Just finished our coop. This is a fantastic easy watering idea!! Do you guys fill it with water (and I’m assuming ice) in the summer? Greetings from the sierra estrella mountains in AZ!
Hey there! Yes, we fill this with our well water as we're finding our attempts to capture rainwater into it are just not what we hoped for! As for ice, no. Chickens don't need cool water, but they do need regular access to it. If you watch free range birds they will drink from any water source handy. That includes puddles of water that are excessively hot. That being said, using a blue barrel will help with both the temp of the water and also keeping algae away.
If you put a bit of copper water pipe in the barrel, the copper ions will kill all the algae. I hate the plastic waterers because they are a pain in the butt to tighten/loosen. Have had many brands. The water should be up high and behind the food. Chickens love to scratch and kick up dirt especially while they eat.
After farming for decades in difficult conditions I’m amazed at the amount of “experts” that are telling this man how to do the job that he posted a video about.
@@stephenmcgraw3610The link to Amazon is in the description portion of this video. You just tap the more word and you can then see the link for all the things they use to make it and many more of the products they use for other projects. I hope you find what your looking for.
Nice job. Couple of things.. Slope the line just a bit.. Helps with the gravity feed, then level the cups. Next.. Either place plants to shade the water lines and the barrel or paint the exterior of them with that stuff that is used to insulate mobile home roofs. It deflects solar heat. If the barrel or lines remain dark it will absorb the solar heat and the water to the birds will be 🔥 🔥 🔥 😥. The set up is most excellent.
Hey Debi, thanks for the suggestions. We painted the line brown thinking that might help until the mulberry trees grow in a bit more for shade. Have to give that roof paint a shot if the water gets to hot for the girls.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Good luck Bub.. I live in Glendale with city water.. But my water in the summer never gets cooler than about 105° even after running for about 20 min. I can even do dishes without turning on the hot water,lol. Years ago i worked for a county road and bridge department and their tar oil was in a large tank painted black. We only had to turn on the tank heaters when the outside overnight temps were going to be below freezing. Crazy.. Lol
Great video. Really appreciate how clean your builds are. It's been 2 years since you posted this, would you mind giving us an update on how the system has held up? Specifically wondering if the bowl and the bowl mechanism have stood the test of time and chickens. Thanks in advance!
Hey JF. The system is still working flawlessly for us. In fact, we've replaced 2 of the cups so far in 2 years. The first was stepped on by one of our turkeys running from our Tom. The other 1 we just replaced about a week ago as it finally gave up the ghost (not sure how it broke, but it broke off at the lever holding the cup). Keep in mind, our brutally hot/dry summers are notorious for shortening the lifespan of anything made of plastic. While this is in the shade year round, it's still out in the elements otherwise.
great video. I'm about to do something similar. going to use a 10ft garden hose from the barrel to the straight pipe with the cups instead though. wish i had seen the spigot you use earlier lol. love the content
That is true, they do need to be replaced over time. It does take a year or two for us here which is a good sign for folks not dealing with dry heat like we have.
@@Not2daysatan in our experience, the nipples regularly leak and we don't have that issue with these cups. Eventually they do need to be replaced, but when they're working they don't leak.
Looks okay!! Needed a union so you wouldn't have to cut to detach but looks like it will work. We just use silicon and a hose bib. And a hose. Stays flexible and easily removed
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm lol! Right On! I love the Chicken Bowls!! Those are great! And yes a rain barrel is definitely the way to go. We use these for our garden. We will have to make one of these systems for our chickens!! Great design.
If you want to make it self sustaining, just install a gutter on your coop/run roof and direct that rainfall runoff through a fine screen to strain out debris and directly into your water barrel.
Is this watering system still working well for you? Specifically, did you have any leaks or clogs, were your birds happy with this system, did you have any traditional waterers available to them as well as the water line, and did you do any tweaking after you made this video? Thank you.
Those are great questions and we really need to do a follow up. We have not made any changes to the system and it continues to function well (no leaks, breaks, etc). It's the only water source for our chickens during the fall through spring months. During the summer (once we get above 100 degrees) we add small pools for them to stand in that they also use for drinking water.
I really appreciate your response time and thoroughness in answering questions. I did see your video on the chicken swimming pools and am going to try a few here in So. Cal. Cool idea.
Great question Marcelino. The cups are designed so when the cup is filled it shuts the water off. As the chickens drink the water it becomes unlevel and it fills back up until the cup is level again when it shuts off. Hopefully this makes sense.
Hey Heather. We didn't jot down all of the parts, so I don't have a list of them. I believe I mentioned each piece if I recall correctly. We've learned since some of these earlier videos to keep a list of parts for this very reason!!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you for your response. I will watch again and take notes and leave a list here in the comments for anyone else that may need it. :)
Never used these style cups, but the horizontal chicken waterer nipples have worked great for me, and involved zero cleaning. Thank you for sharing, extremely easy setup.
This was the first time for us on these cups and they have done really well for us. They do need some occasional clean out, but they don't drip at all which was a challenge for us with some of the nipples.
Thanks for the tutorial. How do,you decide the height? Our chickens are only a couple months old and we are about to build auto water. Don't want to have to move it later if we don't have to. Also, how do,you prevent algae from growing in barrel?
We use bricks under the cups to allow younger/smaller chickens to access the water along with the larger birds. As for algae, we have not had that happen inside the barrel as it's always covered. If you do get algae, you can use a very small amount of bleach in the water to keep that from happening. We do get some algae in the cups, but it's easy to just wipe those clean.
Good Video! I always have two different types watering systems in each yard....if one fails the other is available......water is life out here! :) A wire brush cleans out that algae pretty good! That new tractor looks like too much fun! (if there is such a thing....too much fun)....too speed up the learning curve.....if you squat up to the water cups and peck with your nose......the chickens will follow suit!............just kidding....:)
Hey Dan. Yeah, it's the one thing that makes me nervous going to a fully automated system. If it fails you're in BIG trouble. Good thing is, we're out here at least once a day to check in on things and should catch it. Now to head out there and check your suggestion on leading the pecking order with my nose!
No, we don't do anything to cool the water. The barrel is under our mulberry trees though so it is shaded. However, we have these barrels now for our pigs, turkeys, goats and ducks with no shade and they are just fine. Chickens would be fine as well as you'll see them drinking from any puddle of water no matter the temp when they free range.
Hi! I love your waterer and your video helped me build my own. Thank you for posting it! One question, that green mesh on the coop fence, what is it called? My enclosed chicken run keeps getting wet from rain and I’m thinking that would help with keeping the water out and also help with shade in the summer. Can you share what it is and where you got it? Thank you!
Hey there Janaina. I'm glad to hear you're having success with this waterer. It's still working flawlessly for us as well. The mesh you're seeing is called shade cloth (or privacy screen) and I'll link the one we buy on Amazon for you here. It comes in different sizes, so hopefully you can find one that fits the area well. amzn.to/3ll5l5z
Hey guys, great question. We do see freezing temps here in this part of Arizona, but it doesn't stay below freezing for very long (usually a few hours early in the morning). With that we have had no issues with any part of the system freezing. If you see hard, extended freezes you may need to heat the system somehow, or only use it when temps are above freezing.
The instructions on every watering cup I have purchased tells you to drill a 3/8 inch hole in the pvc. I am pretty sure the threaded side of your T piece is 3/8 inch.
We have the tee in our Amazon shop and it lists the thread size as 1/8". We have attempted to drill a hole, so I can't speak to what size bit you would need to drill. I'll link to the tee for you here, so you can see it; amzn.to/46nuymd
Hey Scott. If you have smaller chicks in there it might be an issue, but 4-5 week old pullets would probably be ok. That's when we usually move them out of the brooder.
Do u know if u can turn it the other way like make them stand up im wanting to put some on my game fowl farm in stead of walking witj a water hose just to water i want to lput the pipes in the ground and the only thing showing will be the water and thwn the cap do u know if it wil still work liek that
The cups you see us using here require the water to fill up nearly to the brim before they shut off. It may be easier to use the watering nipples with what you're wanting to do.
I'll link to a website that shows what ABC looks like. It's a common material used in building roads that is a mix of sand and gravel. arizonasandandgravel.com/p/Abc-Spec/300005
These cups have their own issues as they still get algae and dirt in them and when they get dirty they don't shut off the water to them and then you have a leak
We haven't had that issue here. They do get algae during the summer months, but it's easy to wipe them out with a cloth every few weeks. Now, that may be a bigger issue in more temperate climates, but that hasn't been an issue for us.
We usually find them on Craigslist and there's a guy in Peoria (75th and Peoria) who we have been using. We haven't bought one from him with a removable lid, but he has them available. Email us and we can send you his contact info. Email is on the About tab here on YT.
