My chicken watering solution

[breakout]

Thanks to all for the many posts on watering. I spent weeks reading them and researching various solutions before deciding what to do. My initial thought was an automatic bowl hooked up to the house like a dog bowl but it didn't solve the problem of the chickens making a mess in the water and in Texas the water could still get pretty hot. Reading about the nipples they seemed like the way to go but I didn't like using a bucket because of the plastic -- we're trying to produce organic eggs and so we wanted to avoid plastic as much as possible. Drilling a stainless steel bucket seemed like it might be tricky. Also there's the problem of having to bring ice out to the bucket in the summer and having to heat it in the winter. Since the chickens spend the day running in the yard I had the option of having the waterer near the house and I thought if I kept the water in the house the temperature issue would pretty much be handled. So I set up a 2 &1/2 gal glass aquarium and ran a stainless steel hose for an icemaker out the window where it connects to a 3/4" PVC pipe that I built a frame for. The PVC pipe has 3 nipples inserted. Originally I was going to use the stainless steel nipples but they seem to have more problems than the regular ones. The far side of the pipe has a ball valve on it to allow for flushing out the pipe. The water pressure comes from siphoning action since the aquarium is higher. BTW my initial thought was to hook up to the house pressure but the nipples can't work with this unless you buy an expensive pressure reducing setup (drip irrigation stuff can't bring the pressure down enough -- the nipples can only handle maybe 3 pounds of pressure). As it's already pretty hot we add some ice to the aquarium and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar per gal of water to prevent algae. So far it seems to be working well and the chickens learned how to use it quickly. I found it was tough getting the nipples started into the 11/32" holes but putting them into my variable speed drill made it easier to get them started biting. The white handle on the top has a built in level so that I can make sure the far side is down hill. The handle/level was more for my amusement to try to figure out how to make it but hey got to keep it fun right? Hope this is useful for someone trying to figure out what to do.

 

[carolsparkle]

Now that looks like an inside job!

 

[bairo]

Well the system seems to be working well. The only problem I have had is keeping the water clean. Since it's in an aquarium it's very obvious when the water starts to get a little cloudy or funky. Initially I was using apple cider vinegar (Bragg's) partly because I often take it myself and liked the idea of the chickens having some since people seemed to think it was good for them. Trouble is I think it could be a problem with my system because things seem to start growing in the tank even with a complete change out of the water once a week. Maybe good (healthy?) things if the "mother" is still active but I'm concerned that they might clog up the relatively narrow hose leading from the acquarium to the nipples or possible clog the nipples thenselves. So we're trying our homemade collodial silver -- about half a dropper per quart of water. So far this seems to be keeping the water clear and based on our experience it would be good for the chickens. Has anyone else used this?

Well..I know im a day late (ok 5 weeks late from your post) but maybe youll see it anyway. I used to breed aquarium fish and can tell you for certain that if you keep sunlight away from your tank that you will greatly reduce the cloudiness (the start of algae growth). Could you wrap the tank in a black cloth or have light blocking shades or curtains on that window?

 

[bigoledude]

Our water comes out of the Mississippi river. I imagine some of it may come from as far away as Minnesota. That makes it way older than "funky several day old stuff".

Then it passes through the water treatment plant and it probably takes a few days/weeks to reach me. I guess it also, is older than "funky several day old stuff".

Now, it sits in my barrel for a few days at a time. This certainly makes it older than "funky several day old stuff". All my chickens have ever drank is "funky stuff".

I can't imagine getting my water from an underground aquifer where it may have been for hundreds of years! Then, I guess, it would be considered "funky several centuries old stuff".

I may start condensing some steam and then run to the waterer to ensure they are getting brand new fresh water. Sheesh!!!

 

[Mingming]

Neat idea! Thanks for sharing! Now to figure out how to make it work for my setup...lol!

 

[ccrow]

They look happy... the lengths we go to for our chickens!

 

[Lance]

this is mine, comes off the gutter before going into the barrel.

 

[Red Barn Farms]

Awesome Ideas!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[blondvet]

What a great idea! Ingenious!!

 

[Hawgon]