People have been raising chickens since time immemorial. For some it is a business, for others it is an activity for pleasure, for others it is a desire to provide only themselves and their families with dietary meat and eggs.
But in order to achieve a result, you need, as elsewhere, to work hard. If you or your family live in a rural area or you have a summer cottage, then you can do a lot with your own hands for your own pleasure and saving money.
Drinking bowl is an indispensable and necessary item in raising any poultry. You don't have to buy it. All or part of it is done with their own hands from improvised means.
General requirements for home conditions
There are general requirements for them that you need to consider if you intend to make them yourself:
- she must be easy to use... The water tank should be easy to fill, if necessary, manually or through the plumbing system. You should also immediately think about free access to the bottom of the container. For example, if you take a 200-liter barrel with a 10 cm plug neck as a tank, it will be easy to fill, but impossible to wash or clean from the inside;
- safety requirement... Includes use to craft quality material. If the container and pipes are metal, they are taken from stainless steel. If you choose plastic, PVC, other plastics - its substances cannot be toxic and harmful to poultry. The material should not react with water-soluble drugs;
- it should not get dirty long term. The bird should not swim in it, otherwise clog it. For this, open areas of water are minimized in area;
- they are made sustainable tipping over or well fixed (depending on the design) and strong (material, design);
- their design must optimally fulfill its function - from it the bird should drink unhindered, no problem.
Homemade nipple drinker
If your goal is to design a nipple drip bowl, this requires the following:
- nipple;
- droplet separator;
- trumpet (water flows through it) with a plug and a drain;
- capacity for water (if it will be taken not from a water supply system with a regulator (if it is supplied under pressure).
If we take it directly from the plumbing system, the container can be omitted. But it is preferable to stand. Therefore, as an example, we consider the second design option. We attach a PVC pipe of the required length to the tank at a distance of 5-10 cm. From its bottom.
If one is not enough, by means of connectors we extend it from several. In the pipe, at an equal distance, we drill holes for the nipple and separately for the droplet catcher.
Note: the hole must be drilled for each nipple separately. If we use a drip trap, then it is installed next to the nipple.
One end crimps a pipe, the other is in the shape of a spoon, in which water from the nipple collects while the bird is drinking. Drop eliminator can be purchased or made by yourself from a plastic bottle.
You can do it yourself and in another way.
It is necessary to take any container with a capacity of 10-30 liters and nipples - 4 or 5 (depending on the diameter of the bottom). First, we drill the holes for the nipple.
Then just insert the nipples into them. We hang the container or put it on a tripod so that the bird can easily reach the nipple. The construction is ready.
There are nipples operating at 360 degrees, there are nipples at 180 degrees (up and down).
The former is recommended for chickens, the latter for adult birds.
DIY vacuum variety
This design is mainly used for chickens. She supplies water using a vacuum, which constantly flows out of the container when needed, that is, until the poultry drinks it. Then the container is refilled.
We make from 5 liter plastic bottles
It is not difficult to make a vacuum-type structure yourself. In this case, you do not need to buy anything additionally, as in the variant described above.
Option number 1
For this we need: One plastic bottle for 2.5 liters and one for 5 liters and 2 screws.
- First cut 5 liter bottle as shown in the picture. We only need the bottom ¼ part with a lid.
- From 2.5 liter bottle unscrew the lid and attach it with screws inside the 5-liter lid. 2.5 liters. poke a hole with a diameter of 6-7 mm in the bottle.
- Screw on 5 liter lid with attached 2.5 liter lid.
- We lower it from above 2.5 l. container into a cut 5-liter one and screw it onto the lid. Subsequently, to pour water into 2.5 liters. unscrew the bottle again from the cap fixed to the large 5-liter cap. It pours out of the hole and fills the space of the cut bottle up to the level at which the hole is.
- This design for convenience and rigidity fasten on any support such as a wall. At the top, a loop of wire holds a 2.5 liter bottle, and at the bottom - 2 rods screwed into the wall.
