Farmers who breed birds know that chickens are not very clean creatures. They defecate in their own food, stain perches and do other similar things. And most of all it affects the water. Therefore, the poultry farmer, who can make drinkers for chickens with his own hands, is capable of facilitating his life to a large extent. There are several options for manufacturing such devices, varying in cost and complexity of assembly.
Drinking bowl for chickens
Varieties of drinking bowls for domestic chickens
Even before pat to the assembly, it is necessary to see what kind of homemade chicken troughs can be made in the existing conditions. We need to find out what materials are required for her, how convenient she is for feathered pets. And it is also advisable to understand how a handmade chicken drinker works. Because the principle of action can also vary for different types of devices. It is conditionally possible to divide all these designs into several types. These types of homemade drinkers for chickens:
- The simplest option is a regular basin or bucket of water. But his birds can turn over, or stain a drink. Therefore, for such dishes, additional fixators are usually made so that it does not turn over.And on top it is covered with a plastic or metal lid with holes.
- The second option is an automatic prefabricated drinking bowl for chickens. Water is supplied to it from cans, from a glass jar or a plastic bottle. It is served either directly in a bowl, or with a plastic or metal pipe. Often a cup-based water supply system is used.
- The third option, which is often used by farmers, is home-made vacuum drinking bowls. In fact, the vacuum device is a type of automatic drinking bowl. It is often used for feeding small chicks. But it is suitable for installation in a chicken coop for adult birds. The second name for such structures is bunker drinkers.
- Finally, the fourth scheme is a nipple device. And here it is most difficult to answer the question of how to make a drinking bowl for chickens according to a similar scheme. Everything except the nipple can be made without big problems. But here a homemade nipple for a homemade drinker is not easy to assemble. And you usually have to buy it.
In principle, it’s realistic to make these drinkers for domestic chickens with your own hands. But we need materials and at least some skills to work with the necessary tools. And you will also need the tools themselves, which, however, are usually available to every farmer. The manufacture of such devices is usually cheaper than their purchase in finished form.An exception may be only those designs that were purchased from other farmers at a bargain price. But even in this case, it is usually easier to assemble them yourself.
Home-made vacuum drinkers
Home-made vacuum drinkers are used even by those who, in fact, are not too good at understanding them device. For their manufacture, you will need to take a jar, or other similar container, with whole walls and a bottom. You can make a container from a plastic bottle, for example, from a large five-liter container. All the necessary components can be found or made by yourself at home. For manufacturing, you will need a whole container, utensils like a bowl and, possibly, a lattice that will prevent the bird from staining water.
The assembly principle is very simple. Pure water is poured into cans or bottles, after which the container is installed in a bowl upside down. It must be fixed in this position, so sometimes a suspension structure is made, in particular, if the drinker is near the wall. In size, it, of course, will be smaller than the drinking bowl that is used to feed large or small cattle. For horses, sheep, pigs and piglets, much larger containers are needed. Yes, and such a device is not suitable for cows because of the small volumes.
Nipple drinkers for chickens
If you list the types of drinkers for chickens, you should also mention the drip or nipple drinkers drinkers.All its parts, with the exception of the nipple, are easy to make with your own hands. Similar designs are pipes into which water is supplied from a specific tank. A liter plastic bottle will suffice for chickens, and a large canister or even a barrel will be required for adult inhabitants of a large chicken coop. Often, such a drinker is made from a used sewer pipe, previously thoroughly washed.
In any case, each nipple drinker for chickens is made from pipes of one type or another. They must not rust, or contain substances harmful to the health of birds. It is permissible to use polypropylene water pipes, which are excellent for these purposes. In principle, you can take a tight hose, but in the chicken coop it will not last long. Therefore, it is better to use durable PVC or polypropylene pipes. Yes, and a similar drinking bowl can be made with heating, or just warm it.
If you look at a similar drinking bowl for chickens in a good photo, its design will become more understandable. Nipples cut into the pipe, and water is supplied through the pipe from a special container. The water tank is usually heated in winter so that the nipples do not freeze. And then, so that the chickens do not catch a cold in the winter. Typically, farmers prefer to hang a similar device on the wall of the chicken coop. There it holds better, which means it is able to last longer.A similar chicken drinker can be of any size, and designed for both 5 and 50 birds.
