rain water

[yogifink]

I am thinking about setting up a rain barrel off of my coop and using a nipple waterer hooked up to the barrel. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[patvetzal]

My outdoor water pail is right under the spot where the water runs off the roof. During the rainy season (normally weekends) it is always full. The inside pail gets filled with the hose. Since we are on a dug well, its basically the same water....

 

[CosmoTheRooster]

I think it is a great idea, but try to prevent mosquitoes from laying their eggs in the water. That would create a chance of disease among your flock. I would have some sort of funneling system into the barrel, so that you could partially filter the water before it enters the reservoir. Just an idea.

-Cosmo

 

[Weasleymum]

I'm going to be doing something similar-- the water from the chicken coop's gutter will go into a 5-gal. bucket, from which the pvc pipe w/ chicken nipples will stem. Overflow from that bucket will go to a water barrel. I'm doing it that way so that I can add stuff to the water if necessary (apple cider vin, vitamins or whatever); so that I can wash out the bucket occasionally; and so that the barrel itself doesn't have to be elevated from the ground.

One thing to keep in mind is the roofing material-- I've read that the chemicals in asphalt shingles make runoff water undrinkable. This coop is going to have a metal roof, mainly for that reason.

Re: the mosquitos: commercial rain barrels come with the openings already screened to keep bugs out; if you are crafting your own barrel it would be easy enough to just use window screening.

 

[yogifink]

Cool, I think I will do it. The coop if for our local elementary school garden, so I think this would be a good opportunity for the kids to learn about recycle, reduce, reuse.

The rain barrel is already on the property and it has a bibcock valve on it. What do you folks think about how to set something up so that the water part inside the run can be easily removed from the barrel for cleaning the barrel.

What about keeping it from freezing?

 

[CosmoTheRooster]

As far as freezing goes, I am an aquarium addict. I always have spare aquarium heaters laying around, they would keep your water from freezing during the winter. If you don't have one, go to petsmart and buy a small aquarium heater for $15, well worth it.

-Cosmo

 

[LoneOak]

Spend a few minutes and read my topic, Brand new Horizontal nipple water system for a really old coop! That is exactly the kind of system I have on my old coop. 55 gal barrel collecting rainwater and feeding 5 Horizontal Nipples (best water nipples on the market in my opinion, links in my topic) in the coop to water 28 birds right now. I mounted my barrel on the side about 10 years ago and set it up with a clear plastic pipe between the bungs to show the water level. I have a piece of a brass scrub pad stuffed down in the top tee to allow air in and out and stop mosquitos from nesting inside. I live in mid Georgia and seldom have to worry about freezing and in all the years it hasn't been a major problem.

One thing you have to do to set your barrel up like this is find both bung plugs with the 3/4" pipe thread inside. Usually only one of the bung plugs is threaded in the middle and the other just has a cover over the hole, the right bung plugs can be found if you look around enough. You also need to design a way to drain all the water from the very bottom and I finally found the right parts to do it with, Google search for Uniseal.

It would be real easy to build a system out of PVC and put a hose fitting on one end and a drain cap or plug on the other end for cleaning especially since your rain barrel already has a hose bib on it to hook a hose to. Home Depot has PVC fittings to attach a hose to, generally in the same area with the RainBird sprinkler parts, this is what they look like, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-3-4-in-Slip-x-MHT-PVC-Fitting-53361/100119737#.UhMBRSnD_rx They have both male and female hose in 1/2" & 3/4" pvc slip or thread, what ever you need.

Since this is for your school, I would be more than happy to help all I can with your project. Send me a Pm with your questions and maybe include your email for easier communication and I will help all I can and maybe send you some parts if you can't find them.