Automatic drinkers?

[Snadger]

Right here's the plan!

I've hust built a chicken run and coop out of recycled materials. Within it is incorporated a perspex covered lean-to, so that the chooks can get out of the rain.
Because the coop and lean-to have a large surface area I intend installing guttering and a downpipe into a large blue plastic external water butt.

Because the land is sloping and the water butt will be at the top of the slope I would like to supply a gravity fed automatic drinker of some description.

Basically what I am asking is............does anyone use a gravity fed watering system and does it work well?

[Suechooks]

Chicken house man has one on his web site which is fed either from header tank or water butt. (Wells Poultry)

[its hilly]

Oooo, just assumed all waterers would run off mains..I'm off to investigate.
Thanks Snadger and Sue, you could have just made my life lots easier.

[MaureenHall]

I was thinking along the lines of an old lavatory cistern with a ball-cock thingy. I might get my new bathroom sometime soon so there'll be some stuff to recycle

[Suechooks]

I was thinking along the lines of an old lavatory cistern with a ball-cock thingy. I might get my new bathroom sometime soon so there'll be some stuff to recycle

Will the chooks have to pull the chain to get a drink?!!!!!

[Snadger]

Will the chooks have to pull the chain to get a drink?!!!!!

It would be handy if I could train them to use toilet paper also!

[Bramble-Poultry]

Hahaha toilet paper - cheered me up Snadge

We have an autofill system in the turkey run - it is off mains though but we use a ball cock same as in the toilet cistern and an old header tank that we got of freegle, it works exceptionally well.

A gravity system is virtually the same the same so should work just as well.

Next system we put in is going to use the little cup drinkers that have an integral float valve - anybody tried these?

[Glutton4...]

...Next system we put in is going to use the little cup drinkers that have an integral float valve - anybody tried these?

Lots of Horsey folk use similar in their stables - as it saves on labour, and there's less risk of the animal running out.

The down side with that is you cannot monitor consumption, which probably wouldn't matter with Chooks, and they do have an awful tendency to freeze in the winter, then flood the place when they thaw...

[Snadger]

................. and they do have an awful tendency to freeze in the winter, then flood the place when they thaw...

Good point Glutton.............hadn't thought of that!!!!

[HayleyB]

Oh god yes, flooding, I had to remove a whole bed of woodchip (in the days we didn't have rubber matting must have been about 12 bales worth when an auto drinker froze. Me troughs now....

[matthew2riches]

Next system we put in is going to use the little cup drinkers that have an integral float valve - anybody tried these?

I use these on our growers. Very simple and efficient. It's all indoors so not really any risk of freezing

[penny]

Hi I got a red gravity fed water pot off ebay which had a valve the hens pecked at to allow water to flow into a drinker dont buy one of these the hens pecked the valve right off and I am sure one has eaten it; luckily it didnot eat the little spring but it could have. I now have a drinker from ebay which is black and has a counterbalanced weight on the back and an in pipe and an out pipe so several can be run on a line this works very well from a pipe from the water butt so I hardly think about watering the birds now but i do clean them out every few days. These drinkers were about four pounds on ebay. They may need a bit of playing with the setting up but once done great.

[Snadger]

Hi I got a red gravity fed water pot off ebay which had a valve the hens pecked at to allow water to flow into a drinker dont buy one of these the hens pecked the valve right off and I am sure one has eaten it; luckily it didnot eat the little spring but it could have. I now have a drinker from ebay which is black and has a counterbalanced weight on the back and an in pipe and an out pipe so several can be run on a line this works very well from a pipe from the water butt so I hardly think about watering the birds now but i do clean them out every few days. These drinkers were about four pounds on ebay. They may need a bit of playing with the setting up but once done great.

Thanks for the heads up penny............have looked at both the drinkers you mention on eBay!

[BUFFS]

It would be handy if I could train them to use toilet paper also!

im waiting to for them to wash their hands!!!!!!!