Where is the water going?

[gale65]

Quote:
Good idea. I did get another one and it's in there now. I'll do some testing with the first but I am 99.9% sure it's leaking somewhere, since the bedding was all wet around it. The one I had was made by Millside Industries. The new one is a Little Giant brand.

 

[partsRheavy]

1. I would change it every day rather than just once every 6-7 days in order to control dirt/bacteria. Clean chickies ------->> healthy chickies.

2. Chickens drink a lot of water.

3. I doubt this is the case, but if it isn't on a level surface the water can dribble out and make a mess.

 

[gale65]

I do know they drink a lot and probably more now that they're laying. But the fact that a gallon of water disappeared overnight (I put one gallon in it around 5 pm and by morning it was gone, and they were sleeping almost the entire time) and that the water was in the shavings makes me suspicious. It had nothing to do with it being level. If so, the water would have been dribbling out the top of the tray and it was well below the top level of the tray. It was right at the level of the hole.

I have no plans to change chicken water daily. I know a lot here do but then a lot of people here have chicks in their house and I wouldn't do that either. I think they'll be fine with it changed weekly or twice weekly (or more often if they really are drinking more).

 

[Tala]

Always had troubles with those kinds of waterers. They were always leaking, either from not sealing or not setting level.....and they weren't all that clean either. I switched to 8qt Fortiflex buckets and never looked back. Yes they get dust in them, but not really any worse than the upside down deals. Dumping and refilling is a breeze, compaared to taking that thing apart and then flipping it over which always resulted in me getting wet, especially in the winter. Buckets are sooooooo easy to fill. Heh. I have a brush made for cleaning car wheels that I use to scrub them weekly (a toilet brush would also work) and I just top them off in-between scrubbings. Oh and they don't leak at the drop of a hat. Fortiflex is super strong plastic and its really UV and cold weather resistant. Some of my buckets are 2+ years old and not a single crack; sunshine, freeze thaw cycles, you name it, they're tough.

 

[gale65]

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I don't have to flip this one over. It fills from the top.

 

[OldGuy43]

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If I had to guess I'd have to say that it isn't really a water leak, but an air leak at the top. Try this; Get a bit of silicone grease (not spray, grease) and smear it on the the area where you close the top. That may seal it.

 

[gale65]

Quote:
If I had to guess I'd have to say that it isn't really a water leak, but an air leak at the top. Try this; Get a bit of silicone grease (not spray, grease) and smear it on the the area where you close the top. That may seal it.

But if it was a leak at the top, wouldn't the water be leaking over the top rim of the tray? The water isn't even reaching the top rim of the tray.

 

[OldGuy43]

Quote:
If I had to guess I'd have to say that it isn't really a water leak, but an air leak at the top. Try this; Get a bit of silicone grease (not spray, grease) and smear it on the the area where you close the top. That may seal it.

But if it was a leak at the top, wouldn't the water be leaking over the top rim of the tray? The water isn't even reaching the top rim of the tray.

My mistake. Missed that part. Sorry.

 

[drifter]

They are just drinking it. I have the similar model but in a 5 gallon and my 10 hens go thru it like nothing. No water around it so I know its not leaking....they just drink ALOT !

 

[gale65]

Quote:
I don't think so. I mentioned that I put in a gallon in the evening and in the morning it was all gone. I don't think they would have drank a gallon of water overnight (they were on the roost in the closed coop almost the entire time and the water was outside). I did put the new one in and they are consistently going through about a half gallon each day, which is close to what it was before the "leak" so I know for sure that it was leaking somewhere. Just don't know where.