Hey Shawn. I'm not an expert and can't speak to the chemical side of things, but if it's harmful we're all in trouble. This is the primer and glue that is used for nearly all PVC fittings for every home built in the last several decades. That's what brings the water into all of our homes!
Hello! Thanks for the video. My husband and I did this for our chicken and we absolutely love it! I know you’re in Arizona, not sure if you’re higher up elevation where it freezes, but if so-or open to recommendations- how would you be able to keep the water from freezing with this method? Thanks in advance!
Hey Kara. Glad to hear this one is working for you guys! We do get freezing temps from time to time, but nothing that is able to freeze the parts and pieces to this waterer. Shy of a heat source, I would really not be able to advise you on that. Hopefully we'll have somebody that sees your comment that can help!
Hello Kara. If you have access to a outside power outlet. You could run an 12/3 heavy duty outdoor extension cord over to your barrel. Could even be fancy and hide it in a shallow trench. Go to your local fish supply store or Amazon. Buy a fish tank heater. Some of them you can adjust the temperature and they will then kick on and off to keep your rain barrel water where it need's to be.
This is exactly what I want to do for my chicks. I’d like to know how it’s holding up. Is there another video showing the longevity? Thanks for sharing. 😊
You are going to love this setup for your chickens. We don't have an update video on it, but we're over a year in and have had absolutely zero issues with this. The only thing that requires a bit of maintenance is keeping the cups clean, which is true for this style cup regardless of how you mount them.
@@CraftyTimewithCatPearson for us it was more an issue of sunlight allowing algae to grow in the cups, but as long as you can keep your girls from riding the awning it wouldn't hurt I suppose! Ours like to slide down our nesting box awnings. :)
We have not had any issues with algae inside the barrel, only in the cups from time to time. If you find you have algae building up a tiny amount of bleach can be used to stop that.
Do you have an update video to share if you ever ran into issues? Are the cups still in good shape? How solid are they? If a hen jumps on one, do you think it could break off?
We haven't done an official update video on this system, but it's still running like a charm with no issues. We have replaced a few (2-3) of the cups that deteriorate in the sunlight over time, but they are very easy to swap out. We do place bricks directly under the cups to keep the hens from bumping into the cups and have only lost one to a large turkey jumping on top of the cup. It just broke the cup, not the fittings, so easy to replace. Haven't had a chicken break one.
I'm assuming you're talking about the drinker cups? If so, we've only had to replace 1 and that was within the first few months after one of our turkeys tried to roost on top of it. Otherwise they are working well. One thing to consider, ours are in the shade 100% of the time. However, we do have brutal summers and cold winters!
Our barrel is behind our everbearing mulberry trees, so that gives it some shade. Otherwise it's out in the open. One side note, we have another barrel for our ducks and turkeys that does not have shade and the water works just fine for the birds. They're not bothered by the hot water, in fact, when they're out on pasture if there's water sitting open in a tray or something else, they don't hesitate to drink it up.
this is nice, thank you. I also live in the desert and the heat and sun just add those extra challenges 😅 this is very similar to what I had planned for some coops I need to run water to, just I was thinking of using normal black irrigation piping (as it will be inside) and drilling straight into it. I have made a screen of palm leaves around my water barrel just with a little tie wire. helps keep the sun off until the tree one day grows🙄🤞
I had to update the links. Amazon switched up the PVC Hose Adapter on us and it wound up being a slip on the 1/2" side (it's updated now). As for the coupler that fits into the 1/2" male side of the hose adapter, you would need to get those from a hardware store (Depot or Lowes if you have one near you) and ask them for a 1/2" female to 1/2" slip coupler. They're hard to find online because the cost of a single piece is so low. Hopefully that helps.
Hey Francie. I wouldn't be able to say what the mechanics of it are, but the cups work flawlessly as long as they are relatively level when they are installed.
Hey Mandy. We set this up to catch rainwater from our covered run area, but did not show that (rainwater collection into the barrel) in this video. In fact, we still haven't completed that part of it! However, chickens have no issues drinking rain water. The only time that would be an issue is if you have chemicals of some sort on the roof the water is sourced from.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you so much! Im currently converting my little shed into a hen house and was thinking about putting a gutter on that roof for rain collection for the chickens water source but wasn't sure. I appreciate your response! Great video too🐓👍
I'm in Spain and on my new house kitchen extension the idiot plumber put all the pipes externally ( when they should have been buried) so only extremely HOT water comes out of my kitchen taps in the summer. Why are some " professionals" such idiots?
Oh my goodness! You would assume it's obvious you don't want plumbing subjected to outside elements, especially when you're talking about a permanent structure!
Nice video and I like your method. I am getting ready to install a water system like yours. Mine is a rain barrel off the roof of the coop and needs an overflow. We live in middle TN, not the dessert , and get over 50 inch rainfall per year. May I ask why you picked that specific watering cup as opposed to nipple systems?
This should do really well for you in TN. Not sure how heavy your frosts get, but we get pretty cold (down to 20) and have not had any issues. We chose the cups because they tend to not leak as readily as the nipples do. Unless they break they pretty much never lose a drop.
Good video. I am in the process of upgrading a coop with a similar system. Do you have any suggestions for keeping the water supply tank clean. I am concerned that I will have algae or other buildup in the barrel. Would you recommend a certain type of barrel? I am adding a continuous pump to circulate the water that I hope helps with some of my concerns.
We get this question quite often, so hindsight being what it is I should have addressed it in the video. We have not had ANY issues with algae buildup in the barrel. You will get some in the cups which is a simple matter of wiping them from time to time. The key is the dark colored barrel. We have this system in place in 5 different areas of the farm, all with a standard blue 55 gallon barrel and have no algae issues in the barrels. That's not the case for our pig waterer which is in a white/clear IBC tote. That allows sunlight in which is the problem. Hope this helps!
Cool idea I'm about to build one similar for myself. A word from experience, putting that much tape on or any thread sealer for that matter....is going to come back to bite you. All the extra that's hanging or ozing out if you're using the paste, will wad up and eventually plug itself in a fitting. Less tape my friend.
We've had a few folks suggest foregoing the tape completely with the PVC fittings. I (Duane) was taught to always use it, but I have found that unless there's metal involved it's not really necessary to your point.
We are in Utah and so we have to warm the water in the winter. Wouldn't the water freeze in the cups? We are trying to find the best solution as we are new to this.
Hey Barbara. That's a good question and I imagine if it's cold enough you would have problems with freezing. We get down into the 20's, but not for very long and only in the morning. We did get a few hard freezes this past winter that froze our bird bath water and hoses and the cups were fine, but I wouldn't be able to say if that would be the case for you as well.
nice job. I am curous why you used the cup style waterers and not just the plain nipple style. I would think the cups, like you big floor level unit, would have algae growth in the cups. and i dont see how you can clean those easy. Its nice to see another with the algea problem also. SO many northern farms dont seem to have or mention that issue. Of course i dont have snow and cold. LOL
Great question. We've had some experience with the nipple style drinkers and they can be very hit or miss when it comes to leaking. Sometime they're fine and other times they constantly drip. These do need to be cleaned from time to time, especially during the summer, but it's just a matter of holding the cup down to keep it from filling and wiping any dirt/algae clean.
I love this system but I was just wondering what you plan to do during winter. That would help me so much because where I live is so cold. Your video was really good!
Hey there Zane! That's a very good question and that's something we're not having to deal with. We have had several nights below freezing, but we haven't been below 30 degrees yet this year and we haven't had issues with the water freezing. I'm not sure how cold it gets where you are, but you may only be able to use this during the warmer months if the water in the barrel freezes. You should be able to insulate the pipes (with insulated pipe wrap from Home Depot or Lowes) to keep them from freezing if it's not too cold.
That’s almost exactly how I did mine. I know you’re in warmer climate, but does water ever freeze in the pvc during the coldest night of the year? I’ll get about a week or 2 of freezing weather where I’m at.
Hey there Jason. We have not had any issues with our freezing temps messing with the lines. That may have to do with the fact that the PVC lines are all either under the metal roofing for the coop, or underneath our mulberry tree. Our frosts usually occur during the early morning hours as opposed to multiple days below freezing, so not sure how that matches up to what you experience.
My wife showed me this and I thought it was a great idea for our chickens. I put in four with a 55 gal drum. I put in a union at the beginning of the line to make sure I could get the right angle on the cups. It was all a complete and miserable failure! First one of the cups popped out of its socket - fixed that. Now they all leak like a sieve. The cups when full and down do not shut off the the water and drip about 5 drops a second - all of them. Looks like I will have to go back to that miserable 3 gal water can.
