Water Catch idea...

[timp123]

Has anyone tried making use of the rain water to assist in getting water to the chickens? I've picked up a plastic 55 gallon drum, was thinking of putting gutters on my coop, and direct all rain water into the drum... and picking up a hand pump from Harber Freight... so I can on my morning runs to the coop.. just give it a couple of pumps and top of the waterer when needed?

Just an idea... not quite automatic... but it beats walking down our hill, seeing if they need water.. then walking back up the hill and back again, if they do!

If any have anything like this.. please post pics! Love ideas!

 

[calista]

Can you do gravity-fed?

"In the larger coop I finally installed the waterer that is gravity fed from my rain barrels. The valve opens when the weight of the water in the dish is too light. With a 55 gallon barrel dedicated to this water source, I essentially don't have to worry about water for my chickens except for when the temperature is below freezing."

Scroll down a bit on the page to see a pic of the chicken waterer and rain barrel water system, looks nice! I plan to put rain barrels under the coop eaves, too.

http://dynamiteskills.blogspot.com/

 

[nnbreeder]

The only potential problem with that is that droppings from wild birds could be on the roof where the water is running off. Once in the barrel with warmish water disease organisms could multiply and cause problems for the flock.

 

[woodguy]

Quote:
This is true......

 

[timp123]

Ah, I hadn't thought of that... well, I guess I cold just store the 55 gallon drum down there.. and fill it every now & then...

Would be interested to see if any does this anyway and doesn't have issues with bird poo water.... but very good thought.. and thanks!

 

[mgw]

when I was a kid growing up in the pan handle of Idaho, we collected rain water from our roof in a wooden barrel. My bros & I drank water from it all the time. never thought about bird poop,so Hmmmm I feel like brushing my teeth about right now.

 

[DragonEggs]

There is a pipe on the side of my house that constantly drips cold water condensation from my central air system. I've thought about putting a pan under it so that there is constantly flowing cold water for my birds to drink. I'm just not sure if theres anything that could be wrong with this idea. My dad seemed to think it was good.

 

[timp123]

Quote:
LOL

That was great!

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
Yes, check out my BYC page, I've been collecting the rainwater off the Coop since it was built over 15 years ago. I either bucket it out or use the gravity drain hose I attached to the bottom of the stock tank I collect the rain water in. I place goldfish in it to prevent mosquitoes, algae grows in it and I've never had any problems with contaminates from the roof. My mulberry tree will drop leaves and mulberries into the roof and tank, I put the leaf screen mesh over the drain gutter, so nothing big gets into the stock tank----the goldfish eats pretty much anything in the tank, and I've had goldfish survive the winter, some of them got to be 6-8 inchs long. Been working for me for a long time now.

 

[mickistoy]

Quote:
make sure that the a/c is the only thing that is draining water in this line. the reason i say this is if you have a 90%+ furnace they might be using the same drain line. if so the condensate from the furnace is very caustic and not safe for anyone to drink.