Share your history of feeder/waterer setups pros and cons?

[Grandma The Chicken]

I used to use nipple water buckets (which it looks like you can make your own, all you need is a standard bucket you'd find at a home improvement/hardware store, add the "nipples" which can also be bought separately and there you have it), however, we didn't like the idea of the chickens pecking the nipple because we thought our chickens weren't getting enough water, so we switched to having a regular large container or an old pot we don't use and we fill that up and give it to them, instead. We have to put it next to a wall and put some stones by it so it won't tip over because my chickens have a habit of lifting their feet up to scratch objects that can't be dug with their claws. Is it unhygienic? Yes. Does residue and other things fall in the water from time to time, every so often? Yes, but we do change the water several times a week.

 

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

I use old plastic toilet cisterns for water troughs (thing at the top that stores the water in case I have the wrong name for them). I think I got the idea from this site, don't remember, I've been using them for over 8 years now.

I take out the flush valve and replace it with a bath plug so I can easily pull the plug out to clean trough when required. Cut out part of the front where the flush button was to give animals access to the water. I retain the fill valve and use an old washing machine inlet hose to attach to nearby tap or plumb into a water line directly.

This gives a fully automated water trough from stuff people are throwing away! As you can see via the photos I have lots of these, I originally had a couple on wheels I could move between areas as I moved the ducks round, but now I have enough to have them everywhere. The one with the round holes is for my chickens.

Only problems I have is the ducks fill them up with mud and I have to pull the plug and flush them out periodically. Not a problem for the one the chickens used. I do test the fill valve on the newer versions as the floats sometimes stick on the fill tube they slide on. The best ones are the old ballcock type with long float arms, less to go wrong and easy to bend the arm to set the water level.

I use treadle feeders for both ducks and chickens. Ducks and chickens are in separate areas otherwise the pirate ducks would eat all the chicken food and spit in chickens water when done!

Clever idea!

 

[kyrose00]

https://www.chewy.com/little-giant-hanging-metal-poultry/dp/318722

its a feeder like this one

I had one like this and it worked fine for few years. This new flock of mine will have half of the feed on the floor within a day, by flicking it out with their beaks. I now am using this one:

VEVOR Galvanized Poultry Feeder Holds 30lbs of Feed Chicken Feeders No Waste 13.8x8.3x17.7in Hanging Chicken Feeder with Lid Weatherproof Outdoor Coop Food Dispenser​

This one worked fine after I modified it to control the level of the feed available to the hens.

 

[aart]

I had one like this and it worked fine for few years. This new flock of mine will have half of the feed on the floor within a day, by flicking it out with their beaks. I now am using this one:

VEVOR Galvanized Poultry Feeder Holds 30lbs of Feed Chicken Feeders No Waste 13.8x8.3x17.7in Hanging Chicken Feeder with Lid Weatherproof Outdoor Coop Food Dispenser​

This one worked fine after I modified it to control the level of the feed available to the hens.

@kyrose00 can you provide a link to product and post some pics of how you modified it?

 

[LifeSimpleAndSweet]

I searched the description and found this link.

https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Galvanized-Poultry-Feeder-13-8x8-3x17-7in/dp/B092QT42YZ

 

[NicholeT]

Anyone have experience with this Waterer?
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...y-waterer-heated-25-gal-gray-60w?cm_vc=-10005

I'm in Wisconsin and our coop is not that close to a water source so I am looking for something that holds alot of water that can be transported in a sealed container on a 4 wheeler and can be heated.

 

[Swivelhip]

20Pcs Poultry Nipples Water Drinking Device Chicken Hen Quail Automatic Drinker. $14 on eBay. Put them ( 4 to 6) in the side of a bucket. In the winter, I just put an aquarium heater in the bucket to keep it from freezing. Easy to clean, cheap, durable. Simplest, cleanest setup I have ever used. If you want a SQUARE BUCKET Tidy Cat litter comes in a 5 gallon square bucket.

 

[igorsMistress]

I use five gallon buckets with quail cups for water, and five gallon buckets with ports for feed. Two five gallon buckets hold fifty pounds of feed and it takes my flock a while to get through it all. Pigeons can’t eat the feed and they’re half the battle for me.

 

[AJohle]

the waterer looks like this

https://incubatorwarehouse.com/noble-nesttm-5-gallon-bucket-nipple-waterer.html

but much cheaper if you make it yourself. if you have a drill it is super easy. I also have that placed on a chunk of railroad tie so it is chest level to a chicken. anything at ground level is going to get really dirty.

Nipples on Amazon are $12 for 6 and bucket at Walmart is $5. I’ve priced them. I do have a question. I know a lot of people use acv in their water. Can you use acv with the nipples being metal? I read that acv will rust the metal. I’ve been using plastic and when my chicks get older I plan on using acv in their water.

 

[Suzz]

Keeping it simple and easy