diy chicken watering system

see if this works?

The basic principle is much like one that we use. However, Hubby tried building a home-made one years ago, and if the container you use isn't rigid enough that it maintains its shape under pressure, the container will collapse and you'll likely have a mess, (in our case in the chicken coop, so I can't recommend highly enough that you test your prototype in a spot that will enjoy a drink!)

With our commercial version, essentially, as the chickens +/- gravity, empty the water, pressure builds up in the container until it sucks air in through the out valve making a "glug, glug" noise that tells me everything's working properly. However, that means that the system is also capable of sucking in some of the dirty water. So even if you use this to try to save some time, if you can't fairly easily disassemble it for cleaning,  you may find it gets amazingly scuzzy pretty fast. We add a little hydrogen peroxide to the ones we use for our meat birds as that helps.

That said, I don't think Hubby put a shut-off right where the hose entered the container (he'd used a new plastic gas can). That might help a lot. I'd still be looking for a container that was quite thick plastic and more of a round shape than rectangular if we were to try another diy version.

If your goal is a system with a hose continually available to refill water, I think you'll like the one described here:
https://permies.com/t/163895/Infinite-Chicken-Water-Basic-float
Also lots of ideas here:
https://permies.com/t/156691/chicken-waterers

hey thank you for the quick replies. im planning to upgrade our chicken pen. closer and less work carrying water. im attempting a deep mulch system as i collect a lot of garden waste from my work. any info is really appreciated thank you!

Juniper Zen wrote:If your goal is a system with a hose continually available to refill water, I think you'll like the one described here:
https://permies.com/t/163895/Infinite-Chicken-Water-Basic-float
Also lots of ideas here:
https://permies.com/t/156691/chicken-waterers

really neat idea thank you

Jay Angler wrote:The basic principle is much like one that we use. However, Hubby tried building a home-made one years ago, and if the container you use isn't rigid enough that it maintains its shape under pressure, the container will collapse and you'll likely have a mess, (in our case in the chicken coop, so I can't recommend highly enough that you test your prototype in a spot that will enjoy a drink!)

With our commercial version, essentially, as the chickens +/- gravity, empty the water, pressure builds up in the container until it sucks air in through the out valve making a "glug, glug" noise that tells me everything's working properly. However, that means that the system is also capable of sucking in some of the dirty water. So even if you use this to try to save some time, if you can't fairly easily disassemble it for cleaning,  you may find it gets amazingly scuzzy pretty fast. We add a little hydrogen peroxide to the ones we use for our meat birds as that helps.

That said, I don't think Hubby put a shut-off right where the hose entered the container (he'd used a new plastic gas can). That might help a lot. I'd still be looking for a container that was quite thick plastic and more of a round shape than rectangular if we were to try another diy version.

thank you for the tips and good advice. the chicken pen has a worm bin inside the mulch to help compost and feed the chickens so not too worried about the water spilling. the tap at the bottom would be open while its in operation but closed to fill it up so theres still chance of bad stuff goin back inside