Making a simple nipple drinker
The simplest automatic nipple drinker is made by yourself from an ordinary plastic bucket and nipples. Nipples, as already mentioned, it is advisable to purchase, as it is not easy to make them. It can be 3, 6 or 10 liter, depending on the volume of the bucket and the needs of the birds. It is best to do it at least 10 liters in order to change the water less often. At the bottom of the bucket, 3-5 holes are drilled into which the nipples are inserted. It’s best to do them along the edges of the bucket so that it is easier for birds to drink.
They should be directed vertically downwards with the metal part, so it will be more convenient for chickens. The junction with the bucket is better insulated from leaking. Otherwise, equipping the drinker with a nipple dispenser will be a waste of time. After that, the bucket is hung at the height where birds can easily reach it. Now it remains only to draw water into it, and then the birds themselves will figure it out. When they see droplets of moisture at the ends of the nipples, they will start pecking them. Water will begin to drip, birds will drink it – and so on.
To prevent moisture from disappearing, it is advisable to make small bowls for drinking bowls into which water will drip. A 0.25 liter bowl for each nipple is enough. Nipple drinkers for a large chicken coop are made in a slightly different, more complex way.At the upper point, a container with a drink is fixed. It is connected by a hose to a pipe fixed in a horizontal position. And in the pipe itself, nipples and bowls are already installed, according to the same principle. The pipe must be sealed with plugs so that moisture does not leak.
Nipples for drinking bowls
For those who want to make a nipple drinking bowl for hens , you must first purchase or make a suitable nipple yourself. However, you need to understand that different designs are suitable for different birds One option is usually called 360 degrees – this is the kind in which any pressing causes the water to start flowing. But the car drinker for adult chickens is usually made with a nipple of 180 degrees – it moves only up and down.
The design of the nipple can be seen in the video. A thin tube or tap is a moving part. Inside the nipple has a shutter that flows around the water.In the initial state, the tap is pressed against the shutter by springs or a spring on all sides. When you press it, it moves away from the shutter, and water flows through it. But the spring is compressed, and when the pressure disappears, returns the valve back. This scheme is easy to understand (from the drawing or from the video), but it is difficult to reproduce in the materials. Therefore, farmers recommend buying nipples:
“nipple drinkers are a convenient thing.They are not difficult to make on their own, and this can be a device from an ordinary bucket, pipe or even a drinker from a plastic bottle for chickens. And there is no problem putting them in a place convenient for laying hens. The problem is not arrangement. And the fact that the nipple must be purchased. To do this, you can contact local specialized stores, or order it online. It is difficult to recommend a specific manufacturer – you need to look at the reviews and choose the most suitable one that is available. “
Cup drinkers for chickens
There is another difficult, but convenient design, which is often used to feed animals. Such a drinker for chickens with their own hands is made only by sufficiently skilled craftsmen who can reproduce it in the material. Its name is Cup Bowl. And cup drinkers are used both for drinking cows and for feeding chickens. Although microcup construction is usually used for small chicks. But the principle of operation is exactly the same, the differences are only in dimensions and in the material used.
A similar drinking bowl for hens can be made at home only if you have certain skills and materials. In bird drinking cups, the bowl is rarely a liter, or, especially, a larger volume. Although in form it most resembles a shallow bowl. It is done under laying hens and chickens, so its length rarely exceeds 10-15 centimeters.The principle is that a tap valve supplying water is connected to the bowl by a lever. When there is no water in the bowl, a special spring presses it out and opens the tap.
Principle of operation of the cup drinking bowl
When enough water is collected, the weight of the bowl begins to overpower the spring pressure . The laying bowl lowers slightly and the lever closes the water. And does not let her pour until the bowl is empty. And it can become empty only when laying hens and chickens drink from it. In this way, the moisture supply is regulated, and the birds do not receive drink more than they need. And considering that all the bowls are small and the chickens cannot jump on them, the water is not wasted.
Separate cup drinkers can even be connected to plastic bottles, from which the water will come. But this design is only suitable for chickens that do not require a lot of moisture. And for a large chicken coop, a large capacity will be required, from which water will be drawn into each of the bowls. Usually a barrel is used for these purposes, from where moisture is distributed through the pipe system. The tank is usually installed at the top of the system so that no pumps are needed.
Conclusion
There are a number of different drinker designs, and each of the options can find its own application. And the most important thing for every farmer is to choose the design that suits him.
