Has anyone done a gravity fed waterer withoout the nipples?

[kissmeUfool]

I was thinking maybe I could could build one from PVC without using the nipples. I know it works with feed, but would it work with water? Trying to figure out the best way to take up less space in the coop. Plus, I'd like to attach one to the fencing on the run, Any ideas?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The only way it works with water is that it has to be airtight to create a vacuum.

The nipples or drinker cups are the way to go.

 

[ladycat]

I was thinking maybe I could could build one from PVC without using the nipples. I know it works with feed, but would it work with water? Trying to figure out the best way to take up less space in the coop. Plus, I'd like to attach one to the fencing on the run, Any ideas?

No, if the bucket is higher than the outlet, all the water will run out. The only way it would work would be if you used the nipples, or something with a float valve like the other poster pictured.

 

[WVDoug]

I've been thinking the same thing.

I used an inverted 2 liter pop bottle inside a cut down upright bottle with holes cut into the sides to water my chicks from day 1 to week 9. It only released water when the level got below the opening in the inverted bottle and let air in to reduce the vacuum seal. Absolutely zero waste or leaks.

I tried the same thing with a larger bottle, but the added weight of the larger volume of water sucked in the sides of the inverted bottle and it didn't work so well. Still didn't waste much though.

The vertical nipple system I'm now using is terrible. The litter under the nipples is constantly wet from the chickens only drinking some of the water they release with each peck.

It seems to me that a heavy duty reservoir container fitted with air tight valves (for refilling) and plumbed into a container with pvc would work.

I will be working on such a system later next month when I have the time.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
The watering lines need to be set at the proper height and the pressure needs to be regulated.

I use commercial water lines and the manufacturer's recommendation is that the watering line be high enough that birds must lift their breast slightly and peck upward at the nipple.

They are also adjustable in pressure. We use around 6" of water column pressure, a little more in the summer. The recommendation is that if the litter is too wet that it be turned down 1" of pressure per day until it quits soaking the litter. If the litter gets extremely dry then the pressure should be raised.

The pressure sets the amount of water that is released each time the drinker is triggered.

 

[WVDoug]

I have maybe 5-6" of head. Gravity fed as I do not have running water at the coop.

The nipples are high enough they have to reach up to them. Are they too high?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I don't understand what you have in mind but have you considered using a dog or cat waterier with a float valve that comes on when the water level falls below a certain level? But the water bowl takes up more space than a nipple system, and besides you are right back to washing and de-freezing water bowls. Cup drinkers also work something like this but they have more in common with nipple drinkers than on demand dog waters do. The float valve in these dog waters works something like a water closet or toilet tank. So why not use an old water closet set a few feet higher than the nipple drinkers with water replenished automatically when the water level falls? Don't forget to install an anti syphoning devise so there is no danger of your chicken waterier contaminating an entire city's water system if there is a disruption in service and the water flow reverses. About January of this year someone posted pictures of a system like this that they built.

Commercial egg farms used or at least at one time used a nipple-less water system. It is or it was a shallow "V" shaped tin or aluminum trough that was located in the middle of a row or bank of layer cages so hens from either bank of cages could drink from the same trougth. Fresh water about 5/8 inch deep ran slightly downhill 24-7 in the trough and then out the end of the layer house and into a collecting pond where waste chicken feed deposited in the drinking water precipitates out and clean or semi-clean overflow was released back into the environment. As a former egg farmer I can guarantee you that at todays water rates my monthly water bill would shock a one-presenter into cardiac arrest. IMHO the biggest and best example of a gravity fed valve less water system in North America is the Mississippi River.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

I have maybe 5-6" of head. Gravity fed as I do not have running water at the coop.

The nipples are high enough they have to reach up to them. Are they too high?

They should reach up to them.

What is your setup that you just have 5" to 6" of head? Do you use a regulator?

 

[WVDoug]

2' long 2" pvc with a 90* elbow turned up and a small vertical section.
The nipples are not leaking.
The plan is to connect it to a barrel.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

2' long 2" pvc with a 90* elbow turned up and a small vertical section.
The nipples are not leaking.
The plan is to connect it to a barrel.

What is it connected to now?