Attention! When making this type of vacuum design, it is necessary that the sides of the 5-liter part of the bottle are located above the hole for water leakage.
Option number 2
A drinker from a 10-liter plastic bottle can be made according to a simplified scheme. It is also suitable for a 5-liter.
First, make a 6-7 mm hole in a 10-liter bottle, about 5 cm from the bottom. But the distance will directly depend on the vessel in which you put the bottle. If it is deep, then the hole is made higher.
Next, we put it filled with water in a bowl. It will stop flowing out of the bottle as soon as its level reaches the hole. The bottle can be refilled on site by unscrewing the top cap. This is also a type of vacuum feeding system.
Important! The bottle is sealed with a lid.
Feeder for chickens from the pipe
An open-type drinker is made from a sewer plastic pipe with a diameter of ten to fifteen centimeters. To do this, cut out several rectangular holes 25-35 centimeters long in the pipe. In this case, the first and last hole is made at a distance of 10-20 cm from its edge.
The distance between the holes must also be 10-20 centimeters. They are cut with a grinder or other tools. The edges are cleaned to avoid possible scratches and cuts.
Tees with plugs are installed on the ends of the pipe. When water needs to be poured, remove the inlet plug, pour out - drain. You can connect this type of structure to an existing water supply network, if necessary, fill it with water, then shut it off with a tap. This will allow you to refill it effortlessly.
In the hen house for roosters and hens, it is fixed with clamps of the same diameter as the pipe. They are fixed in such a way that the pipe is raised 15-20 centimeters from the floor (ground). Install it at a slight slope (1-2 degrees) to flush the pipe, and the contents were drained by gravity.
The water in such a structure quickly becomes dirty and loses its freshness; the pipe is often washed. To do this, not a plug, but a drain valve, is installed on the tee from the other end of the pipe. It's easier to work with the drain this way.
For information: this type of design is not suitable for chicks as they can choke or drown.
Chick drip model
The chick drinker should preferably be of either a vacuum type or a nipple type. If you choose the first option, make sure that the chickens do not drown in the bowl into which water will flow from the bottle, that is, so that the sides of the bowl are not high.
If their livestock is small, they buy a vessel for a homemade vacuum drinker (in the form of a saucer and turn a glass jar onto it).
Chickens in the first days of life, defenseless. If they are raised separately from the brood hen, people take care of their safety. Chicks become more active with age. This means that the drinker must be well secured.to avoid the danger of tipping over and injury to young animals. In addition, due to accidentally poured water, the litter becomes wet, which leads to bird disease.
Important! In no case should a simple vessel be placed for chickens, especially with high sides - the likelihood that they will choke or drown increases.
It is not recommended to choose the PVC pipe drinker option for them for the same reasons.
You can use a constructive version of the nipple drinker. Then it is important to fix it at the level of the chicks head.
Compare types of water dispensers for birds
Nipple: convenient to use, safe, keeps clean water for a long period, does not tip over. More suitable for adult birds. The central pipe can be connected like a large tank, which acts as a reservoir.
They are also connected to an existing water supply. Among the shortcomings, one can note its high cost, since almost all the components of this type of construction will have to be bought.
Vacuum: convenient, pollutes water more than nipple, provided good fixation is safe, does not require money for manufacturing, it is easy to do it yourself. More suitable for chickens.
Disadvantages: if it is not enough to secure it, there is a possibility of it tossing over, you must constantly pour water into the container. If its volume is small, this should be done often.
Drinker from the pipe: convenient, more used for adult livestock, durable, resistant to tipping over provided it is well fixed, it can water a large number of heads, it can be connected either to a tank or to a plumbing system.
Disadvantage: not suitable for chickens, the water in it quickly becomes dirty.
It is better to choose what type of drinking bowl to do with your own hands, based on the availability of available materials and financial capabilities.