What to use for a 10-20 gallon water tank?

[shopchicks]

I have a hanging 5 gal bucket with poultry nipples in the bottom and it works great, but the downside is that the birds jump up on the bar it hangs from, and poop on the bucket. I'd like to find a bigger container that I could put just outside the run, with a pipe into the run fitted with poultry nipples, but I can't figure out what sort of container to use. I could do this with a 5 gallon bucket, but if I'm going to the trouble, would like to get a bigger container while I'm at it. Obviously needs to be a material like plastic that I can fit with the PVC pipe, and needs to have a big enough lid that I can open it up and scrub it out, and can't be translucent, which will grow algae. Any ideas?

Maybe it would be easier to just put up some wire mesh to block them from jumping up there!

 

[DanEP]

I have used a garbage can in the past that was hooked up to watering cups but it would work with nipples too.

 

[LoneOak]

Do a search of Craig's list or just search for barrels and get you a food grade barrell. I recently got a 60 gal barrel and it is now in the hayloft of my barn plumbed into a smaller bucket (to reduce pressure) and feeding 10 nipples soon to be expanded to as many as I have room and a need for. When you get a barrel, it doesn't have to be food grade but its nice to start with a clean one, make sure the bungs (top caps-don't get an open top barrel) have 3/4 threads in the center. You simply cut the plastic out on the bottom of the bung and screw in any 3/4 pipe with 3/4 MalePipeThread.

I had to put in a smaller bucket with a float for the barrel to feed because with how high it is the pressure was too great and it sounded like someone turned a faucet wide open every time the chicks pecked at one. If you search for a company USPlastics you can get the floats and a really neat product called a uniseal to help set up your bucket pressure regulator system. The floats are made by Kerick and work great, study them and make sure you get the correct size and style-adjstable is better. The UNISeals are really neat to as all you do is drill the correct size hole in a bucket or drum insert the uniseal and puch the correct size pvc pipe through it. It will not leak if do it correctly and you can connect whatever plumbing you need.

I put in a rain collection barrel on my very first coop probably 10 or 12 years ago and it is still going strong. I have just recently installed a uniseal in the bottom so it was much easier to clean it out this year. I plumbed it to feed the Little Giant Automatic Poultry Founts way before I discovered water nipples. The founts have had to have maintenance with some part replacement but they still work 10 years later. Here is a picture of the first barrel just under the gutter where it collects its water.

You have got to love God given free resources. The black pipe goes to 2 founts, one on this side and one on the front. The clear plastic tube is a gauge and the valve on the left is drain an very seldom fill, once during the draught of 09 and early each spring after a cleaning.