Hey David. I'm not sure where the issue is in your system. We haven't had any issues with the setup you see here going on 2 years in. I can only assume there's an issue with the cups maybe?
Hey there! This system is still going strong over a year later. The only thing we have run into is the need to clean out the cups, but it's easy to shut the system off and unscrew the cups to get them cleaned up and then replaced.
I am planning the exact same system but was wondering about small particles (pollen, etc) that enters the rain barrel from the roof. Do you have any special filtration going on? My barrel comes with a good screen but that's it. Wondering if this will be enough filtration?
Great question here and, for us, rainwater is almost non-existent, so we use well water almost exclusively. That being said, a simple mesh screen would suffice as the only place you'll find issues would be at the 1/4" connection at the water cup. That might eventually clog if you have larger debris or if it accumulates, but as long as you use a threaded cap at the end of the line of pipe the drinkers are attached to you'll be able to flush those out periodically if it becomes an issue. Sounds like you should be good to go with your setup.
Great set up! Ty. Thinking of something similiar. My only thought is my girls for surr would end up using this as a roost. Ill probably just mount it tight to the fence.
This is still going strong a few years later. The only thing we've had to replace are a few of the cups that deteriorate over time in our intense dry weather.
Also, what do you do to keep the water cool since it's so hot there? I know I start feeding frozen veggies, ice blocks, watermelon, water pans to keep their feet cool, etc. My girls still look hot.
Nice clean setup. I did build a scrap wood mini outhouse to cover my barrel just to help keep the water temps down. I think those nuts for the cups are to maybe mount them to a 5 gal bucket like your ball valve. Portable waterer.
Yeah, we're assuming the same with the wing nuts. We are trying to figure out how to incorporate something similar to this for the tractors, so we may end up using them there.
This might sound weird but you could try to make one of those automatic waterers. Algae don't need a lot of light and you could get an algae eater and put it into eat the algae. Don't put the drinking bowl part at the bottom. Keep it at least 2 inches up. That way the chickens have algae free water and another live creature has food. Just an idea
Very helpful. Thanks so much! Question. Would this work with a water hose attached as the water source instead of a barrel? (Maybe the pressure would be to much?) If so, curious why you decided to go with a barrel instead of attaching a water hose (or other direct water source) to the end? Thanks again!
That's a great question and I would think it's possible. The PVC works with high pressure systems, so that wouldn't be a problem. Eventually we plan on incorporating rain catchment into this system. It won't be enough to run on exclusively, but we would like to use it if we can. Hence the use of the barrel.
Love it wish they made heavier duty cups as I could build this out of stainless aluminum or copper think I may put something over the top to keep them from snapping them off but great vid
You could definitely use a hose, but I would use a pressure reducer at the bib to lower the pressure just to be safe. The cups fill very quickly with just the natural pressure from the barrel.
Thanks. I have a set up now hook up to my hose and it seams to be to much pressure on it even with the valve barely open. The jigglers in the cups seam to be too tight to move properly
Nice job. I think I personally would not have hard plumbed the whole thing. I would have made the straight section with the cups and then just put a hose thread on the one end and ran piece of hose from the shutoff on the barrel to the hose thread on the run with the cups. I also probably have put a 45 degree on the other end at a slight down angle. That way you could fasten the straight run right to your fence and the 45 would make it so your cleanout cap was off the fence a few inches. But this is a great concept. Also, using my suggested piece of hose would allow you to disconnect the cups section and drain the barrel water outside of your chicken run very easily
Hey there Cheryl. I'm not sure what happened to these, but thanks for letting me know they were not in there! I have the links to our affiliate pages for the cups and the PVC fittings if you need those also; Cups amzn.to/3dNAD1N PVC Fittings amzn.to/3dLgpFY
We do have the cups (and barrel) in the shade, but chickens are not bothered by warm or even hot water. Much like any other bird you might find in the city drinking from a puddle on the concrete. As for freezing, while we do get freezing temps it's only for a very short period of time in the early morning hours of Winter, so it's not something we have to deal with. I imagine you would need to use a different waterer that you can heat to keep the water from freezing.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you, which side did you mount these on? I'm in North Texas so the heat is a problem too. I will have only 4 chickens. I used shade cloth on the south side and have a roof over they run as well.
@@samuraioodon these are on the West side of our run as it was the easiest place for us to regularly access the barrel for refilling. I can tell you from 10 years of raising chickens here in the desert, you don't need to worry about hot water. We do have shade cloth around the run, but it's to keep the sun off of the birds themselves during the hottest parts of the day. If you free range those birds you'll watch them drinking from puddles of hot water all around your property! 😉
Hey Chris. Right now we have 10 turkeys in here on these water cups and we fill it about once/month. That's about the same fill rate as when we had our 20 laying hens in there.
Great video. The only problem is we are in Virginia so we will have to add insulation to all of the PVC and to the rain barrel and cover the valve during the winter. We could actually build one barrel to provide water for the ducks and the chickens. Do you think those cups will work for ducks or do we need to get something different?
Yes, you'll definitely need some insulation out your way. We use the same basic setup for ducks (also turkeys, goats and pigs), but we use a bowl with a float valve instead of the cups. I'll link to a video we did on it here; th-cam.com/video/5WvbuzPM6Ns/w-d-xo.html Here is a link to the bowl we use on Amazon; amzn.to/44th2ee
Would a similar metal barrel work as well, or does it need to be plastic? Also I noticed the cups were initially angled upward a little bit after you installed them. Did you adjust them down to level or did the water alone move the cups?
Hey Josh. I'm not sure on the metal barrel, but as long as rust is not an issue I don't think it would be a problem. The cups do even out once the water enters them. It's actually part of the design. As they start to lose the weight of the water they slowly rise and that is what causes the water to refill until they're level again.
Yeah, we had links to some of these in the description, but Depot keeps changing the product leading to broken links. Here is a link to what I can find on their website now for that 1/2"xFHT fitting that screws onto the spigot; www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-1-2-in-Slip-x-3-4-in-FHT-PVC-Fitting-53368/100373244 The other fittings are fairly common, but the tees for the cups are unique. Here's a link to one of them on Amazon here; amzn.to/3PcKuAF I'm going to try and add links to the description again, so thanks for requesting this!
@@BillyJBailey sure thing and I did update the description on the video with the odds and ends that are not as common, so there is a reference there also just in case you need it.
Hey Evan. I can't say it was all that scientific. We only keep full grown birds in this run, so we just estimated on both. The only spacing issue is when the turkeys are drinking. For them, it's 1 at a time. Otherwise there's plenty of space for birds to be at each cup.
The main lines are 1/2" PVC and most of the fittings were from Home Depot. The cups and the tees that they go into are in our Amazon shop under Raising Chickens. You can find our Amazon shop in the description of this episode. Hope that helps!
I'm going to try this. I bought most or all the fittings from your Amazon store, and a 50 gallon brown food grade barrel. I'm thinking the brown will keep the algae down. Thumb up for the idea.
Hey Bruce. We're over a year in and have had no issues with this system. As long as the barrel is a solid color you should be in good shape. We have not had any algae issues in the barrel and usually wipe out the cups every few weeks.
Thank you so much. I was ready two purchase to rain barrels for my garden. Then I thought, what about for the chicken water! I googled and found this video. This is awesome so I ordered another barrel for the girls! Did you use a food grade pvc pipe? Does is matter?
Hey there Michele. You're really going to appreciate how well this works for the chickens. It's still going strong even through our hottest summer on record last year! As for the PVC, I don't know whether they are officially graded for food, but these are the same pipes that bring water into most homes these days, so I imagine they must be. Have fun with this!
Hey J T. Which connection are you referring to? We've been able to unscrew at the hose bib (fitting shown at 7:21 in the video), the cups (threaded and spin to unscrew) and the end of the pipe (threaded cap) with no issues. If the fitting at the hose bib is too tight you may need to use vice grips or something similar to hold onto the 1/2" PVC fitting until it loosens enough to spin freely.
We have added acv in the past but have not added anything with this setup. From what I understand it is mostly for the health benefits. I have heard you can use a small amount of bleach for the algae.
Hey Erika, glad you enjoyed this one. I'm assuming you're asking about the hose bib attached to the rain barrel? We purchased that one from Amazon and it's still available, so I'll link it for you here; amzn.to/3yFJgoc Let me know if that's correct.
Easy way to fill the barrel is to put a float valve on the top of the barrel that you can connect to a hose. Connect your hose & go off & do what else you need to do. Once full remove hose. Really easy & you don't need to stand around waiting for it to fill or having it over fill if you get caught up doing something.
Good suggestion Eleni. I imagine you could use something similar with a hose attachment at the top that always keeps it topped up and it's fully automated. Hmm....
