The Old Folks Home

[superchemicalgirl]

SCG oh don't sweat the small stuff - you both smell like skunks and he is still around. Proof positive you guys are for real!!

The night we got sprayed it was so bad and we're laying in bed dry heaving and laughing. It was definitely more fun with him around than it would have been alone.

 

[Beer can]

My uncle left his clothes in the laundromat after being sprayed, couldn't get the smell out.

We had a baby skunk outside our door, tried to get dw to check it out, it was so cute, dw freaked out made me shut the door. Then told me her mother had her chase a baby skunk out of the barn they milked a couple cows in when she was a kid 'baby skunks can't spray' she said.
She found out they could...Lol!

 

[chickadoodles]

Diva when I lived in Southern California my parents would take meat out to defrost overnight for supper the next day. We all lived so I did the same thing when I still lived there. It never got hot enough for my meat to thaw out if I took it out in them morning to be able to cook supper that day. Here in Alabama I take my meat out in the am for supper. And great steak houses age their meats for the best steaks!

 

[Beer can]

I havent been goofing off, i cant get my wife to help me get some pictures of the kids feeding the birds so im waiting and waiting and......

On another note, i now have 3 babies laying, 10 more to go and one old hen to figure out and eat. Im hoping the eggs get bigger as they mature. Right now all 3 are laying small, medium eggs.

,not happy with my water station, too much poop, needs cleaning too often, gotta come up with a new plan.

Like diva said, nipple waterers. They will use them, the red color gets their attention and they figure it out. I just recently a couple months ago started using them. One coop 5 gallon bucket, other 15 gallon. It definitely saves water also, I topped them off with garden hose once shortly after I put them together, they still have plenty of water in them. No more daily carrying water jugs, and they ain't never going to go thirsty.

 

[bruceha2000]

SCG oh don't sweat the small stuff - you both smell like skunks and he is still around. Proof positive you guys are for real!!

At this point, no one else would have either of them

Quote:
Yep. I put in the nipple water pipe for my now 4 Y/O girls when they were only about 5 months old. One of the Anconas hit the shiny metal pin before I even had water in the system. No training needed! And the now 1 Y/O girls learned from them. Simplest thing ever - a dark water source that is easy to fill and never goes green.

 

[gpeters3]

Like diva said, nipple waterers. They will use them, the red color gets their attention and they figure it out. I just recently a couple months ago started using them. One coop 5 gallon bucket, other 15 gallon. It definitely saves water also, I topped them off with garden hose once shortly after I put them together, they still have plenty of water in them. No more daily carrying water jugs,
and they ain't never going to go thirsty. 

Looks like this editor wont embed pics so ill just say, i use nipples but, apparently, enough water drips when they drink to turn any poop into mud making it unsanitary and messy and stinky so i will have to clean often or get a new dedign.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I won't use nipple waterers but thats my particular situation. But there are several people here whow are pros at getting them not to leak.

One thing that comes to mind is putting a drip tray under neath. at the very least it will keep water out of the bedding.... and up where it can evaporate. a temporary solution for sure.

But I belive the installation of the nipples involves drilling the hole smaller than is required by the instructions so you get an interference fit. And Or using teflon tape.

Me and threaded seals.... no success here.

deb

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have used 3 types of drinker cups and 3 kinds of nipples.
This is my favorite cup.
It twists off for easy cleaning with no leaks.

This one works better for chicks because the float keeps it full, however, it is a pain to remove for cleaning and when it is low enough for chicks to use, it will get dirty.


Then, cups aren't appropriate in winter.
This is the vertical nipple I started with but they do occasionally leak and if using a bucket, you can't set the bucket on the ground. I probably won't use them again.


I had a few of the vertical all stainless ones that I put in a bucket, not knowing they are intended only for PVC pipe. The chickens pushed the nipples into the bucket and all the water leaked out.
That led me to trying the horizontal nipple.
I've gone to them exclusively because they are the answer to freezing weather if you have a means of heating the water. The seal is inside the water source so stays thawed.
All my horizontal nipples are in PVC pipe but if you want to use them in a bucket, another plus is that you can sit the bucket on the ground.





All cups and nipples can leak but that can be corrected if you determine the cause. It is usually because a bit of debris got under the seal. When drilling or cutting PVC it is important not to allow any debris to get into the pipe or flush thoroughly before installing the nipples.
Keeping water pressure in a range is important to control leaks too. I have a system with 10 nipples in 5 housing units and no leaks.
I'm about to redo my pipes in a couple other buildings and will be installing horizontal nipples in there but with a section of plastic guttering under each set of nipples just in case they do leak.
I have learned over the years not to use Teflon tape on PVC fittings. Teflon tape is intended for metal pipe. It makes the PVC too slick and you can easily overtighten.
For PVC you want to use pipe joint compound.

 

[bruceha2000]

I'm with CC on this. I'm currently using vertical saddle nipples but the concept of using a pipe with a remote source container allows for a "drip catcher" underneath. They'll likely end up kicking bedding into the trough but you aren't planning on them drinking from it. The chickens are not going to be using that space anyway as the pipe is likely close and parallel to a wall. If you use a bucket you need space all around so multiple chickens can drink at once and you really can't put a drip catcher underneath that. Plus the source for a "nipples in pipe" system can be outside the coop with the nipples inside. Much easier to fill a remote container as well.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That's exactly what I do. I have my water in 55 gallon plastic pickle barrels, then run 1/2" pipes across the outside of walls with 1/2"x1/2"x1/8" slip/slip/thread fittings. I drill holes in the wall and stick the 1/8" thread tee through the hole and screw the horizontal nipple from the inside. - If that makes sense. I'll try to get some pictures.