Nipple watering system for Peafowl

[Garden Peas]

We only wanted them for summer use, our buckets freeze every year, last year they froze solid on a daily basis. We figured no nipple waterers would survive that, so we would have been content with lessening the work load 3/4 of the year.
Good luck with the sand, I hope it works for you. I loved it at first, but it turned out the entire pen area was in a bit of a "bowl" and it turned into a soup of black mud/sand. Picture dipping the peas in dark chocolate, and that's about what they looked like. Thank goodness they had dropped their trains before the rains started.

How on earth did you resolve the drainage problem?

 

[zazouse]

PS. Be careful if you use sand in your pens, make sure you have really good drainage. We tried it in one pen several years ago. It was great for the whole summer, kept the birds feet and feathers cleaner than a dirt pen. However in the Fall we had an unusually rainy Sept. and we got hit by the remnants of some hurricane and the pen didn't have good drainage. End result was 5 Peas up to their hocks in sandy mud that wouldn't drain off, hubby had to put on his chest waders and go in and net those poor birds to move them to the big barn. Personally we won't do sand again.

I agree you have to have decent drainage cause without it you will have a mud mess with anything you use, sand is used to raise up the area and allow the water to drain and if you keep the reserve pile covered so it does not get wet you can put dry sand in the run to displace the water and mud, which will also raise the ground up for drainage, it blows to have to use a wheel barrow but my tractor bucket never wound fit threw the gate

 

[DylansMom]

How on earth did you resolve the drainage problem?

Moved the Peas and bulldozed the old pen. Brought in fill and made a new pen in a different spot.

 

[Garden Peas]

Moved the Peas and bulldozed the old pen. Brought in fill and made a new pen in a different spot.

yep, I guess that would do it

And I'm still tee-heeing over the visual of the chocolate-covered peas -- I can so see that!

 

[DylansMom]

yep, I guess that would do it

And I'm still tee-heeing over the visual of the chocolate-covered peas -- I can so see that!

This was it right after we put the sand in, before the monsoon season hit! The Silver Pied and the White were brown for the whole winter.

 

[nickel chick]

I am new to this but I read the chicken chick and she said she finally decided on sand I love it does take a little longer to dry since I am I the shade with my bird 1 peacock and 12 chickens but I clean up with a bale fork with wire net on it and small plastic rake from Menards. In the coop itself I use a large metal cat scoop I found and a bucket this is the chickens of course. Oh I forgot I duct taped a nice strong piece of dowel rod onto the handle. It keeps their nails short and I don't need a vet to trim them. and Piacasso my peacock loves scratching in it.