Behold!
The Amazing Automatic Rain-Water Chicken Coop Drinking Station & emergency drinking water source!
Thats right... No More cleaning that NASTY MOLDING GREEN 5 gallon watering bottle with th red plastic bottom!
No More Hauling around that heavey bottle all the way out to the coop for me! EVER AGAIN!
How to make an automatic rain water chicken drinking station & emergency water source.
First you need a Big HONKIN pickle barrel.
don't forget to wash it out with blech and a hose several times!
Rip off the two part lid and cut your filling and venting holes.
Next, with all that chicken wire YOU SAVED after building your coop,
make a 2-ply coated chicken wire disk and fit it in side top of lid cap.
( this will keep your screen from ripping when the rain POURS.)
Next make a 2-ply aluminum window screen cap and wrap it around the chicken wire cap and fold screen under...
Use pilers and a hammer to make it flat and "waffer thin".
Next flip your filter disk "screen Up" and dont forget to use a Sharpy to mark on the screen where your holes are.
(You will NOT be able to see them through the screen when installed on the barrel.)
Re-assemble the lid ring and the cap.
Next spend the next 3-4 hours installing a rain gutter on you chicken coop.
I used the rest of my aluminum screen to make a cover on top of the rain gutter... An agonizing process.
(BUT...I hate cleaning out rain gutters even more! Not gonna do it...)
Add some gravel, a few cinder blocks, the modified barrel, and a flexi-drain.
(Notice, I wrapped the end of the "flexi-drain" with more screen and Zip-tied it, to keep bugs out)
Next add a hose spicket, so you can hook up a garden irrgation hose for the garden or to fill up water buckets to be purified for drinking water in an emergency. In case of a desaster, You will need a powerful water purifier if you want to drink from this source.
(We have a "Royal Berkey". Yes, it is awesome!)
Use 3/4' pvc pipe and fixtures to make Chicken drinking center.
And. . . Finally get "chicken nipples" ($2 each) delivered in the mail with perfect timing and install them...
Next... wait for rain.
Don't forget 4 table spoons of bleach every month or so to keep things pure.
After a few monthes I discovered I was having problems with my chicken's water getting "Lakey"
(barely green with a slight "yuk" smell)
even after adding 3 table spoons of bleach a month to my 50 Gal barrel.
I purchased some sulfer based purifier from my local agri supply,
which worked, but it costs $30 month!!! OUCH!
So I did a little research and purchased an "Garden Hose Filter Clear" from
www.purewaterproducts.com
and the filter I put inside of it is called:
MatriKX CTO
"A free-flowing but very effective carbon block.
A versatile and inexpensive filter that works anywhere carbon filtration is needed."
When I called in to find out if 1.5 pounds of rain barrel pressure was enough to run the filter
The info gal there had no idea if it would work or not, but she steered me to this low water pressure item.
I received it in the mail and hooked it up and YES it works with 1.5 pounds of rain barrel pressure!
The water coming out of the system now has zero smell and is clear
The set up ran me $50 and the replacement filters will run me around $20 Per YEAR!
Here are the photos:
The Amazing Automatic Rain-Water Chicken Coop Drinking Station & emergency drinking water source!
Thats right... No More cleaning that NASTY MOLDING GREEN 5 gallon watering bottle with th red plastic bottom!
No More Hauling around that heavey bottle all the way out to the coop for me! EVER AGAIN!
How to make an automatic rain water chicken drinking station & emergency water source.
First you need a Big HONKIN pickle barrel.
don't forget to wash it out with blech and a hose several times!
Rip off the two part lid and cut your filling and venting holes.
Next, with all that chicken wire YOU SAVED after building your coop,
make a 2-ply coated chicken wire disk and fit it in side top of lid cap.
( this will keep your screen from ripping when the rain POURS.)
Next make a 2-ply aluminum window screen cap and wrap it around the chicken wire cap and fold screen under...
Use pilers and a hammer to make it flat and "waffer thin".
Next flip your filter disk "screen Up" and dont forget to use a Sharpy to mark on the screen where your holes are.
(You will NOT be able to see them through the screen when installed on the barrel.)
Re-assemble the lid ring and the cap.
Next spend the next 3-4 hours installing a rain gutter on you chicken coop.
I used the rest of my aluminum screen to make a cover on top of the rain gutter... An agonizing process.
(BUT...I hate cleaning out rain gutters even more! Not gonna do it...)
Add some gravel, a few cinder blocks, the modified barrel, and a flexi-drain.
(Notice, I wrapped the end of the "flexi-drain" with more screen and Zip-tied it, to keep bugs out)
Next add a hose spicket, so you can hook up a garden irrgation hose for the garden or to fill up water buckets to be purified for drinking water in an emergency. In case of a desaster, You will need a powerful water purifier if you want to drink from this source.
(We have a "Royal Berkey". Yes, it is awesome!)
Use 3/4' pvc pipe and fixtures to make Chicken drinking center.
And. . . Finally get "chicken nipples" ($2 each) delivered in the mail with perfect timing and install them...
Next... wait for rain.
Don't forget 4 table spoons of bleach every month or so to keep things pure.
After a few monthes I discovered I was having problems with my chicken's water getting "Lakey"
(barely green with a slight "yuk" smell)
even after adding 3 table spoons of bleach a month to my 50 Gal barrel.
I purchased some sulfer based purifier from my local agri supply,
which worked, but it costs $30 month!!! OUCH!
So I did a little research and purchased an "Garden Hose Filter Clear" from
www.purewaterproducts.com
and the filter I put inside of it is called:
MatriKX CTO
"A free-flowing but very effective carbon block.
A versatile and inexpensive filter that works anywhere carbon filtration is needed."
When I called in to find out if 1.5 pounds of rain barrel pressure was enough to run the filter
The info gal there had no idea if it would work or not, but she steered me to this low water pressure item.
I received it in the mail and hooked it up and YES it works with 1.5 pounds of rain barrel pressure!
The water coming out of the system now has zero smell and is clear
The set up ran me $50 and the replacement filters will run me around $20 Per YEAR!
Here are the photos:
