What feeders and waterers do y'all use?

[FlyingNunFarm]

I have a heated waterer that I use year round. It has a built in thermostat so it turns on and off automatically.

It can be hung but I think the handle seems flimsy. It's also a bottom fill which can be a bit of a pain. But I had to have something heated.
I recently bought a top fill waterer for out in the run. My only complaint is it doesn't empty completely.

Here it is all taken apart. Works with a float instead if gravity. The tray still get a dirty but nothing backwashes to the inside.

This is how much water gets left behind. Not really a problem just annoys me. I look and see water in it but really the tray is empty.
My feeder is ever evolving. I tried a bucket with holes in the side. Food went into a pan.

No matter how big I made the holes I always had to shake the bucket to get the food to come out. The chickens also liked to shovel it out onto the floor.
Being the cheapo I am I tried again to modify the bucket.

I used empty Gatorade bottles. I cut part of the side out and the top off. Then used the neck of the bottle to hold it in place. I melted the edges so they aren't sharp. The food falls over the bottles and the chickens have to stick their head in a little to get the food. I turned the pan upside down to lift it off the floor. They waste almost no food. What they peck out they eat. No more shoveling. I'd like to add wall mounted PVC feeders next but my farm girl ingenuity and stubbornness saved me money on the bucket feeder at least. LOL

 

[Dawnclucks22]

I use the bottom fill type waterer - nothing fancy. My feeder is one of the bottom fill metal ones.

 

[kie4]

5 gallon waterer with gamma lid and horizontal water nipples (amazon for the nipples)
View attachment 1126682
5 gallon no waste feeder
View attachment 1126686 View attachment 1126687

Exactly the setup I use. Nothing gets spilled and it costs $6 per bucket. Bucket lasts a long time before needing a top up.

 

[New2chickens55]

Just brought my first pullets home a few hours ago...a Australorp and a Barred Rock, both 5 weeks. Have 3 more pullets coming next Friday, same age. I am feeding with a standard hanging feeder which they went to right away, and and a bucket with nipples drinker. I showed them how the nipples work from watching a video demonstrating how to teach them. Just not sure they got it as they didnt go to it. I am going to check on them again to make sure they are drinking, otherwise I will have to get a standard drinker that I can hang tomorrow. If anyone has any advice I would appreciate it. Going to check again now.

 

[forgetful]

For the Louisiana climate, I have problems with fire ants, mosquitoes, and rats. I have a feed system very similar to the upright pvc with a small branch at the bottom to eat. In the evening I can screw on a cap to the bottom to cover the food and keep rats out. The branch is long enough to prevent scratching and throwing out feed. Ive tried several methods, including a trigger system where they peck the trig at the bottom of a bucket and feed falls into a pan below. That system was an ant and rat magnet.

For water I use a PVC system connecting to a rain barrel. The barrel collects rainwater from the coop roof. The PVC runs from the rain barrel along the wall into the coop, where horizontal (not vertical or cup nipples). Vertical nipples eventually dripped onto the ground and were messy. I can see the cup nipples collecting mosquito larvae if the birds favor one nipple over the other. And those cups would need cleaning out.

 

[N F C]

I have a heated waterer that I use year round. It has a built in thermostat so it turns on and off automatically.
View attachment 1130268

I'm soon going to need a heated waterer (I'm in Wyoming)...can you tell me where you found yours?

Thanks!

 

[aart]

I showed them how the nipples work from watching a video demonstrating how to teach them. Just not sure they got it as they didnt go to it. I am going to check on them again to make sure they are drinking, otherwise I will have to get a standard drinker that I can hang tomorrow. If anyone has any advice I would appreciate it. Going to check again now.

It can take time. Some get it right off the bat, others take longer.
Mark the water level so you can see how much has been consumed,
even better if you know how much they drink from an open waterer.
If weather is extreme(hot or cold) I put out regular waterer out at very end of day for 30 minutes to make sure they don't dehydrate.

 

[strangeanimal]

I use different waterers as I want to make sure my chickens can find it A-NYwhere they go in the run and coop , reason why is that you always have a few that get every now and then pecked on or bullied or so which results in that chicken to be a bit further away from the flock ( even for just a while I still want to make sure every chicken can drink and eat ) especially water is what they should get acces too at all times so I have a few buckets with nipples hanging there and there and a few waterers to put down ( the upside down sort of buckets ) , that last one is placed on a few stones with wiring around so the chickens do not run it over , made a gap trough the wiring so they can just stick their heads out and drink , also I use a sinken tub that is now a water because we do not really have to expect any hot weather which normally goes into the coop to beat the heat ( so they would always be able to jump into it and get refreshed but I always see them drinking out of it so I clean the tub out more often ) , as for feeding I use the wire around their run a lot to hang on some fresh greenies daily like lettuces , caulliflower etc , they just have to go up to it and peck all they like , it also keeps them busy if they would be bored , did the same thing in the coop too but without wiring around that , just a few metal things holding that but only to lure them in time in the coop and give them a few hours before they go to sleep ( I know its not so good for them because they sleep with a full crop but its only for now ) another feeder is one i made myself which I find OK but not great tough , its a bucket attached to two pipes of pvc and underneath I created a system that each time a chicken stands on the second bar (closest to the feader and over the dish where the food comes ) food comes out , not that great because often the chicken is still standing on that bar while eating instead of getting of and eating out the dish like that and you can imagine what a waste of feed is going on there , I'm checking out some DIY projects as a main feeder and will temporary use the old metal racks for them to give their food by hand

 

[strangeanimal]

It can take time. Some get it right off the bat, others take longer.
Mark the water level so you can see how much has been consumed,
even better if you know how much they drink from an open waterer.
If weather is extreme(hot or cold) I put out regular waterer out at very end of day for 30 minutes to make sure they don't dehydrate.

seems like my chickens also do not seem to understand the waterers with the nipples ? they always drink out of the sinken tub and the smallest waterer standing on stones and covered with wire ? the nipplebuckets are often just pecked at but when I show them how it works etc they just look at you like " yeah good for you but we are thirsty too " and they just drink some drops from the water I tried to show them , litterly they drink it of the ground , that system was quite expensive tough because I did not know ho to build a good one but its a good system I assumed and noticed on other chickenkeepers yet no interest from the chickens , only every now and then some pecking underneath it as they do know there is water because I showed them ? hm , odd ..

 

[FlyWheel]

After going through three of the plastic founts in as many seasons I finally switched to the galvanized metal ones for water. I tried nipple feeders once but I use collected rainwater and when mosquitoes would lay their eggs in it the larvae kept clogging the nipples. The founts just spill them into the drinking area where the chickens gulp them up.

As for their feed, I ferment so a dry-feed dispenser is not an option. So I built a feeding trough which I fill every morning and let the ladies free feed through the day.