Need a better way to water my flock

[U_Stormcrow]

While I've not used them personally, if you are having a standing water mosquito concern, you can buy the tabs for Koi ponds, skin with a small amount of oil (though it will eventually go rancid), add a lot of vinegar, or make your water source much larger and add fish. Do be aware that the BTI bacteria in the mosquito dunks will also kill blackfly larvae, so if you have a blackfly composter...

 

[alwaystj9]

I use the mosquito dunks in my horse trough. I never found the black fish-shaped tabs to be any use whatsoever. I tried using fish a few different ways; some worked well for a while. Depending on the depth of the water, they get cooked in the summer. Depending on who controls the hose, they get overflowed to the ground...but they were great at eating mosquito nymphs. I also tried a small solar fountain and that was kind of neat but the horse kept playing with it.

 

[cmom]

Auto waterers.

 

[RebekahTN]

I'd weigh in here, since I have hot weather and lots of birds, but honestly, I don't know. My poultry nipples leak, and my tote is so big it doesn't matter. Even the month we went w/o rainfall wasn't enough to empty it. Admittedly, I only had 30 birds then, but its a big tote.

One of two. The other is hooked up to the gutters to be filled by rainwater. This one will be, too, as soon as parts are in stock. White paint keeps it cooler and massively retards algae growth.

View attachment 2584643

How do the ducks get to the water bowl? It seems to high. I would imagine just sitting it on the ground or even zip tied to the bottom rung on the cage would work unless I'm missing something.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I used to have it on a CMU for the ducks. Now its up at that height for the goats I don't yet have. Around back of the tote I have a deep square bowl I fill from the spigot at the end of the PVC run. Can't tip a bowl inside a CMU. Can still fill said bowl with mud, however....

 

[alwaystj9]

Can you send me a link to that auto waterer?
How did you protect it from the freezes this past winter?
How much pressure does it need?
Wondering if I can run something like that using just the head pressure from a raised water barrel...

 

[cmom]

I don't think poultry auto waterers are heated but there are some made for livstock that are auto and heated. Only once have I had any freeze and that was several years ago when one night it got down into the teens. Originally I put the waterers inside the coops until I had a malfunction and a flooded coop so then I moved them outside next to the pop doors but haven't had any issues with them.

 

[aart]

@docdubz did you find the problem or a solution to your watering woes?

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

You mention that each waterer has a plug-in heater for winter. Did the rent a coop waterer come with the heater?

Just seeing this now...sorry. The waterer didn’t come with a heater...I purchased those separately.

 

[Silexian]

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.

Before I downsized my chicken operation. I built a frames, then mounted 30 gallon plastic drums on top of them. I then installed a sight glass so I could see the water level without having to open them and look inside. Plus a threaded stub in the bottom of the drums. Then attached a pipe going to an automatic refilling water bowl. They worked great. My coops were insulated and big enough to place the water tower inside. Plus I had enough chickens, that it stayed above freezing. The bowls were easily removed for cleaning. I only had to fill them about once a week.