Waterer reccomendations?

[NightTheSmolHen]

Anybody have reccomendations of good waterers that are easy to clean, and my hens can't spill? I can never find any good ones in stores that aren't way too big & I only have two hens, so we don't need a huge one.

 

[wamtazlady]

I suggest you make your own. It will be cheaper and most likely superior to what you can buy. Get a jug or small bucket with lid. Put a tiny hole near the top to make sure the water will flow. Add horizontal nipples near the bottom of your container. Hang it up with the nipples as high as the chickens' beaks. No dirt can get into it. Mine seldom needs cleaned.

I personally use a 14 gallon tote with lid as my container. I only have 5 chickens but the large container means I don't have to fill the container too often. That is important to me during the winter. Not sure where you live but it gets into the -20s here. I put a stock tank deicer inside and the birds have thawed water no matter how cold it gets here. Since the water doesn't get dirty the tote does not get cleaned until the spring thaw.

 

[Ais]

https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Waterer-Horizontal-Chicken-Installation/dp/B01NBZH4XV
I bought these and a food grade 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Took 5 minutes to make and works fantastic.

 

[Ais]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Normal-Weight-Half-Concrete-Block-Common-8-in-x-8-in-x-8-in-Actual-7-5-in-x-7-5-in-x-7-5-in/3368592
I put it on one of these (with the hole blocked by the bucket/ground so chickens don't get stuck in it - heard some horror stories about that) rather than hanging it. Easier to fill and you don't have to worry about the handle breaking.

 

[backyardaustralorps]

https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Waterer-Horizontal-Chicken-Installation/dp/B01NBZH4XV
I bought these and a food grade 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Took 5 minutes to make and works fantastic.

I also would recommend this suggestion. I use a 5 gallon bucket with 4 of the same exact horizontal nipples from Amazon and it works perfectly. You want ideally at least one nipple for ever 3-4 birds. Really quick and easy project and much better than most premade wateters.

A 5 gallon bucket is still a good size for your two hens, but if you don’t mind filling the bucket more (or less) often, you could also use any size bucket, bottle, or PVC pipe you want to install the nipples onto. I hang the bucket from the top of the run.

No more dirt in the water dishes and no more wasted water. The horizontal nipples don’t freeze as easily as the vertical nipples which I like. A 5 gallon bucket lasts a while too without needing to be refilled! For your two chickens I’d guess you’d need to fill it no more than once a week. I struggled with many of the things you mentioned with traditional wateres and would only use horizontal nipples from now on!

 

[3KillerBs]

I like my homemade horizontal nipple waterers that I made myself with Rent-A-Coop nipples.

As a grocery store deli worker I have access to a near-unlimited supply of food-grade plastic containers so I have them in a variety of sizes. I can't carry a 5-gallon bucket so my largest is about 3 gallons.

I use 2 quart and 1-gallon containers for backup in case of an issue with the main waterer and for offering electrolyte in hot weather.

For only 2 hens how about one of those plastic tubs that cheap ice cream comes in? Even if you don't eat cheap ice cream buying one and throwing out the ice cream is probably cheaper than continually replacing problem waterers.

 

[neo71665]

5 gallon bucket with horizontal nipples user here also.

I'd suggest a dark colored bucket if you can get one. The white and lighter colors allows light in letting algae grow.

 

[3KillerBs]

Before recommending the 5-gallon bucket remember that 5 gallons of water is over 40lbs.

Many people cannot conveniently carry that much weight over any distance.

If it's not convenient to handle the waterer it won't be changed as often as it ought to be.

For the OP's 2 chickens 1 gallon, only 8 pounds, should be sufficient in most situations.

 

[neo71665]

I dump about a gallon in my bucket daily. I don't wait till it's empty and fill it all at once. I clean it out once a month and that involves me changing out the waterer with a 2nd one. I clean the previous one and sit it aside till next month.

 

[blackdog043]

Horizontal nipples in almost any container you wish. If you live where it gets below freezing, you will have to add some kind of heat, to keep the water from freezing, so you may want to use a larger container. If you use a larger container, you can keep it filled using gallon jugs or something similar.
Here's a link for my article, on making a heated waterer.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ock-tank-deicer-and-horizontal-nipples.74609/

I use HZ nipples in gallon pitchers up to 14 gallon drums!