Worth the $ Waterer?

[Kacey Elle]

I currently have horizontal nipples on a #5 plastic bucket. In the summer heat, I always worry about chemicals leaching into the water (even though the waterer is in the shade). Has anyone tried this waterer? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QHJ4DJJ/?tag=backy-20

Alternatively, for someone who is not at all a diy-er, is there any reason I couldn't drill holes (or get one of my friends to do it for me, more likely) in a stainless steel container and just insert the nipples I currently use?

 

[imnukensc]

What chemicals are you concerned about leaching into the water? I wouldn't spend the money on SS and the horizontal nipples I'm aware of are not designed to be screwed into SS. You could buy a food grade plastic bucket and use that.

 

[Kacey Elle]

@imnukensc I recently heard that plastics labeled #5 should not be heated because when they are they can leach chemicals. #5 plastics are fine otherwise but I guess can be harmful when processing the plastic, and afterward, when exposed to heat. Not sure exactly which chemical(s) is/are released when it is hot but from experience I do know that the bucket becomes softer and more malleable in the summer, which always freaks me out a little!

 

[blackdog043]

I would use these adapters for a cooler with horizontal nipples, before I spent the money on that waterer with the cups. You could put an ice block in the cooler on real hot days.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N4QWRDT/?tag=backy-20

 

[Thyme4Chickens]

I just picked up more food grade 5 gal buckets at Walmart - $3 each and they are labeled #2 plastic.

Love the cooler adapters!

 

[Tortoise]

I would think a metal would get really hot in summer and freeze real easy and fast in the winter.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

You are probably changing the water before much of anything leaches into it. (Just my guess, not from a scientific study!)

 

[Kacey Elle]

I would use these adapters for a cooler with horizontal nipples, before I spent the money on that waterer with the cups. You could put an ice block in the cooler on real hot days.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N4QWRDT/?tag=backy-20

I love this idea!!! Do you use these yourself?

I would think a metal would get really hot in summer and freeze real easy and fast in the winter.

I was worried about the heat in summer, even though I keep my waterer in the shade. No freezing, though...I live in California.

You are probably changing the water before much of anything leaches into it. (Just my guess, not from a scientific study!)

LOL! Maybe not. I tend to be lazy about the waterer because I don't like lugging the water to my coop. I have a huge 5 gallon bucket and only four chickens.

 

[blackdog043]

I love this idea!!! Do you use these yourself?

No I do not, I use food grade buckets and a 14 gallon food grade drum, with horizontal nipples.

 

[katieuppi]

We use food grade buckets, but I wonder about the plastic that the nipples are made from....