what drinker do you use?

[womble]

After going through a few purpose made ones, the plastic ones get brittle very quickly and they are all a pain to fill, I just use a ice cream tub now, one of the oblong ones, put a brick either side to make sure they can't tip it over.
Mostly every night I empty it out and turn it upside down, morning I fill it up with the hose and give it a quick wash out if needed.

[Bramble-Poultry]

dead easy Mo,

get your chosen trough and drill or cut (or melt in some cases) a 1" diameter hole at one end. Thread through this a brass float valve from B&Q (about £6-8) make sure you get the high pressure mains one if connecting to a tap, or the low pressure one if connecting to a header tank.

tighten the nut on the outside of the trough to fix the float valve. Fit the ball float if not already done. Nip to the £1 shop and buy a hose pipe kit (you know, the screw on tap connector, couple of connectors and a spray) use the screw on connector to attach to the end of the thread on the ball valve assembly on the outside. You will now be able to use standard hose pipe snap fit connectors to connect onto the ball valve.

Connect to your mains tap outside. REMEMBER YOU NEED TO FIT A ONE WAY SNAP CONNECTOR TO THE TAP END otherwise the water from the trough could back siphon into the mains and cause contamination of your drinking water.

Turn on the tap and off you go. the trough will fill up as and when the valve drops due to the birds drinking. We place the trough into a frame which is screwed to the run so that if we need to clean out the trough, we just turn off the water and tip out the trought to clean it. when clean, put back onto the frame and turn back on the water.

As long as the float valve fits in the trough, it doesnt matter what size the trough is as the thing keeps filling up. We have used a four foot one on the turkey pens, and a larger 6' one on some of the layers. i will post pictures when i get home so you can all see!

[nmayhew]

I have two of these. I went for galvanised, as they are longer-lasting and far more robust than the plastic type.

NEW 30L GALVANISED METAL DRINKER,POULTRY,CHICKENS,DUCKS on eBay (end time 20-May-10 22:16:46 BST)

I suspect this is what you have, but I don't know why you're having problems. One of mine occasionally lets air in where the bottom nozzle is fitted, and that causes it to drain all the water out. I just have to make sure it's done up tightly enough. I like them so much I'm considering getting two more, so there's no chance them running out when I have to leave other people to look after them.

I did use buckets temporarily, but I had a chicken jump in and drown.

hi guys, and @ Glutton mainly i suppose...

got my 30L drinker today and have just rigged it up - great service from that ebay seller by the way, heartily recommended.

anyway, some teething troubles...!

can someone explain how it will automatically fill up the small bowl at the bottom WITHOUT just draining away the whole tank, which seems to be what is happening?

the little ball thingy which you attach on the bottom of the nozzle seems rather chunky and inflexible - i had assumed it acted like a ball-cock or something, but i guess that is not the case.

what am i doing wrong / obvious thing i am missing?

thanks again,

Nick

PS my girls thought they were in a chook re-enactment of War of the Worlds when i brought it in their cage and stood it up!!

[Glutton4...]

Awwww, bless 'em!

You put the bung over the spout, fill the hopper to about a centimetre from the top, then screw in the cap. Do it quite tight, but don't go mad, obviously. Then push the bung at the bottom to one side (make sure the Chooks aren't poised ready to peck your juicy wet fingers - it hurts!) and when the water level reaches the spout, it will stop filling.

If not, the spout may not be screwed tightly-enough. One of mine is 'iffy' and if I push it to one side it empties (I was considering PTFE tape, but haven't needed to so far).

Good luck with it!

[Hinksy]

How do you stop the bowl at the bottom of the driker getting dirty? (on the 30l tripod drinkers that is!")

Not sure exactly what it is they do but everytime I clean the bowl out on the drinker the next day it's dirty again, they still drink it though!

nmayhew.. Get a Fluorescent ping pong ball to help to see when the water level is getting low.

[Glutton4...]

The bowls in the bottom of mine get filthy, and I have to clean them regularly. I use a washing-up brush. The state they get in, makes me wonder what Chooks carry round in their beaks!

[nmayhew]

hmmm have to say i am not convinced - i will give it a try, but i don't see how that works

as to flourescent ping pong ball, the tank is metal, so how on earth could i see through it??

confused,

Nick

[Hinksy]

Try it out and see!



Nah... If it's a complete metal/Galvanised tank then there is no point, I have a plastic tank on mine and with a ping pong ball you can see the water level.

Is there any type of water level indicator on the Galvanised tanks or how do you know if it's dry?