nipple waterers-nipples placed directly in bucket bottom?

[mudpaw]

I'm trying to figure out the best options to water my girls (right now they are using my homemade 5g bucket waterer with a float valve and head holes LOL-but it gets pretty dirty everyday, even with a lid). I would love to make them a nipple waterer and started looking at posts for info/ideas. I see that most of them are installed in pvc pipe and then fed by a bucket or they are installed in small bucket or other small jugs. Can I just put nipples directly in the bottom of a hanging 5g bucket? I'm curious if the pressure might be too much and cause them to drip. Anyone else done this? If so, pictures?

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

If you put the nipple in the bottom it will be hard to fill the bucket since you can't set it flat on the ground

I'd use PVC pipe myself

 

[wsdareme]

I have 3 nipples in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket -- no, the water pressure does not cause it to leak. However, Bear Foot Farm has a good point if you need to set the bucket down to fill it. I have mine hanging in a corner of the run, right next to a water faucet, and I just fill it through the hole we cut in the lid. I was going to rig up another 5 gallon bucket for inside the coop (I hate my galvanized waterer), but I'll either have to make a stand for the bucket in order to fill it or find a way to make a lip around the bottom of the bucket so the nipples don't get smashed when you set the bucket down. Maybe somebody has ideas??

 

[Tofer76]

I have 3 water nipples in the bottom of a 5 gal bucket as well. works well but a few unforeseen issues. 1. a full 5 gal is too heavy and the handle will pull out over time

so i only fill half full but my dozen chicken wont empty that in a day not even 3 days

2. i also hang my waterers ( i have 2 one for the full size and one hung a bit lower for bantys) from shepards hooks that ar braced back to back

i usse a clean 5 gal to haul water to them once a day with 2 gatorade bottles w frozen water to keep it cool out to them and refill

other than that works well but winter isnt here yet may hang it below a heat lamp to keep it thawed out

 

[mudpaw]

good info

It will be hanging and will actually have a small hose section attached on the side near the top for filling (I'll can just connect the hose section from the bucket to the hose and top it off). I think I may go with a couple smaller buckets then (maybe the smaller 2 gallon buckets) I am trying to think up some way to maybe replace the handle too...didn't think about it coming off after holding that much weight for an extended amount of time. Thanks everyone!

 

[Mervin]

I have four nipples in the bottom of a 5 gal. bucket. I hang it from the rafters on a chain. I drop a gallon block of ice in it each morning. Come winter, I probably put a gallon of hot tap water in. It seems to work pretty well.

Like the others have said, the handle on a bucket probably can't hold 5 gals of water for long. Honestly with 2 1/2 - 3 gal. it's getting a little dicey. With about a gallon, it deforms the bucket enough that it's hard to get the lid on and off. I'm not sure how just yet, but I'm going to work something up to support it better. It's good quick fix though.

P.S... I was thinking about replacing the handle as well. I was thinking about bending some rebar to making a really oversized handle and using a piece of angle iron as a brace to keep the bucket from deforming.

 

[wsdareme]

It wouldn't be hard to make a bucket bracket -- they sell them for horses that hook onto a fence or pipe corral panel. You'd have to make a modified version to accommodate a bucket with a lid, but that would be easy. Just have a hoop to set the bucket into, a piece on the bottom to support the bucket while not interfering with the nipples, and a bracket attached to the hoop to fasten/hook the whole contraption to your run/fence. Or you could design a hanging version. Hmmm, my DH loves to fabricate things out of metal -- I think I'll have him make me some of both!

 

[JanetSmithery]

For my three chickens, I have 2 nipples in the bottom of a 1 gallon "Vegannaise" jar. It's suspended from the lid, where I drilled a hole to insert a hook bolt. The area around the hole is supported by the biggest diameter washers that I could find that still fit the bolt. It's hanging under my coop from an eye screw sunk into a floor joist. (There's also a couple small holes drilled into the lid to prevent a vacuum. I've got the type of nipples that don't work in a vacuum.)

I'm finding that a full 1 gallon of water is pretty heavy. My set up looks like it can support it for now, but 3 chickens take forever to drink a full gallon, so I fill it about halfway up. It still lasts them 3-4 days before there's only an inch or so of water in the waterer.

I love the 'big jar' set up as opposed to a bucket because my water stays 100% clean. The chickens kick up a lot of dust in their sand run. When I got to grab the waterer, it's completely covered in dust. The water inside, however, is crystal clear. No bugs, no dirt, no poop, no algae...it's a nice set up.

I'm in the Pacific Northwest, so I'm hoping the nipples won't freeze in the winter.

 

[Mrs MIA]

If you do a search for "nipple" in the topic subject only, a whole bunch of threads come up with ideas/problems with nipple waterers. There was one in particular I was trying to find, but there are SO many threads that it kind of got lost...

 

[Alpha Chick]

Quote:
I am getting nipples for a bucket this week and had been thinking of how to fill. Of course, I can just use a hose to fill, but still needed a way to set the bucket down. I thought I would use a concrete block and place the bucket on it so that the nipple is set into the hole in the block. That way, this weakling won't have to hold the bucket and fill it at the same time.