We're still planning our coop and I was considering something similar to this bubbler fountain for providing water. I should explain that we live in the Sonoran desert and are already in triple digits and likely will remain so until September. Any standing water gets hot! The coop will be divided inside (see link) with hens on one side and doves, etc. on other side. The bubbler would be made so that we have an automatic water leveler attached (otherwise evaporation would be an issue). My thought process is that the the water would be getting refreshed because of the leveler and water would be cooler since it is moving. (coop link) http://www.santanvalleycoops.com/apps/webstore/products/show/4446062 The idea was also perhaps to have the surrounding pebbles not quite so high to allow a little more depth of water. Is this possible to provide water for 3-4 hens this way?
I can't really see any huge problems with that. Actually that seems like a pretty dang good idea. It would indeed keep the water cooler; however, knowing chickens, I would suspect they are likely to jump onto the waterer itself and poop in it, so it would likely need frequent cleaning.
Thanks. I did have some concerns about the poos but wasn't sure if it would be bad enough to make this idea not work. Anyone else have thoughts on this??
I'm really sorry, but I don't agree. It looks great, and the idea of having fresh cold water all the time is very appealing. But chickens poop. Copiously. Large poops. And they poop no matter where they are at the moment. That means that they're going to stand on those rocks and poop. Your reservoir and pump are under the rocks, most likely with a screen covering them. The water is going to liquify the poop. And where is that liquified poop going? It's going to percolate down through the rocks and screens and into the reservoir and into your pump. So in no time at all your chickens are going to be drinking poopy water. They also drop teeny feathers and down, and the water will eventually work that down and feathers under the rocks. If it doesn't get down into the reservoir, it's still going to sit on the screen and form mats. Your pump is going to get a lot of sediment in it and clog and you'll be spending more time taking the entire assembly apart and cleaning it than you can even imagine. Believe me, it doesn't take much to clog a pump, even with a pre-filter on it. Bacterial growth is nasty to try to clean out of them. Do yourself a favor and get a bucket with nipples or PVC pipe with nipples and a cooler as a storage tank. I'm really sorry, not what you wanted to hear, but we finally took our pump and little bubbler out because of constant cleaning and the slimy, sewer smelling water.
I'm going to have to agree with Blooie, the wise and all-knowing of chickens" on this one. All I can see is bacterial infested poop water that ends up abandoned because the pump refuses to work. Although, if you have cats and dogs that spend copious amounts of time outside, especially in the summer, this would make an awesome fresh waterer for them and I am seriously thinking about installing one of these near gardens (like a garden feature, but accessible to my cats, dogs) but I'm not sure how I would prevent the evil guineas from pooping in it and they poop bigger poops than my doggie!!
