Restore rusty waterer?

[NuggetTheChicken]

When it starts to rain cats'n dogs, your chickens will run inside, my ducks will run out.

And look like piglets in no time…

So cute! I love pekin ducks, I used to have 2 drakes, but my dad ate them. My crazy chickens stay out in the rain and end up looking like wet rats.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

I have many a chicken that stand out in the rain and get sopping wet

I'd be worried about the cold galvanizing compound leaching into the water. Maybe a food safe epoxy would be better? Although, it'd probably be cheaper to buy a new waterer at that point.

 

[aart]

Great! Thank you very much for the idea with the aquarium heater. I must adapt that for my ducks as they won't drink from nipple waterers…

You could train them to drink from Horizontal Nipples,
but it wouldn't take care of rinsing nares.
Not sure an aquarium heater would be suitable in an open waterer.

 

[speedy2020]

I have a double-walled galvanized waterer (2 actually) that is rusting in the drinking area. I have thought about spraying a coat of Rust-Oleum or something like that on the waterer to prevent the rust accumulation and reddish water. I'm currently rinsing it out every day. My concern is that the waterer sits on a heated base in winter to prevent freezing; could paint be affected by the heated base, or otherwise deteriorate and poison my chickens? Has anyone tried to restore a galvanized waterer? What product did you use? What was your experience? I appreciate your help and insight! Thanks!

I suggest get a food grade 55 gal barrel and purchase 4-6 horizontal nipples. It will cost $30-$50 and you are good for every long time. And use 1 size drill bit smaller than nipple recommend.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

You could train them to drink from Horizontal Nipples,
but it wouldn't take care of rinsing nares.
Not sure an aquarium heater would be suitable in an open waterer.

Ducks will drink from any nipples? - I'm more afraid one duck will push the valve open and another one will use the drinker as a shower…
I have the five gallon plastic waterer from Little Giant, which has that spout at the bottom of the reservoir through which i could fiddle the cable of an Aqueon 10W Mini aquarium heater.
It would require to cut off the plug and attach a new one, but that's easy to do.
What i like about this heater is »Designed with a shatterproof housing and thermal safety shut-off« which means that if the ducks empty their waterer (the sometimes do) the heater won't melt through the plastic.
What do you think about that?

 

[aart]

Ducks will drink from any nipples? - I'm more afraid one duck will push the valve open and another one will use the drinker as a shower

Have seen ducks use the Horizontal Nipple's...and they have spring loaded valves...so your shower is unlikely, but I guess a constant dribble to puddle is possible.

What do you think about that?

Nor sure I'd trust a cheap heater or that it would keep the trough thawed....and you'd have to make sure the cord hole was sealed or you might just get that puddle. I would never suggest cutting and splicing the power cord was good idea.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I'm not going to drill a hole into the waterer's reservoir, there is already one in there, where the water flows from the reservoir into the dish.
Agreed, cutting and splicing an electric cord is not a recommended practice, but i am pretty experienced in doing that. Just ordered the 5W model for $10. It won't have to work too hard here, it is West Virginia, not Michigan. We have four seasons here: Planting, drought, harvest and mudd…
20F is called a hard freeze here and 15F extreme frost.
I'll give it a try.

 

[aart]

I'm not going to drill a hole into the waterer's reservoir, there is already one in there, where the water flows from the reservoir into the dish.

Huh....there ya go then!
You should start a new thread about it.
Tagme.

 

[RichardB-SETN]

I suggest get a food grade 55 gal barrel and purchase 4-6 horizontal nipples. It will cost $30-$50 and you are good for every long time. And use 1 size drill bit smaller than nipple recommend.

I use a nipple watering system in warmer months. Unfortunately, when temperatures drop below freezing, I have to shut it off to protect the pipes against freeze damage. That's when I have to use the double-walled galvanized waterers. I have been able to use a small tank deicer for plastic waterers, but they have only lasted 3-4 seasons in the past.
Thanks for the tip, though. I love my nipple watering system!

 

[RichardB-SETN]

Since colder temperatures are coming soon, I've worked on one of my galvanized waterers. Here's what I've done:

1. Poured vinegar into the drinking tray and let it sit for several days. (It removed the rust and started removing the cheap galvanized coating that was the original problem.)
2. Dumped the vinegar out and thoroughly washed the waterer with soap and water.
3. Used compressed air to dry every little nook and cranny.
4. Scrubbed the affected areas with steel wool until it shone. Removed the debris with compressed air.
5. Removed the rubber stopper and put painters tape on the spring-clip to keep paint off of it.
6. Painted Rust-Oleum primer onto the affected areas + a little overlap. Three light coats.
7. Waited 24 hours then painted Rust-Oleum grey paint over the primer in two light coats.
8. Waited an additional 72 hours for drying/curing.

I'm putting the one I worked on back in service today. If it does well after a few weeks I will work on the other one. Please note that I didn't paint the underside of the waterer (the part that sits on the heated base) since it wasn't rusty. According to the label, the paint is good for up to 200°F, which shouldn't be a problem. I will give an update after I see how it's working.