[Chookster]

I would really like to get one of those £25 - £30 tripod drinkers but I am absolutely broke at the moment. 

My chickens and quails have those cheap red plastic based feeders and drinkers you see everywhere but I find them absolutely rubbish a lot of the time.  They either crack or they get fouled so badly - i have tried raising them off the ground but then you get some clever chicken decide to clamber it for a better look than the others and then the next time you come to inspect their well being find there's no water as it's been tipped and spilt.

i've tried recycling oval dishes and wiring them to the side of the pen but these aren't tough plastic and again have had their problems.

SO - any links on you tube or advice anyone can give about making do and recycling something - i would like a decent amount of water supply, maybe even one of those very large paint tubs or something similar and easier to clean out before hand.... hoses could be in there...

 

[Chookster]

oh wait... just found this...

http://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-waterer.html


any more guys? 

[Feeb]

what a great idea!

[GrannieAnnie]

We get these cheep half height buckets from our (sort of) local cheapo shop!  They are £1 each and some of the ones I've got are 4 years old and been outside 365 days a year!

Here is one in the turkey pen!  They do occasionally get pooped in, but they don't usually overturn until nearly empty, even with about a dozen or more chickens standing on the rim!

[Chookster]

but what about algae build up? My chickens at the museum have had a large enamelled dish this year and we've had it fouled often or litter kicked into it and some birds in particular always seemed to foul it? What a brilliant size bucket though!

[GrannieAnnie]

They are washed out every day Chookster, so algae doesn't often get built up unless I'm a bit lazy and forget to wash them out one day!

[AmandaH]

We've got a proper lovely glass & galvanised drinker in the run but, dotted around the garden, I have put water in a few old flowerpots.  Not the ordinary terracotta ones with the holes in the bottom but ones designed for indoor plants that hold the water in.  Everyone's got a few old chipped ones under the sink!  I do rinse them out but I'm not as fussy as I am with the drinker.  If it rains, I leave it - like the cat, the chooks seem to like rainwater!

Anyway, it saves my poor old ex-batts having to walk all the way back to the run if they want a drink.  They do get knocked over sometimes but most of them are quite heavy and quite stable...

Just a thought!  

[terrijane]

I bought one of these of e-bay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Poultry-Drinker-Chicken-Bantam-Quail-Auto-water-Cup-kit_W0QQitemZ320412786535QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry?hash=item4a9a171f67&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

and have it attached to a Black caravan water container so algea doesnt start, it is positioned high up as its gravity fed, so I can fill it up with the hosepipe. I also have  a few pots dooted around so they can drink rainwater.

[Sassy]

You could try using used milk containers. The plastic ones with a handle from the supermarket. They come in idfferent sizes as well. If you cut diagonally across the carton from above the handle down this leaves you with an open carton with a handle that you can tie onto something in the run or hen house so that it cannot be knocked over. If you don't cut too low they will not be able to poop in it.

[Chookster]

I bought one of these of e-bay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Poultry-Drinker-Chicken-Bantam-Quail-Auto-water-Cup-kit_W0QQitemZ320412786535QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry?hash=item4a9a171f67&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

and have it attached to a Black caravan water container so algea doesnt start, it is positioned high up as its gravity fed, so I can fill it up with the hosepipe. I also have  a few pots dooted around so they can drink rainwater.

Oh i saw those! do they work at all? Any success?

[Chookster]

You could try using used milk containers. The plastic ones with a handle from the supermarket. They come in idfferent sizes as well. If you cut diagonally across the carton from above the handle down this leaves you with an open carton with a handle that you can tie onto something in the run or hen house so that it cannot be knocked over. If you don't cut too low they will not be able to poop in it.

I noticed a good few people did that at the last poultry auction i went to....

[poppies]

You could try using used milk containers. The plastic ones with a handle from the supermarket. They come in idfferent sizes as well. If you cut diagonally across the carton from above the handle down this leaves you with an open carton with a handle that you can tie onto something in the run or hen house so that it cannot be knocked over. If you don't cut too low they will not be able to poop in it.

I noticed a good few people did that at the last poultry auction i went to....

this is what we use at the auction,  also good if you have to quarantine  a bird, another idea is to screw a margaine or icecream tub onto the side of the coop and then put another one inside that way they cant spill it but you can remove the loose one for cleaning