problem with waterer

[marvun22]

This is the waterer that I have problems with. https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/little-giant-3-gallon-waterer-with-metal-handle
Here is the problem. After I fill it, water goes into the trough for them to drink. After they drink all the water that is there originally, it just doesn't refill. I am hoping it wasn't a waste of money and I hope there's hope for it. Hope someone else has had and solved this problem.

 

[pawtraitart]

This is the waterer that I have problems with. https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/little-giant-3-gallon-waterer-with-metal-handle
Here is the problem. After I fill it, water goes into the trough for them to drink. After they drink all the water that is there originally, it just doesn't refill. I am hoping it wasn't a waste of money and I hope there's hope for it. Hope someone else has had and solved this problem.

Is this one of the waterers that has a single hole that feeds the trough? If so, is the drinker on level ground?

 

[marvun22]

Is this one of the waterers that has a single hole that feeds the trough? If so, is the drinker on level ground?

It is on level ground

 

[xoxoxo9922]

I just bought 2 baby.chicks yesterday and another 2 baby chicks from my uncle. I dont have lamp. I use flashlight to keep them warm. And the flooring is magazine paper. I dont think all of it was not healthy for them. My question.is can you suggesr diy supplies for my baby.chicks?

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you read the reviews, that’s not an uncommon problem for that waterer. I haven’t bought that specific type but have made my own at home from a free 2 gallon bucket from a deli. The hard part was finding something to act as the base for them to drink out of.

That thing works on a vacuum. It should have one or more holes for the water to flow out when the water level gets low. The base needs to hold water above that hole to stop the flow when it is full.

The normal problem with those is that if they are not level, the water keeps leaking out. The base doesn’t fill up enough to completely cover all the holes. If you hang them, the wind or the chickens may move them around when they are getting close to empty and break that vacuum.

For that base to not refill even when the reservoir is full means the hole or holes are blocked. Water can’t flow. I don’t know how that one is made. It may be a manufacturing defect. If slots in the base and the bottle have to line up, maybe they don’t line up. It’s not likely but maybe trash is blocking them. I think you’d figure that one out if trash were the problem.

What can you do? First, you can maybe look at the screw lid and bottle and see if slots have to line up or if you can see why the hole or holes are blocked. On my homemade one, I put a mark on the lid and bucket that had to line up or I got the exact problem you are seeing. I had to cut holes through both the bucket and the lid.

You might want to call the manufacturer and talk to them. From the reviews they’ve seen this problem before.

You might take it back to where you got it and get your money back. Whether you swap it for another of the same type or you look at a totally different type is up to you.

I don’t know what you want in a waterer so it is hard to recommend any particular type. A lot of what works for you depends on your management techniques and your set-up. Whether or not you have to carry water can make a difference. I’ve used various things and found that a very low-tech solution suits me. In the brooder I take a dog bowl and put some rocks in it so if they step in it (and they will walk on water) they don’t get wet and drown. They will poop in it so every day I just dump it out when I refill it.

For the adults in the run I use a black rubber bowl in the winter and a white plastic bowl in the summer and put that up on a stand made from bricks and pavers to get it up about shoulder level. I put a brick in it to give it some weight so they don’t knock it over when it is close to empty. To keep them from hopping up in it or trying to perch on it, I hang something over it. I made a little pyramid out of plywood but some people just put some dirt in a plastic milk jug and hang that. To stop the mosquito larva from developing I just dump it every other day. When I start seeing green algae growing in it, I wash it in a weak bleach solution.

Inside the coop, I make a sort of platform on one wall with brick to get it up above the level of the bedding where they can stand and built a wooden platform with a hole in it to set a black rubber bowl in it. If it is out of the sun, the black does not heat up like the one in the run. In the winter if the sun is shining that black one in the run will stay thawed even in the low 20’s. If it freezes I just turn it over and stomp the ice out.

We all have our own preferences and management techniques. For me I’ve found I do best with low tech solutions. Fewer things are likely to go wrong and I’m more likely to notice them when they do but it is often more labor intensive.

Good luck with it. There is a solution out there for you that suits you.

 

[jimmywalt]

When I started I used a similar type of water setup. I soon learned they wasted more than they drank. They also seem to treat it like a toilet that I had to clean daily. My solution was these horizontal nipples I bought on Ebay. 5 nipples $13.00 free shipping and a free 5gal. pail i got from a bakery. Just drill a few holes and screw them in only took a few minutes. They don't leak and never need cleaning. Best move I ever made I now have them in PVC pipe same deal no leaks and no cleaning.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221392072735?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

I love those horizontal nipples too!

I have to ask you............... for all the times I've seen you post this in EVERY thread that talks about water.......... Are you getting a "kick back" on sales of them??? ;-)

 

[Allboutchickens]

I love those horizontal nipples too!

I have to ask you............... for all the times I've seen you post this in EVERY thread that talks about water.......... Are you getting a "kick back" on sales of them??? ;-)

Appears to be a spokesman of some sort based on the PM message I've received. The more the merrier! Horizontal nipples are the way to go.