That shouldn't be a problem. You can also keep them lower for all of the birds as the larger chickens can still access the lower cups. In nature they would be bending down to water sources on the ground, so they're designed for it. We prefer to keep them higher up mainly to keep them from getting stepped on by the birds, reduce the amount of debris in the cups and deter rodents.
Hey Danny. This set up is still working flawlessly. I can't say I would do anything differently at this point. The only regular maintenance we have to do is cleaning algae out of the cups. Otherwise we haven't had any issues with it.
I'm in the white mountain of AZ and it gets windy and hot here. I used the same shade cloth on my chicken run and my chicken like. I tried nipples and cups with the yellow levers in but my chicken only like the cups that leak because it keeps the cup full which is a waste of water so I'm going to try these cups I hope they work better than everything else I've tried. To prevent the algae I add food grade hydrogen peroxide that I get down at the y at the convenience store.
These cups have held up really well for us and so far we have only needed to replace one (one of our turkeys ran into it while being chased). Great suggestion on the Peroxide. We haven't had any issues with algae in the barrel, but it does accumulate in the cups over time.
Great for summer.... Not so great for colder climates like Michigan. One HUGE thing your missing that is a "should" but not a "must" add would be a changeable particulate filter between the barrel and your runs of PVC as those buckets will quickly get filled up with dirt/dust well as a whooooole lot of BUGS! Even a smaller particular filter with a clear housing well as a shut off valve BETWEEN the barrel and filter so you can see when change is needed and to shut water off when doing filter changes. This could work in winters but only if you have a heated barrel and a pump that constantly keeps a slow but steady flow of water circulating / recirculating.
Great notes and yes, I imagine a very cold winter would put the brakes on a system like this. We do get down to 20 degrees, but it's only for a brief period of time and then right back up above freezing.
Hey Mark. We use the Christie's Hot Blue Glue. It's the same glue that's used by plumbers for the PVC fittings for everyone's home, so nothing different for the chickens.
Hey Rachel! That would definitely be an issue. One of the things that helps us is having the line right up against the chain link, so they're not able to get themselves up onto the cups or the irrigation line.
When it comes to cutting it off too big, I’ve appropriated “better to be looking at it, than looking for it” I like playing with pipe, PVC, copper, steel... glued, threaded, or welded. Creating flow from point A to point B The girls seem curious as always.
Now that is a great way of looking at it. Much harder to add length back to it if you cut too short. Have a neighbor who is moving onto the 10 acres East of us and he knows how to weld. Need to get some tips from him so I can start making 2 pieces of metal stick together!
I bought some of those chicken watering cups last year and I love them!! My chickens aren't smart enough to figure out the peckin' cups. This style made my watering MUCH easier!
Bingo! That's why we're using the barrel as opposed to a hose. It won't replace the hose completely, but we may be able to catch what does fall and use it for the birds.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thinking of maybe for the food putting like a v shape on the bottom of the tank .. and for the water doing something like this video what do you think?
@@a.6019 I think that would work. The key will be the cup you use for the pups. These chicken cups do ok with chickens, but they can't take too much abuse before they break.
This system really does work great. The only thing we've had to replace 2 years in is a single drinking cup that a turkey decided to stand on rather than drink from!
Hello I found the water cups You said you found the little pcv pipe on Amazon I can’t seem to find them to thread the water cups please send me the link
Hey Stephen. I assume you're looking for the coupling that has the 1/4" threaded tee for the cup itself. I'll link that here; amzn.to/3vlCtyT Let me know if that isn't what you were looking for.
Great question and we haven't really had a problem with that. The PVC is only a few inches from the chain link, so it's very hard for a full grown chicken to get up on there. You may need to put the PVC on the ground and use a tee up to the cups if you're finding it's an issue for you.
These are still working great! Still have the original cups out there. I do clean them the best I can every once in awhile and they are not in direct sun which helps.
Great suggestion for folks in the colder climates. We don't see significant freezing here in the Desert Southwest, so it didn't even cross my mind! Thanks for that recommendation!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I’m in Oklahoma sometimes we get a bad winter like this past one . But most of the time it’s cold one day then next it’s warm enough to not freeze lol. I just finished my coop and I will be doing feeders and a rain catch watered in two 55 gallons with your type of idea and with that I suggested just in case . I just retired early during corona. Trying to be self sufficient. Only have 5 acres but goats and chickens with a garden should do well.
@@coziii.1829 good call on getting on that land for retirement. It's our eventual plan to do the same, so working on getting things set up to do so. 5 acres is a lot of space. We're only using about 2 of the 6 acres we have and there is still just a ton of open space.
Just finished our coop. This is a fantastic easy watering idea!! Do you guys fill it with water (and I’m assuming ice) in the summer?
Greetings from the sierra estrella mountains in AZ!
Hey there! Yes, we fill this with our well water as we're finding our attempts to capture rainwater into it are just not what we hoped for! As for ice, no. Chickens don't need cool water, but they do need regular access to it. If you watch free range birds they will drink from any water source handy. That includes puddles of water that are excessively hot. That being said, using a blue barrel will help with both the temp of the water and also keeping algae away.
WOW! That’s a great piece of info to know! Thank u! @@EdgeofNowhereFarm
If you put a bit of copper water pipe in the barrel, the copper ions will kill all the algae. I hate the plastic waterers because they are a pain in the butt to tighten/loosen. Have had many brands. The water should be up high and behind the food. Chickens love to scratch and kick up dirt especially while they eat.
Great notes here!
After farming for decades in difficult conditions I’m amazed at the amount of “experts” that are telling this man how to do the job that he posted a video about.
It is funny how that works isn't it? I suppose over time we just get used to rolling with it.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm absolutely!!! As long as the sun rises, coffee brews, and the smell of diesel fills the morning air… the rest of the day is ok.
Hello can I get all the links to buy the cups and the little pipe that you got on Amazon for the water cup to screw on please
@@stephenmcgraw3610The link to Amazon is in the description portion of this video. You just tap the more word and you can then see the link for all the things they use to make it and many more of the products they use for other projects. I hope you find what your looking for.
Nice job.
Couple of things.. Slope the line just a bit.. Helps with the gravity feed, then level the cups. Next.. Either place plants to shade the water lines and the barrel or paint the exterior of them with that stuff that is used to insulate mobile home roofs. It deflects solar heat. If the barrel or lines remain dark it will absorb the solar heat and the water to the birds will be 🔥 🔥 🔥 😥.
The set up is most excellent.
Hey Debi, thanks for the suggestions. We painted the line brown thinking that might help until the mulberry trees grow in a bit more for shade. Have to give that roof paint a shot if the water gets to hot for the girls.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm
Good luck Bub..
I live in Glendale with city water.. But my water in the summer never gets cooler than about 105° even after running for about 20 min. I can even do dishes without turning on the hot water,lol.
Years ago i worked for a county road and bridge department and their tar oil was in a large tank painted black. We only had to turn on the tank heaters when the outside overnight temps were going to be below freezing. Crazy.. Lol
Slop the line a bit ? What do you mean 😕 🤔 so it's not sloped good enough???
Great video. Really appreciate how clean your builds are. It's been 2 years since you posted this, would you mind giving us an update on how the system has held up? Specifically wondering if the bowl and the bowl mechanism have stood the test of time and chickens. Thanks in advance!
Hey JF. The system is still working flawlessly for us. In fact, we've replaced 2 of the cups so far in 2 years. The first was stepped on by one of our turkeys running from our Tom. The other 1 we just replaced about a week ago as it finally gave up the ghost (not sure how it broke, but it broke off at the lever holding the cup). Keep in mind, our brutally hot/dry summers are notorious for shortening the lifespan of anything made of plastic. While this is in the shade year round, it's still out in the elements otherwise.
great video. I'm about to do something similar. going to use a 10ft garden hose from the barrel to the straight pipe with the cups instead though. wish i had seen the spigot you use earlier lol. love the content
This set up is still functioning flawlessly years later. The only thing we've had to replace are a few of the cups.
Only problem is those cups break over time and/or get dirty. But nice setup
That is true, they do need to be replaced over time. It does take a year or two for us here which is a good sign for folks not dealing with dry heat like we have.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarmwhy do you choose water cups over nipples? Any particular reason?
@@Not2daysatan in our experience, the nipples regularly leak and we don't have that issue with these cups. Eventually they do need to be replaced, but when they're working they don't leak.
Looks okay!! Needed a union so you wouldn't have to cut to detach but looks like it will work. We just use silicon and a hose bib. And a hose. Stays flexible and easily removed
Love that TH-cam handle!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm lol! Right On! I love the Chicken Bowls!! Those are great! And yes a rain barrel is definitely the way to go. We use these for our garden. We will have to make one of these systems for our chickens!! Great design.
