Need a better way to water my flock

[docdubz]

My chickens are drinking upwards of 5 gallons a day and by the time I get around to refilling them their waters wind up going dry more often than I would like. I tried a diy vacuum waterer (basically 5gal buckets sitting in pans) and that worked great until my chickens figured out how to knock over 5gal buckets full of water (I have no idea how they could possibly do it, but here we are).

So, I need a solution that will allow me to have at least a 20 gallon or so water capacity. Are those nipple waterers actually worth it? They seem like the sort of gimmicky thing that sounds good but never works for me.

 

[blackdog043]

I use 14 gallon drums that I bought from Amazon. I have 8 horizontal nipples around each one. The top comes off for easy refilling.

 

[NatJ]

My chickens are drinking upwards of 5 gallons a day and by the time I get around to refilling them their waters wind up going dry more often than I would like. I tried a diy vacuum waterer (basically 5gal buckets sitting in pans) and that worked great until my chickens figured out how to knock over 5gal buckets full of water (I have no idea how they could possibly do it, but here we are).

So, I need a solution that will allow me to have at least a 20 gallon or so water capacity. Are those nipple waterers actually worth it? They seem like the sort of gimmicky thing that sounds good but never works for me.

You may have already tried this, but just using multiple waterers can work, instead of trying to do a single big one.

There are some one-gallon plastic waterers that can be hung, so they don't get knocked over (white top, red trough at the bottom is the most common color.)

Or there are the metal kind with a dome on the top that you lift off to add water, which flows out into a trough at the bottom. I know they come in 5 gallon sizes, and I think maybe larger yet too, and are pretty tip-resistant.

My own pattern is to refill every chicken waterer, every single morning, every day of the year. If the weather is below freezing I check or refill a few more times during the day. Doing it every day is easier for me than remembering which days to do it.

(I'm not saying that you need to do it my way--just sharing it in case any of the details are helpful to you.)

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

My chickens are drinking upwards of 5 gallons a day and by the time I get around to refilling them their waters wind up going dry more often than I would like. I tried a diy vacuum waterer (basically 5gal buckets sitting in pans) and that worked great until my chickens figured out how to knock over 5gal buckets full of water (I have no idea how they could possibly do it, but here we are).

So, I need a solution that will allow me to have at least a 20 gallon or so water capacity. Are those nipple waterers actually worth it? They seem like the sort of gimmicky thing that sounds good but never works for me.

How many chickens do you have?

I use 5-gallon bucket nipple waterers. I sit them up on cinderblocks and put cone-shaped tops on them to keep them from attempting to roost on them.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I have no freeze issues but plenty of mosquito issues. I have to dump everything every 3 days to keep them from hatching.

You’re somewhere warmer than me. We all have our challenges. I have to fight “hard water”. You need need to decide if your flock drinks “Bug” or “Bug Lite”.

 

[WindingRoad]

I clean my small heated dog every other day and always throw water out. I'm glad to because if I didn't, that would mean they ran out of water!
I water the plants outside my barn with it.

I use my wheel barrow outside the coop and throw "old" water in it along with daily poop patrol and use that to water my trees. I just don't like not using water as we are in drought here in West Central Maine.

 

[kerbotx]

Make your own pvc pipe fountain with poultry nipples - I based mine off of this article:

https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-advantages-of-poultry-nipples/

I made mine to fit the outdoor space where it was installed, which was about 8' long, with 2 vertical pipes on the ends that are about 3' tall, prob has about 10 vertical nipples installed. I have no idea how many gallons it holds Plus, I make vertical pipes to hang around their free-range area, that hold about 1 gallon each.

 

[blackdog043]

@alwaystj9 No I have not, the water stays very clean inside. I rinse the drums out 2 or 3 times a year, because I think I should, not because it's dirty or slimy. Inside the lid is a foam seal, which I took out so it wasn't air tight, which may hinder the nipples working correctly. I've used the drums for a couple years now, before that I used 5 gallon buckets with HZ nipples.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

How high off the ground are you setting these?
Do you check it: water clean & adequate and all nipples functioning?
How often & is it easy to see the level?
I have 20 or so mixed chickens.

I have them on cider blocks on a pallet in the run. Check every day and top off as needed. I clean once a week.

They’re pretty easy to see into to check. If the light is right I can see the water level from 20 yards away.

Each waterer has a plug-in heater in winter to keep the water from freezing.

The setup was life changing - no hauling water every day, dealing with frozen water in winter, etc.

 

[NatJ]

That's a lot of water for 35 birds.....leaks and/or evaporation must be a factor.

A common estimate seems to be that an adult chicken will drink a pint of water each day, and up to double that (a quart each) in hot weather.

35 pints = 4 3/8 gallons
35 quarts = 8 3/4 gallons

So if the chickens are all adults, that amount is reasonable.