...which was an inflatable rubber pool. Once they were old enough to move into the coop, we had so many holes patched and slow leaks in the thing (from the improvised "lid" we had on the brooder) that we decided to pitch it. I made my DH cut the bottom off, though....nice thick rubber that I thought we could probably find a use for.

When our bucket's lid didn't fit with the hangar on it, I cut a section of the pool bottom out and bungeed it over the bucket. Works like a charm.