If you want to make it self sustaining, just install a gutter on your coop/run roof and direct that rainfall runoff through a fine screen to strain out debris and directly into your water barrel.
Is this watering system still working well for you? Specifically, did you have any leaks or clogs, were your birds happy with this system, did you have any traditional waterers available to them as well as the water line, and did you do any tweaking after you made this video? Thank you.
Those are great questions and we really need to do a follow up. We have not made any changes to the system and it continues to function well (no leaks, breaks, etc). It's the only water source for our chickens during the fall through spring months. During the summer (once we get above 100 degrees) we add small pools for them to stand in that they also use for drinking water.
I really appreciate your response time and thoroughness in answering questions. I did see your video on the chicken swimming pools and am going to try a few here in So. Cal. Cool idea.
Good day sir, thanks for the video. One question though, will water automatically stops flowing when the cups are full
Great question Marcelino. The cups are designed so when the cup is filled it shuts the water off. As the chickens drink the water it becomes unlevel and it fills back up until the cup is level again when it shuts off. Hopefully this makes sense.
Would you happen to have a list of all items needed? I have the barrel. I just would like to have a list for the connections and pipes. Thank you
Hey Heather. We didn't jot down all of the parts, so I don't have a list of them. I believe I mentioned each piece if I recall correctly. We've learned since some of these earlier videos to keep a list of parts for this very reason!!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you for your response. I will watch again and take notes and leave a list here in the comments for anyone else that may need it. :)
Great setup guys. Ill use your video to build mine this coming fall. Good job guys.lol
Well, you can always hop the fence and see it in real life! Your bees love these little cups BTW. :)
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm lol haha Thank you guys
Never used these style cups, but the horizontal chicken waterer nipples have worked great for me, and involved zero cleaning. Thank you for sharing, extremely easy setup.
This was the first time for us on these cups and they have done really well for us. They do need some occasional clean out, but they don't drip at all which was a challenge for us with some of the nipples.
Thanks for the tutorial. How do,you decide the height? Our chickens are only a couple months old and we are about to build auto water. Don't want to have to move it later if we don't have to. Also, how do,you prevent algae from growing in barrel?
We use bricks under the cups to allow younger/smaller chickens to access the water along with the larger birds. As for algae, we have not had that happen inside the barrel as it's always covered. If you do get algae, you can use a very small amount of bleach in the water to keep that from happening. We do get some algae in the cups, but it's easy to just wipe those clean.
Good Video! I always have two different types watering systems in each yard....if one fails the other is available......water is life out here! :) A wire brush cleans out that algae pretty good! That new tractor looks like too much fun! (if there is such a thing....too much fun)....too speed up the learning curve.....if you squat up to the water cups and peck with your nose......the chickens will follow suit!............just kidding....:)
Hey Dan. Yeah, it's the one thing that makes me nervous going to a fully automated system. If it fails you're in BIG trouble. Good thing is, we're out here at least once a day to check in on things and should catch it. Now to head out there and check your suggestion on leading the pecking order with my nose!
Awesome video! Does your water stay cool enough in the barrel in the shade during summer? We are in PHX. About to do the same build. Thanks!
No, we don't do anything to cool the water. The barrel is under our mulberry trees though so it is shaded. However, we have these barrels now for our pigs, turkeys, goats and ducks with no shade and they are just fine. Chickens would be fine as well as you'll see them drinking from any puddle of water no matter the temp when they free range.
Hi! I love your waterer and your video helped me build my own. Thank you for posting it! One question, that green mesh on the coop fence, what is it called? My enclosed chicken run keeps getting wet from rain and I’m thinking that would help with keeping the water out and also help with shade in the summer. Can you share what it is and where you got it? Thank you!
Hey there Janaina. I'm glad to hear you're having success with this waterer. It's still working flawlessly for us as well. The mesh you're seeing is called shade cloth (or privacy screen) and I'll link the one we buy on Amazon for you here. It comes in different sizes, so hopefully you can find one that fits the area well.
amzn.to/3ll5l5z
That’s why I plan on doing but what do you do when it gets to freezing temperatures and below?
Hey guys, great question. We do see freezing temps here in this part of Arizona, but it doesn't stay below freezing for very long (usually a few hours early in the morning). With that we have had no issues with any part of the system freezing. If you see hard, extended freezes you may need to heat the system somehow, or only use it when temps are above freezing.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks great video!
The instructions on every watering cup I have purchased tells you to drill a 3/8 inch hole in the pvc. I am pretty sure the threaded side of your T piece is 3/8 inch.
We have the tee in our Amazon shop and it lists the thread size as 1/8". We have attempted to drill a hole, so I can't speak to what size bit you would need to drill. I'll link to the tee for you here, so you can see it;
amzn.to/46nuymd
Awesome.👏👏 Much needed tutorial. You two rock! 👍
Glad you found this one useful!
Seems too high if you are going to put chicks in there.
Hey Scott. If you have smaller chicks in there it might be an issue, but 4-5 week old pullets would probably be ok. That's when we usually move them out of the brooder.
Do u know if u can turn it the other way like make them stand up im wanting to put some on my game fowl farm in stead of walking witj a water hose just to water i want to lput the pipes in the ground and the only thing showing will be the water and thwn the cap do u know if it wil still work liek that
The cups you see us using here require the water to fill up nearly to the brim before they shut off. It may be easier to use the watering nipples with what you're wanting to do.
One of best video on Chicken Waterers Information.Thank You
Glad you enjoyed this and found it useful Juan!
When he set up the cinderblocks he said he put ABC in to secure on place. What is that,Gravel? Thanks
I'll link to a website that shows what ABC looks like. It's a common material used in building roads that is a mix of sand and gravel.
arizonasandandgravel.com/p/Abc-Spec/300005
These cups have their own issues as they still get algae and dirt in them and when they get dirty they don't shut off the water to them and then you have a leak
We haven't had that issue here. They do get algae during the summer months, but it's easy to wipe them out with a cloth every few weeks. Now, that may be a bigger issue in more temperate climates, but that hasn't been an issue for us.
Do you have a good source for those barrels? Last prices I saw were upwards of $100 for food safe barrels.
We usually find them on Craigslist and there's a guy in Peoria (75th and Peoria) who we have been using. We haven't bought one from him with a removable lid, but he has them available. Email us and we can send you his contact info. Email is on the About tab here on YT.
Most guys full of it yours Great agree 100 % 😊
Thank you Henry, glad you enjoyed it!
We tried this and water always goes bad and smells terrible.
Did you use a dark colored barrel? We use the dark blue ones as they are opaque and have had no issues with the water quality.
Can the primer and glue particles get into the water and cause long term harm to the chickens and their eggs?
Hey Shawn. I'm not an expert and can't speak to the chemical side of things, but if it's harmful we're all in trouble. This is the primer and glue that is used for nearly all PVC fittings for every home built in the last several decades. That's what brings the water into all of our homes!
Hello! Thanks for the video. My husband and I did this for our chicken and we absolutely love it! I know you’re in Arizona, not sure if you’re higher up elevation where it freezes, but if so-or open to recommendations- how would you be able to keep the water from freezing with this method? Thanks in advance!
Hey Kara. Glad to hear this one is working for you guys! We do get freezing temps from time to time, but nothing that is able to freeze the parts and pieces to this waterer. Shy of a heat source, I would really not be able to advise you on that. Hopefully we'll have somebody that sees your comment that can help!
Hello Kara. If you have access to a outside power outlet. You could run an 12/3 heavy duty outdoor extension cord over to your barrel. Could even be fancy and hide it in a shallow trench. Go to your local fish supply store or Amazon. Buy a fish tank heater. Some of them you can adjust the temperature and they will then kick on and off to keep your rain barrel water where it need's to be.
@@89PWRRAM Thank you for that suggestion for Kara!
My question with the freezing is even of you insulate pr add a tank warmer will the little cups not still freeze to much? Thanks!
This is exactly what I want to do for my chicks. I’d like to know how it’s holding up. Is there another video showing the longevity? Thanks for sharing. 😊
You are going to love this setup for your chickens. We don't have an update video on it, but we're over a year in and have had absolutely zero issues with this. The only thing that requires a bit of maintenance is keeping the cups clean, which is true for this style cup regardless of how you mount them.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm sweet!! Thank you for getting back to me! 😊 This is great to know. Maybe a little awning for over the cups??
@@CraftyTimewithCatPearson for us it was more an issue of sunlight allowing algae to grow in the cups, but as long as you can keep your girls from riding the awning it wouldn't hurt I suppose! Ours like to slide down our nesting box awnings. :)
What do you do to prevent algae from growing in the barrel?
We have not had any issues with algae inside the barrel, only in the cups from time to time. If you find you have algae building up a tiny amount of bleach can be used to stop that.
