Looking for a better way to water chickens

[sham30]

I am so sick of cleaning out the waterers

I need a better way and what better place to find one then on BYC

So how does everyone water there birds???

 

[brahmakid11]

i get buckets and cut out a 5 inch by 5 inch piece about 5 inches from the bottom

 

[Katy]

I use the black plastic feed pans that hold about 3 gallons of water. I just flip them and rinse out in the summer and in the winter I flip them over and the ice falls out.

 

[galanie]

Nipple waterers are great, and you can add Oxine AH to the water and it'll never get any growth in there. It's expensive but fantastic stuff. Just don't ever use citric acid or an "activator" to it.

Some also use bleach for the same things, but it's not as safe as Oxine AH. More on Oxine here: http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/oxine.htm

I know someone will chime in for the right bleach/water amount. It works too and very well from what I've read. I don't add either to my waterers unless I suspect an illness, then I add a bit of Oxine. I use bleach sometimes for cleaning if there's lots of algae in there to zap it quickly, then rinse really good.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

I went through the same thing. I switched to nipples but didn't like them so I switched to waterer cups and love them. The chickens love them because there is an open source of water for them. I like that they take up little space, hardly even need to be cleaned, and hold a large amount of water.

 

[sham30]

Quote:
And they stick there head in??

 

[sham30]

Quote:
Where is the water source? Hanging above or a hose

 

[BellevueOmlet]

The hose connects to a 5 gallon bucket that is set outside the coop for easy filling.

 

[kittykat01]

I use a 10litre bucket with a tight fitting lid and a deep plastic pot plant base. Drill 2 holes in the sides of the bucket (as close to the top as possible), fill with water, put the lid on, and then invert into the pot plant base. The water should flow out and fill the base to the height of the holes in the bucket. If not enough comes out then you need to drill bigger holes

I put apple cider vinegar in with the water which seems to deter algae growth. The whole thing sits on a small besser block to stop straw, shavings etc from getting stratched into it.

 

[Frybaby]

I also put apple cider vinegar in the water, it keeps it algae free and its good for the chicks.