Water for chickens.

[Snadger]

I have a largish water container for my small flock at the allotment and at present it lasts them a couple of days, possibly three, easily. My worry is that as the weather gets warmer it may not last that long.

I ususlly sort them every day and refresh water, but lately, because of car problems this has had to be every couple of days. Their food is auto supplied from a spring on the bottom of a container and usually lasts about 10 days, so that is not a worry.

I have a couple of small 25 litre plastic drums, with lids that I could use as a backup.
I was thinking of fitting something like this :-

Nipple - Water Tank Large Cup Nipple Drinker for Poultry, Game birds | eBay

I just wondered whether anyone else used an automatic drinking system. This would be as well as there existing water supply so should ensure they always have water.

[Snadger]

So i take it thats a big fat NO then?

[Nicos]

No.....but as in 'no idea!'
Sorry.......but it looks like it should work!

[veggiechicken]

Its a BIG FAT NO from me!

I have several water containers. One catches rain off the roof; one's an old preserving pan and one's a proper chook one I've had for years - like this - that keeps the water fresh for ages.

[Stan79]

I just have two water containers which last them a good couple of days. If they need more water i will just chuck another container in...

I would have thought that if they are used to one system of drinking, having a second "backup" method that is completely dfferent might be redundant if they don't know it's there / how to use it, etc. My chickens aren't the brightest bunch. I reckon they'd die of dehydration before figuring out how to peck the nipples as they're used to their water coming out of nice, simple chicken waterers!

Now, if you only had the nipple system and taught them how to use it... that might work better over a longer period if those containers hold more water than your current setup (in my uneducated opinion).

[Jay-ell]

When you described it as a bit like the water container in a budgie cage I imagined an inverted container of water over a trough of water so that the mouth of the container is under the water water only drops out of the container when the water level in the trough drops below the level of the neck.



Something along the lines of BM's fish TV. That way they don' have to learn new bits to press, they just have to drink