Do you have an update video to share if you ever ran into issues? Are the cups still in good shape? How solid are they? If a hen jumps on one, do you think it could break off?
We haven't done an official update video on this system, but it's still running like a charm with no issues. We have replaced a few (2-3) of the cups that deteriorate in the sunlight over time, but they are very easy to swap out. We do place bricks directly under the cups to keep the hens from bumping into the cups and have only lost one to a large turkey jumping on top of the cup. It just broke the cup, not the fittings, so easy to replace. Haven't had a chicken break one.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Awesome! Thanks so much!
Update?
These have horrible reviews after some use.
I'm assuming you're talking about the drinker cups? If so, we've only had to replace 1 and that was within the first few months after one of our turkeys tried to roost on top of it. Otherwise they are working well. One thing to consider, ours are in the shade 100% of the time. However, we do have brutal summers and cold winters!
How do you keep the water in the barrel from getting hot in the heat?
Our barrel is behind our everbearing mulberry trees, so that gives it some shade. Otherwise it's out in the open. One side note, we have another barrel for our ducks and turkeys that does not have shade and the water works just fine for the birds. They're not bothered by the hot water, in fact, when they're out on pasture if there's water sitting open in a tray or something else, they don't hesitate to drink it up.
this is nice, thank you. I also live in the desert and the heat and sun just add those extra challenges 😅 this is very similar to what I had planned for some coops I need to run water to, just I was thinking of using normal black irrigation piping (as it will be inside) and drilling straight into it. I have made a screen of palm leaves around my water barrel just with a little tie wire. helps keep the sun off until the tree one day grows🙄🤞
That sounds like a great plan! The barrel we show in this video is behind a mulberry tree, but it still gets some direct sunlight at mid-day.
Do you have a link to the PVC adapter you attached to the PVC Hose Adapter? Thanks for the video!
I had to update the links. Amazon switched up the PVC Hose Adapter on us and it wound up being a slip on the 1/2" side (it's updated now). As for the coupler that fits into the 1/2" male side of the hose adapter, you would need to get those from a hardware store (Depot or Lowes if you have one near you) and ask them for a 1/2" female to 1/2" slip coupler. They're hard to find online because the cost of a single piece is so low. Hopefully that helps.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks for the info!
Why does the water not fill the little cups and then run over?
Hey Francie. I wouldn't be able to say what the mechanics of it are, but the cups work flawlessly as long as they are relatively level when they are installed.
So that's just a barrel and not a rain barrel that collects rainwater? Can you give you chickens rainwater 🤔
Hey Mandy. We set this up to catch rainwater from our covered run area, but did not show that (rainwater collection into the barrel) in this video. In fact, we still haven't completed that part of it! However, chickens have no issues drinking rain water. The only time that would be an issue is if you have chemicals of some sort on the roof the water is sourced from.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you so much! Im currently converting my little shed into a hen house and was thinking about putting a gutter on that roof for rain collection for the chickens water source but wasn't sure. I appreciate your response! Great video too🐓👍
So I know it's a year old but I didn't see any up date videos how is it holding up
I'm in Spain and on my new house kitchen extension the idiot plumber put all the pipes externally ( when they should have been buried) so only extremely HOT water comes out of my kitchen taps in the summer. Why are some " professionals" such idiots?
Oh my goodness! You would assume it's obvious you don't want plumbing subjected to outside elements, especially when you're talking about a permanent structure!
Nice video and I like your method. I am getting ready to install a water system like yours. Mine is a rain barrel off the roof of the coop and needs an overflow. We live in middle TN, not the dessert , and get over 50 inch rainfall per year. May I ask why you picked that specific watering cup as opposed to nipple systems?
This should do really well for you in TN. Not sure how heavy your frosts get, but we get pretty cold (down to 20) and have not had any issues. We chose the cups because they tend to not leak as readily as the nipples do. Unless they break they pretty much never lose a drop.
Good video. I am in the process of upgrading a coop with a similar system. Do you have any suggestions for keeping the water supply tank clean. I am concerned that I will have algae or other buildup in the barrel. Would you recommend a certain type of barrel? I am adding a continuous pump to circulate the water that I hope helps with some of my concerns.
We get this question quite often, so hindsight being what it is I should have addressed it in the video. We have not had ANY issues with algae buildup in the barrel. You will get some in the cups which is a simple matter of wiping them from time to time. The key is the dark colored barrel. We have this system in place in 5 different areas of the farm, all with a standard blue 55 gallon barrel and have no algae issues in the barrels. That's not the case for our pig waterer which is in a white/clear IBC tote. That allows sunlight in which is the problem.
Hope this helps!
Cool idea I'm about to build one similar for myself. A word from experience, putting that much tape on or any thread sealer for that matter....is going to come back to bite you. All the extra that's hanging or ozing out if you're using the paste, will wad up and eventually plug itself in a fitting. Less tape my friend.
We've had a few folks suggest foregoing the tape completely with the PVC fittings. I (Duane) was taught to always use it, but I have found that unless there's metal involved it's not really necessary to your point.
Just ordered some of these pipe fittings. Keep up the good work sir.
Hey Andrew. You're going to like this setup. We're a year in and no issues so far.
We are in Utah and so we have to warm the water in the winter. Wouldn't the water freeze in the cups? We are trying to find the best solution as we are new to this.
Hey Barbara. That's a good question and I imagine if it's cold enough you would have problems with freezing. We get down into the 20's, but not for very long and only in the morning. We did get a few hard freezes this past winter that froze our bird bath water and hoses and the cups were fine, but I wouldn't be able to say if that would be the case for you as well.
nice job. I am curous why you used the cup style waterers and not just the plain nipple style. I would think the cups, like you big floor level unit, would have algae growth in the cups. and i dont see how you can clean those easy. Its nice to see another with the algea problem also. SO many northern farms dont seem to have or mention that issue. Of course i dont have snow and cold. LOL
Great question. We've had some experience with the nipple style drinkers and they can be very hit or miss when it comes to leaking. Sometime they're fine and other times they constantly drip. These do need to be cleaned from time to time, especially during the summer, but it's just a matter of holding the cup down to keep it from filling and wiping any dirt/algae clean.
I love this system but I was just wondering what you plan to do during winter. That would help me so much because where I live is so cold. Your video was really good!
Hey there Zane! That's a very good question and that's something we're not having to deal with. We have had several nights below freezing, but we haven't been below 30 degrees yet this year and we haven't had issues with the water freezing. I'm not sure how cold it gets where you are, but you may only be able to use this during the warmer months if the water in the barrel freezes. You should be able to insulate the pipes (with insulated pipe wrap from Home Depot or Lowes) to keep them from freezing if it's not too cold.
Or let a small drip at the end of the pipe, after making a 90 degree so it drips outside the coop.
That’s almost exactly how I did mine. I know you’re in warmer climate, but does water ever freeze in the pvc during the coldest night of the year? I’ll get about a week or 2 of freezing weather where I’m at.
Hey there Jason. We have not had any issues with our freezing temps messing with the lines. That may have to do with the fact that the PVC lines are all either under the metal roofing for the coop, or underneath our mulberry tree. Our frosts usually occur during the early morning hours as opposed to multiple days below freezing, so not sure how that matches up to what you experience.
My wife showed me this and I thought it was a great idea for our chickens. I put in four with a 55 gal drum. I put in a union at the beginning of the line to make sure I could get the right angle on the cups. It was all a complete and miserable failure! First one of the cups popped out of its socket - fixed that. Now they all leak like a sieve. The cups when full and down do not shut off the the water and drip about 5 drops a second - all of them. Looks like I will have to go back to that miserable 3 gal water can.
Hey David. I'm not sure where the issue is in your system. We haven't had any issues with the setup you see here going on 2 years in. I can only assume there's an issue with the cups maybe?
Hi I'm new to your channel ,we planning to same watering system ,Just wondering how is watering still go on your side please let me know thanks
Hey there! This system is still going strong over a year later. The only thing we have run into is the need to clean out the cups, but it's easy to shut the system off and unscrew the cups to get them cleaned up and then replaced.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you
I am planning the exact same system but was wondering about small particles (pollen, etc) that enters the rain barrel from the roof. Do you have any special filtration going on? My barrel comes with a good screen but that's it. Wondering if this will be enough filtration?
Great question here and, for us, rainwater is almost non-existent, so we use well water almost exclusively. That being said, a simple mesh screen would suffice as the only place you'll find issues would be at the 1/4" connection at the water cup. That might eventually clog if you have larger debris or if it accumulates, but as long as you use a threaded cap at the end of the line of pipe the drinkers are attached to you'll be able to flush those out periodically if it becomes an issue. Sounds like you should be good to go with your setup.
