Waterer needed. Pics of fresh built feeder!

[snyder11]

I need some advice on what kind of water to use. How hard is it to transition from a traditional water source to a nipple system.

Pic of the feeder just took a 3 inch PVC pipe with a 60 degree elbow. Screw cap up top and cut out 4 holes we will see how well this works.

 

[chfite]

For my chickens, I installed the nipple system and waited. After a few minutes, one of the chickens got curious about the red color and pecked it. Next it started drinking from it. I removed the watering jug. The rest of them figured it out in a few minutes.

Done.

Chris

 

[snyder11]

Thanks I'm planning on building one. we shall see how it goes.

 

[KenOmatic]

This is a nipple watering system I made from 1' pvc and an old Igloo water keg. My chickens like it but I think they like a pan of water better.

 

[vickiw]

Hi snyder11

that looks like a great idea for a few chickens (like I have)! Have you tried it out yet? How did it go? Do you think it will work with pellet feed?

 

[snyder11]

Not sure yet my chicks are still in the brooder. Will update once they are big enough to be outside. Any ideas on how to keep my water from freezing. It gets cold up here in the winter and somtimes in the summer.

 

[papajoker]

Took two days to convert 8, 3 month old hens to nipples. One or two got it right away and the rest took a while. I had to put a few beaks under the nipple a few times to get them to figure it out. Maybe I started too late? Whatever, it works great and is sooooooooo much less work. That and a homemade wooden feeder that holds a 50# bag of feed and my maintenance time has been cut to close to nil.

 

[vickiw]

Yep, gets really cold here too (northern WI). I just bought a 3 gallon waterer with a built in heater. It has dual thermostats so it only heats what is needed (either the jug or the tray). Got it on sale so it only cost me less than $25. We got down to 20o last night and my regular waterer never froze but my coop is super insulated.

 

[dcsharpe]

How did you attach the spigot to the cooler so it wouldn't leak?

This is a nipple watering system I made from 1' pvc and an old Igloo water keg. My chickens like it but I think they like a pan of water better.

 

[KenOmatic]

How did you attach the spigot to the cooler so it wouldn't leak?

When I removed the spigot there was a 1/2" hole in the cooler. The hose bib that I used had a 1/2" male nipple, so I stuck it through the hole in the cooler and re-used the plastic sealing washer and locknut that were on the backside of the spigot. I put a small amount of silicon on the outside where the hose bib went through.
I think I am going to change the metal hose bib to something made of PVC so I don;t have to worry about the apple cider vinegar (that I just started using, thanks to some previous posts) reacting with the metal parts.