Cheap Way to Raise Chickens: Finally, a waterer that works well for us!

We tried the homemade waterer and then we borrowed one from my Dad that he purchased at a farm store. We had issues with both. Given the homemade waterer worked much better than the one from the store, but our coop isn't level and I couldn't figure out how to make one that hangs. Finally, I gave up. I scrubbed out an old plastic pan I had stored in the building and filled it up with water. I've been using it for a few weeks and it works great. The chickens don't make a mess in it with poo or the wood chips. It doesn't leak because the coop isn't level. I fill it 3/4 of the way up, and it is good for several days to a week. That is much better for me than having to clean out the other waterers ever single day. So, if you are having issues with waterers too.. give this a try. Cheap, simple, and efficient.

Chicken Waterer - Issues again

Michael and I made a homemade waterer a few weeks ago when we first got the chicks. It works perfectly when sitting on the ground as it is now {crowbar uses it}, but when we sit it in our coop it would leak all the water out because the coop is not level. We made another to hang, but evidently our screw wasn't in the exact center and it didn't work out either. So finally, Daddy loaned us one he had years ago when he was raising chickens and we are still having issues.

Our first issue: the chickens had been getting the wood chips into the waterer and they were soaking up what water that was in the reservoir. The second issue: once the reservoir is below where the hole is, it is suppose to let more water out. It didn't.

Michael said the water wasn't filling the reservoir was because I had the whole turned too far one direction. So last night I turned it the total opposite direction and when I came out the whole waterer was bone dry. All the water ran out.

Today I tried to put it in between where I had it at first and where I had it last night. Hopefully it works.

Michael and I found some sort of step made out of wood under the storage building. I have no idea what my brother used it for, but I put it in with the chickens and sat the water on top. So far it keeping the wood chips out of the reservoir. That is one battle down.. now to figure out how to put the waterer so water comes out when it should and stops when it should.

Here is the step and the waterer. You can see it is wet where all the water ran out.

A couple of the girls wanted to know what I was doing.

Then foghorn joined in.

Eventually they were all trying to figure it out. Thankfully, didn't seem to mind the step up.

While I was out there trying to sort out the issues with the chicks, I stopped by to see how Crowbar was. His personality is so different from the others. He is WILD and jumpy. He does appear to be a little healthier.

I think we will figure this all out eventually, right?

Cheap Way to Raise Chickens: FREE Roost!

Michael and I decided the chickens needed a roost inside the run, so we used an old broom handle and wired it to the t-posts. It was FREE, works great, and they seem to love it. Every time I look out the back door one or more of them are up on there. Foghorn just hangin' out on the roost.Today the gang finally emptied their food bucket. It has been exactly two weeks since we originally filled it up. The coop is working out great so far. The only issue we have had involved the water bucket, and truly it wasn't the buckets fault. The building is not level, so you had to sit the waterer in the same exact position at all times for it to work correctly. We tried to add a screw in the bottom and hang it from the rafters but the screw must not have been centered, and that didn't work either. Dad found an old waterer he used when he had chickens many years ago and gave it to us to try. It is working, but it too has to sit in that one exact spot. Looks like we are gonna have to level the building up or fix us up one that can hang with it centered properly. Dad also loaned us a feeder he used for his chicks. We put it in with Crowbar. I think he is doing a little better. Hopefully all his feathers will be back soon. Gertie and Blackie wanted to know what we were up to. and what the chicks were up to. They were just hanging out in a little huddle hiding from her. I shared this post at Homestead Revival's Barn Hop.

Cheap Way to Raise Chickens: Homemade Chicken Watering Fountain and Feeder Tutorial

After looking online for a cheap way to make a waterer for the chickens, I found a tutorial on how to make a waterer out of a bucket. The cost was less than $4 and I did not want to spend that $4. So Michael and I got to brainstorming again. We figured out a way to do it for free.

First take your bucket and drill a small hole on either side of the bucket right under the lip of the lid. Fill the bucket with water and put on the lid. Flip it over and there you go. This is where the $4 came in on the other tutorial. The lady had purchased a base to a planter to use to catch the water in.

I wanted to avoid spending any money if I could. Michael and I cut off the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket to use as our base. Just be sure your bucket holding the water is small enough to fit inside. It worked perfectly.

Here you can see how he done it.  Take a ruler if you want to be exact and mark off the correct height all the way around the bucket. He just used his knife to make a line.

Then cut!

and cut some more. This was pretty difficult to do, but if you are strong or have a strong man at home, you can do it. Just be careful not to cut yourself.

Tada!

Now on to the feeder. Cut a one inch square out of the bottom of the bucket. Repeat 4 times around the sides. Pretty much North, South, East, West.

Flip it over inside of the bast fill with feed and there ya go.

Easy enough, huh?  At Tractor Supply a waterer about this size is $27.99 and a feeder is $14.99. Total spent $0.00. Michael got all the buckets gave to him for FREE at work. Total saved $43!