Great set up! Ty. Thinking of something similiar. My only thought is my girls for surr would end up using this as a roost. Ill probably just mount it tight to the fence.
This is still going strong a few years later. The only thing we've had to replace are a few of the cups that deteriorate over time in our intense dry weather.
Also, what do you do to keep the water cool since it's so hot there? I know I start feeding frozen veggies, ice blocks, watermelon, water pans to keep their feet cool, etc. My girls still look hot.
We don't do anything to cool the water and they do just fine. It does get shade most of the day though.
Nice clean setup. I did build a scrap wood mini outhouse to cover my barrel just to help keep the water temps down. I think those nuts for the cups are to maybe mount them to a 5 gal bucket like your ball valve. Portable waterer.
Yeah, we're assuming the same with the wing nuts. We are trying to figure out how to incorporate something similar to this for the tractors, so we may end up using them there.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm maybe 8" PVC horizontal capped with a fill and add cups for tractor.
@@slamboy66 that's definitely something along the lines of what we're thinking. Key thing will be ease of filling from the outside of the tractor.
A quick question, how long does the 50 gallons last on average?
Right now we're filling that about once/month. That's peak of summer with 24 layers and 4 full grown turkeys all drinking from it.
This might sound weird but you could try to make one of those automatic waterers. Algae don't need a lot of light and you could get an algae eater and put it into eat the algae. Don't put the drinking bowl part at the bottom. Keep it at least 2 inches up. That way the chickens have algae free water and another live creature has food. Just an idea
Hmm, interesting suggestion here Sheri!
Very helpful. Thanks so much! Question. Would this work with a water hose attached as the water source instead of a barrel? (Maybe the pressure would be to much?) If so, curious why you decided to go with a barrel instead of attaching a water hose (or other direct water source) to the end? Thanks again!
That's a great question and I would think it's possible. The PVC works with high pressure systems, so that wouldn't be a problem. Eventually we plan on incorporating rain catchment into this system. It won't be enough to run on exclusively, but we would like to use it if we can. Hence the use of the barrel.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you!
Love it wish they made heavier duty cups as I could build this out of stainless aluminum or copper think I may put something over the top to keep them from snapping them off but great vid
I agree with you there Andrew. They are not that tough.
Appreciate the video. I’m making one of these tomorrow and I was wondering about the vent hole to prevent vacuum. Very good information and detail.
This setup is still running smooth with no issues. The cups eventually start to break down over time, but we haven't had any other issues.
Could this system be attached to my garden hose or is it best for no pressure system
You could definitely use a hose, but I would use a pressure reducer at the bib to lower the pressure just to be safe. The cups fill very quickly with just the natural pressure from the barrel.
Thanks. I have a set up now hook up to my hose and it seams to be to much pressure on it even with the valve barely open. The jigglers in the cups seam to be too tight to move properly
Nice job. I think I personally would not have hard plumbed the whole thing. I would have made the straight section with the cups and then just put a hose thread on the one end and ran piece of hose from the shutoff on the barrel to the hose thread on the run with the cups. I also probably have put a 45 degree on the other end at a slight down angle. That way you could fasten the straight run right to your fence and the 45 would make it so your cleanout cap was off the fence a few inches. But this is a great concept.
Also, using my suggested piece of hose would allow you to disconnect the cups section and drain the barrel water outside of your chicken run very easily
Solid suggestions!
Hi there, I just went to your Amazon store but the drinking cups are not listed. Can you please point me in the right direction for those?
Hey there Cheryl. I'm not sure what happened to these, but thanks for letting me know they were not in there! I have the links to our affiliate pages for the cups and the PVC fittings if you need those also;
Cups
amzn.to/3dNAD1N
PVC Fittings
amzn.to/3dLgpFY
Hi did you have it set up in the west side? If so did the water get too warm? Also what do you do during winter? Cups would freeze?
We do have the cups (and barrel) in the shade, but chickens are not bothered by warm or even hot water. Much like any other bird you might find in the city drinking from a puddle on the concrete. As for freezing, while we do get freezing temps it's only for a very short period of time in the early morning hours of Winter, so it's not something we have to deal with. I imagine you would need to use a different waterer that you can heat to keep the water from freezing.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you, which side did you mount these on? I'm in North Texas so the heat is a problem too. I will have only 4 chickens. I used shade cloth on the south side and have a roof over they run as well.
@@samuraioodon these are on the West side of our run as it was the easiest place for us to regularly access the barrel for refilling. I can tell you from 10 years of raising chickens here in the desert, you don't need to worry about hot water. We do have shade cloth around the run, but it's to keep the sun off of the birds themselves during the hottest parts of the day. If you free range those birds you'll watch them drinking from puddles of hot water all around your property! 😉
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm ok thank you again. Btw I enjoy your tree pruning videos!
I hate purple primer 😜
It is the devil, that's for sure!
Spoilin the ladies
No doubt. They take care of us with compost and eggs, so it's the least we can do!
When full, how long does the 50 gallon tank last? How many chicks do you have? Cheers Chris
Hey Chris. Right now we have 10 turkeys in here on these water cups and we fill it about once/month. That's about the same fill rate as when we had our 20 laying hens in there.
Great video. The only problem is we are in Virginia so we will have to add insulation to all of the PVC and to the rain barrel and cover the valve during the winter. We could actually build one barrel to provide water for the ducks and the chickens. Do you think those cups will work for ducks or do we need to get something different?
Yes, you'll definitely need some insulation out your way. We use the same basic setup for ducks (also turkeys, goats and pigs), but we use a bowl with a float valve instead of the cups. I'll link to a video we did on it here;
th-cam.com/video/5WvbuzPM6Ns/w-d-xo.html
Here is a link to the bowl we use on Amazon;
amzn.to/44th2ee
Thank you so much for your help!@@EdgeofNowhereFarm
Do you notice rats are attracted to this watering system? Is it an easy source for them?
Hey there Katie. Rats are attracted to any water source, so it's an issue for us no matter what system we wind up using. Especially here in Arizona.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you for replying! I am having issues with rats and have a similar set up. Do you deter the rats? If so, how?
@@raderchakk no, we don't have a specific deterrent, but snakes, hawks and owls eat pretty well around here!
Would a similar metal barrel work as well, or does it need to be plastic? Also I noticed the cups were initially angled upward a little bit after you installed them. Did you adjust them down to level or did the water alone move the cups?
Hey Josh. I'm not sure on the metal barrel, but as long as rust is not an issue I don't think it would be a problem. The cups do even out once the water enters them. It's actually part of the design. As they start to lose the weight of the water they slowly rise and that is what causes the water to refill until they're level again.
Do you have links or the names of the actual pvc things you used? What’s the pvc that hooks to the rain barrel spigot?
Yeah, we had links to some of these in the description, but Depot keeps changing the product leading to broken links. Here is a link to what I can find on their website now for that 1/2"xFHT fitting that screws onto the spigot;
www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-1-2-in-Slip-x-3-4-in-FHT-PVC-Fitting-53368/100373244
The other fittings are fairly common, but the tees for the cups are unique. Here's a link to one of them on Amazon here;
amzn.to/3PcKuAF
I'm going to try and add links to the description again, so thanks for requesting this!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you!
@@BillyJBailey sure thing and I did update the description on the video with the odds and ends that are not as common, so there is a reference there also just in case you need it.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I made this. It’s works great! Thanks for posting the video.
@@BillyJBailey glad it's working for you. Ours is still going strong, so this should do well for you.
How did you decide the height that the drink cups should be? And the spacing between them??
Hey Evan. I can't say it was all that scientific. We only keep full grown birds in this run, so we just estimated on both. The only spacing issue is when the turkeys are drinking. For them, it's 1 at a time. Otherwise there's plenty of space for birds to be at each cup.
Thanks for your great video.. but could you tell me the size of the pipe and where did you buy the fitting pipe?
The main lines are 1/2" PVC and most of the fittings were from Home Depot. The cups and the tees that they go into are in our Amazon shop under Raising Chickens. You can find our Amazon shop in the description of this episode. Hope that helps!
I'm going to try this. I bought most or all the fittings from your Amazon store, and a 50 gallon brown food grade barrel. I'm thinking the brown will keep the algae down. Thumb up for the idea.
Hey Bruce. We're over a year in and have had no issues with this system. As long as the barrel is a solid color you should be in good shape. We have not had any algae issues in the barrel and usually wipe out the cups every few weeks.
Thank you so much. I was ready two purchase to rain barrels for my garden. Then I thought, what about for the chicken water! I googled and found this video. This is awesome so I ordered another barrel for the girls! Did you use a food grade pvc pipe? Does is matter?
