Official BYC Poll: Which type of waterers do you like best and why?

[Sycamore Hill Chicks]

I got mine from brite tap

 

[mommiesrcool]

i wanted to use water nipples but i use this https://www.amazon.com/Farm-Tuff-Po...e-garden&sprefix=chicken+wa,garden,164&sr=1-6

 

[WthrLady]

I use a large aluminum oil change/hog feeder pan from TSC. I can plop it on top of the pan heater in the winter, and on top of a cooling concrete block in the summer. I can always see how low it is, if it's turning a funky shade of green, is getting too dirty, and it's quick to fill.

I like horizontal waterers out in the field for free ranging as it keeps other animals and birds out of them. My birds never figured out cup waterers. But I can't use them here in the winter, they freeze too quickly. (This goes for any of the nipple water systems. They stay clean but are winter useless.)

The gravity waterers, fail constantly. I can't tell you how many I've purchased. They get dirty in the ring too and just keeping adding more clean water to gross water. The metal ones are better than the plastic, as you can put them on the heaters, but they can be too large for the heaters to keep up with. We used to keep two in rotation, one that was frozen to thaw and one in play.)

Rubber dishes are nice, but I can't toss one onto the heater in the winter and they too eventually just freeze.

So just a large metal dish works here the best.

 

[ladybrasa]

Got a link?

It’s just a smaller one of the waterer shown above. Got it from TSC:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/farm-tuff-top-fill-poultry-and-game-bird-waterer-3-gal

 

[akdunn]

I use PVC pipes, and drilled holes in the bottom and put poultry nipples in the bottom and the girls seem to enjoy!

 

[electrycmonk]

Its not the latitude that counts imo but freezing temperatures. And for how long. Where I live we have a warm gulf stream and mild winters.

Other important thing for a first choice maybe are:

• The size of youre flock, how many?
• The size of you’re chickens ?
• Mixed fowl or not ?
• Do you like to interact and care for you’re flock?
• Are you handy, DIY?
• Are the birds free ranging or locked up in a dirt run or inside a big coop?

Okay, let me ask you to back up just a little bit. To make a cooking metaphor, I am using latitude as a 1st step in the recipe. How much space do we need to mix up the recipe on the kitchen countertop?Is this going to need oven or range/cooktop/crockpot/pressure cooker to make this recipe.

I was born & initially raised in Michigan, Latitude ~43°N.
Central Netherlands Latitude ~50°N
Southern California coastline (my formative years) ~33/34°N Latitude
Last 20+ years living in North Texas ~33°N latitude and ~29°N Latitude in Galveston we have a place too

Southern Michigan until 1982 was almost always a snow in October experience. However, 1982 was a green Xmas with a high of 64°F/~18°C(?) When Xmas should be ~18°F/~-5°C when history is used for context.
So-Cal has a giant wall of mountains, Rockies against it's back and a huge coastline out it's front door so by comparison your neighborhood is similar to that of Northern California and the coastline of Oregon & Washington state as well.

So that makes them rather close is weather/climate patterns given their latitude. Michigan is not realistic to compare. It has a relatively low elevation, majority below 1500Ft above sea level (thanks to glaciers)and its a peninsula, surrounded by several gigantic fresh water lakes which produce "lake effect storms."

North Texas "Cold" weather pattern has changed over the last 20+ years that I have lived here. "Winter" has shifted to be most of January into early March. 2-3 cold snaps where we will see true freezing temps for up to a week, and then a return to temps in the upper 30's -40's F/1-10°C.
We now are experiencing Ice storms more often as opposed to the snow storms in the late 1990's.

The summer heat has always been a 90's & above situation for the DFW/North Texas region but, the "normal" humidity average has risen quite a lot since those mid 1990's when I moved here. Avg summer humidity seemed to be in the 10-30% level.
The last 10 years I'd safely estimate our humidity in the summer is now 30-50+%.

So, to get back to my initial point of reference, latitude. I look at this as a 1st step of the recipe. Because it allows you/me/us the ability to rotate the atlas/globe around to see where your reference point is.

Once that starting point is established then the points you list become much more valid.

To make this a medical metaphor perhaps that might help better? Before a doctor normally See's a patient the staff must first triage them. Temperature check, blood pressure and "what's wrong/where does it hurt".....

Does this logic & metaphor reply help you better *see* why I initially posted what I did?

And just a little bit of humour we finally have had 3 nights in the last 2 weeks that dropped below 50°F/10°C. We have had several days with highs in the 60's°F/~15@°C. Now. Today's high forecast is 96°F/~36@°C and similar for the next 3 days before a cold front drops our highs into the 70°F/~20°C range.

So with such wild fluctuations the speed with which algea shows up in the dogs water bowls on the back porch is amazingly fast. Just some food for thought (pun enforced). Cheers.

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm liking the horizontal nipples so far but haven't taken it though a (very mild) winter yet.

The vertical nipples for the in-town flock blew out in the first freeze and the galvanized traditional waterer rusted in only 2 years.

 

[electrycmonk]

I'm liking the horizontal nipples so far but haven't taken it though a (very mild) winter yet.

The vertical nipples for the in-town flock blew out in the first freeze and the galvanized traditional waterer rusted in only 2 years.

Rusting out in 2 years? How close are you to the atlantic ocean? Saltwater humidity is very aggressive.... I have learned the hard way with our place in Galveston.

 

[3KillerBs]

Rusting out in 2 years? How close are you to the atlantic ocean? Saltwater humidity is very aggressive.... I have learned the hard way with our place in Galveston.

A couple hours inland.

I don't know if our town water was especially acid or not, but central NC's blistering summers seem to do a job on all sorts of materials.

 

[electrycmonk]

A couple hours inland.

I don't know if our town water was especially acid or not, but central NC's blistering summers seem to do a job on all sorts of materials.

So I did a curiousity search and ran across this link. I wonder how your model was made & like you said what the pH level of your water was as well as the humidity on avg.

https://www.bucket-outlet.com/Does-Galvanized-Steel-Rust.htm

/We now return you to the regular thread of waterers. (Sheepish grin)