Hey there Michele. You're really going to appreciate how well this works for the chickens. It's still going strong even through our hottest summer on record last year! As for the PVC, I don't know whether they are officially graded for food, but these are the same pipes that bring water into most homes these days, so I imagine they must be. Have fun with this!
Show me how you get that screw on fitting off when the glue fittings dont move
Hey J T. Which connection are you referring to? We've been able to unscrew at the hose bib (fitting shown at 7:21 in the video), the cups (threaded and spin to unscrew) and the end of the pipe (threaded cap) with no issues. If the fitting at the hose bib is too tight you may need to use vice grips or something similar to hold onto the 1/2" PVC fitting until it loosens enough to spin freely.
Do you add anything to your water? I’ve heard some add apple cider vinegar. Is this to keep algae down or for health reasons?
We have added acv in the past but have not added anything with this setup. From what I understand it is mostly for the health benefits. I have heard you can use a small amount of bleach for the algae.
Don't add ACV to metal waterers.. they will cause it to rust. I learned that lesson!
Hello! I love your video, which water faucet are you using?
Hey Erika, glad you enjoyed this one. I'm assuming you're asking about the hose bib attached to the rain barrel? We purchased that one from Amazon and it's still available, so I'll link it for you here;
amzn.to/3yFJgoc
Let me know if that's correct.
Easy way to fill the barrel is to put a float valve on the top of the barrel that you can connect to a hose. Connect your hose & go off & do what else you need to do. Once full remove hose. Really easy & you don't need to stand around waiting for it to fill or having it over fill if you get caught up doing something.
Good suggestion Eleni. I imagine you could use something similar with a hose attachment at the top that always keeps it topped up and it's fully automated. Hmm....
Can I add 2 levels for shorter birds? Luke bantam
That shouldn't be a problem. You can also keep them lower for all of the birds as the larger chickens can still access the lower cups. In nature they would be bending down to water sources on the ground, so they're designed for it. We prefer to keep them higher up mainly to keep them from getting stepped on by the birds, reduce the amount of debris in the cups and deter rodents.
@Edge of Nowhere Farm ok great! Thankyou so much! I've got it all setup & wanting to brag all about it lol. Wish we could post photos here wahh.
@@floridagirl386 well, if you're up to filming a quick video, tag us in the description and put it up here on YT. I'd love to see it!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I don't do youtube lol
Wondering how you attached pipe to coop? I can just picture our chickens jumping on pipe to roost.
We use galvanized tie wire for just about everything it seems. We did the same with this one.
How has this held up after a little over a year of use? Would you do anything differently?
Hey Danny. This set up is still working flawlessly. I can't say I would do anything differently at this point. The only regular maintenance we have to do is cleaning algae out of the cups. Otherwise we haven't had any issues with it.
I'm in the white mountain of AZ and it gets windy and hot here. I used the same shade cloth on my chicken run and my chicken like. I tried nipples and cups with the yellow levers in but my chicken only like the cups that leak because it keeps the cup full which is a waste of water so I'm going to try these cups I hope they work better than everything else I've tried. To prevent the algae I add food grade hydrogen peroxide that I get down at the y at the convenience store.
These cups have held up really well for us and so far we have only needed to replace one (one of our turkeys ran into it while being chased). Great suggestion on the Peroxide. We haven't had any issues with algae in the barrel, but it does accumulate in the cups over time.
How do you call those cups from Amazon? Nice video. Thanks
@@leonciocapola1036 Glad you enjoyed this one. I'll link to them on Amazon for you here;
amzn.to/3MCEnkE
Great for summer.... Not so great for colder climates like Michigan. One HUGE thing your missing that is a "should" but not a "must" add would be a changeable particulate filter between the barrel and your runs of PVC as those buckets will quickly get filled up with dirt/dust well as a whooooole lot of BUGS! Even a smaller particular filter with a clear housing well as a shut off valve BETWEEN the barrel and filter so you can see when change is needed and to shut water off when doing filter changes. This could work in winters but only if you have a heated barrel and a pump that constantly keeps a slow but steady flow of water circulating / recirculating.
Great notes and yes, I imagine a very cold winter would put the brakes on a system like this. We do get down to 20 degrees, but it's only for a brief period of time and then right back up above freezing.
If Lori slides in one more time she’s gonna hafta buy me dinner
Hey Kate. All I can say is I'm constantly trying to get her closer to me!
Thank you for the help on the fittings in this video. Im setting up a water barrel this weekend.
It really does work well. We've replicated this in 2 other spots and will be adding another over the summer for our pigs.
What kind of glue do you use to seal pvc while not having toxins leach. I really like this design.
Hey Mark. We use the Christie's Hot Blue Glue. It's the same glue that's used by plumbers for the PVC fittings for everyone's home, so nothing different for the chickens.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you
The only problem we have had with the cups in that the chicken hop on them and they break easily.
Hey Rachel! That would definitely be an issue. One of the things that helps us is having the line right up against the chain link, so they're not able to get themselves up onto the cups or the irrigation line.
When it comes to cutting it off too big, I’ve appropriated “better to be looking at it, than looking for it”
I like playing with pipe, PVC, copper, steel... glued, threaded, or welded. Creating flow from point A to point B
The girls seem curious as always.
Now that is a great way of looking at it. Much harder to add length back to it if you cut too short. Have a neighbor who is moving onto the 10 acres East of us and he knows how to weld. Need to get some tips from him so I can start making 2 pieces of metal stick together!
You need a metal hot glue gun!
I bought some of those chicken watering cups last year and I love them!! My chickens aren't smart enough to figure out the peckin' cups. This style made my watering MUCH easier!
The cups really do work well!
Now all you need is to collect rainwater off the coup roof to fill the barrel when it rains.
Bingo! That's why we're using the barrel as opposed to a hose. It won't replace the hose completely, but we may be able to catch what does fall and use it for the birds.
Can you do this but with for a dog?
Hmm, I would think you could. The major change would need to be in the cup. These would not hold up well with a pup.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thinking of maybe for the food putting like a v shape on the bottom of the tank .. and for the water doing something like this video what do you think?
@@a.6019 I think that would work. The key will be the cup you use for the pups. These chicken cups do ok with chickens, but they can't take too much abuse before they break.
Nice video. How do you keep the cups clean?
Hey Rachel. They're pretty easy to just wipe out with a rag if they start to get dirty.
Thank you new friend for video
Glad you enjoyed this one!
we just ordered on line from TSC. Thanks for the great show. I learned a lot from it. Did you paint the coop for water proof?
Glad you enjoyed this one Claire. We painted the coop mainly for aesthetics, so the coop didn't look "junky". That was Lori's term for it at least. :)
Very nice! I need to redo my rain barrels and you’ve given me good ideas how I could set them up.
This system really does work great. The only thing we've had to replace 2 years in is a single drinking cup that a turkey decided to stand on rather than drink from!
Hello I found the water cups
You said you found the little pcv pipe on Amazon I can’t seem to find them to thread the water cups please send me the link
Hey Stephen. I assume you're looking for the coupling that has the 1/4" threaded tee for the cup itself. I'll link that here;
amzn.to/3vlCtyT
Let me know if that isn't what you were looking for.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you very much yes sir it was that
@@stephenmcgraw3610 right on!
Hello sir I have another question the piece that you added to your spigot can you give me the link it thread to the tap
Is it pex pipe that you used or a different pipe
This is a great idea. A question please, won't the chicken climb on the pvc pipes to get the water dirty and how do we prevent it?
Great question and we haven't really had a problem with that. The PVC is only a few inches from the chain link, so it's very hard for a full grown chicken to get up on there. You may need to put the PVC on the ground and use a tee up to the cups if you're finding it's an issue for you.
I would build like a platform above the pipes maybe a 2by6 over the leangth of pipes 3-4 inches above
A year later how has this held up for y'all?
These are still working great! Still have the original cups out there. I do clean them the best I can every once in awhile and they are not in direct sun which helps.
I would make hole higher on the 55 gallon barrel enough to put a heater and a pump to keep it moving and in winter it will be warm enough
Great suggestion for folks in the colder climates. We don't see significant freezing here in the Desert Southwest, so it didn't even cross my mind! Thanks for that recommendation!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I’m in Oklahoma sometimes we get a bad winter like this past one . But most of the time it’s cold one day then next it’s warm enough to not freeze lol.
I just finished my coop and I will be doing feeders and a rain catch watered in two 55 gallons with your type of idea and with that I suggested just in case .
I just retired early during corona. Trying to be self sufficient.
Only have 5 acres but goats and chickens with a garden should do well.
@@coziii.1829 good call on getting on that land for retirement. It's our eventual plan to do the same, so working on getting things set up to do so. 5 acres is a lot of space. We're only using about 2 of the 6 acres we have and there is still just a ton of open space.