Chicken Waterer IMPROVEMENT: How to build an Automatic Chicken Watering device – T-Handle

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All parts to the T-handle

 

 

 

There are only 3 parts. The female thread to slip fitting, the short piece of pipe, and the Tee.

Glue the parts together

 

 

 

 

 

Glue all the parts together. Make sure it is solid, because there will be pressure on it in the future.
Drill holes in the T-handle

 

 

 

 

Drill the holes. These holes can be variable in size. They should be small enough to fit in the pipe and large enough so they don’t get clogged if trash gets in the lines. Holes should be drilled just above the threads.
Finished holes in the T-handle

 

 

 

 

Holes look good. It is time to install.
Turn off the water supply to the Automatic Chicken Watering System

 

 

 

 

 

Turn off the water. Always install control for the water close.
Remove the existing cup holder

 

 

 

 

 

Remove the fitting that is holding the cup on now. As you can see, it is hard to get off and needs a tool. Not good.
Go ahead and clean the cup

 

 

 

 

Go ahead and clean the cup while it is off. It might be a good idea to put some teflon tape on the threads, just to keep it “by the book”.
T-handle

 

 

 

 

 

Put on the new T-handle. It should go on pretty easy.

It is working

 

 

 

 

 

Turn on the water. The water should be coming out of the holes we drilled.
Now the Chickens are happy once again

 

 

 

 

Now this is the most important part, that is does not interfere with the chickens drinking the water. It will now be a little easier to clean out the cup.

Improvement to: How to make an Automatic Chicken Waterer – Mobile drinking station

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This segment is an addition to the other segments on How to Make an Automatic Chicken or Bird watering system. In the last few posts, we built the initial reservoir and drinking cup. Now we can use the tee we left capped and run a mobile drinking station inside one of the coops. This can be duplicated many times over. The hose cannot be higher than the top of the water in the reservoir or the cups at any time or it won’t work.All parts to the mobile chicken drinking station
Sprinkler housing has drain holes

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sprinkler housing is the best option I found, because it has a lip and already has a threaded insert on the bottom or the side.
Now for the Frame

 

 

 

Starting the frame, the cup will sit on this at the lip.
Make the frame to remove the cup easily

 

 

 

Make the keeper so the cup can be removed. This cup can be many other things, but it needs to have room for the birds to drink and have an insert for the water feed.
The top level of the cup has to equal the top level of the water

 

 

 

 

The level has to go down when it gets placed.
Expose the tee of the drinking station

 

 

 

Expose the tee we left in the line. The most important guide line is the top of the water.
drain the drinking station

 

 

 

Drain the water so the hose fitting can get installed.

hose is hooked up to the chicken mobile drinking station

 

 

 

 

 

Hose is hooked up, it is time to get it into the other coop.

sprinkler cup has two options

 

 

 

Set the cap and the barbed fitting to wherever you want. My installation was better on the side, because I had to dig it down.
get the hose into the chicken coop

 

 

 

Get the hose into the other place. Be sure the hose never gets above the top level of the water at any time.
bury the hose to keep it cool

 

 

 

 

Burying the hose will keep you from tripping over it and keep it cool. It also keeps the sun from wearing it out.

top of the cup is where we want it

 

 

 

We want the water as close to the top as possible, without going over. This way there will be more the chickens won’t have to get way down there.
perspective - put it where it needs to go

 

 

 

The frame allows you to move the cup up and down until it is right. Then you can fasten it where you want.

dump out the cup to clean

 

 

 

Dump out the cup to get all the sand out. This will have to be done periodically to clean.

chickens are drinking from the cup

 

 

 

 

 

They know where the water is now.

 

 

Make a T-handle for the main cup

Automatic Waterer for your Chickens, Ducks, Peacocks, Dogs, Cats, Goats, Pets, Emus, Ostrich, Pheasants, and more – 5

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Water Supply with control

 

The most important part of this project is a constant water supply. This water supply is under pressure. I am not sure if a standard toilet fill valve will work on a low pressure or gravity feed system. It could be tested with a few fittings and an afternoon. The ball valve is important in case this thing tips over or the bucket or cup develops a crack. Then the water can be shut off at the source and still have water in the chicken coop area.

Water supply to the Bucket Reservior ready

 

All the water supply lines are in place and ready to place the bucket reservior in place and connect. I turned the water on one time to flush the line and have nice fresh water for my new valve. I am sure the sand is not friendly to it.
We have power

 

 

 

 

 

Ok. The bucket is now filling up and we can field test the cup assembly. The valve can be adjusted now for the top height of the water to come up or down by 1 or 2 inches. The spread is still about 3 1/2″.
It is working

 

 

Ok we are in business for the moment. Water is coming into the cup. This is a plus. Now to see what happens next.

 

 

 

I think this is going to work it is not stopping yet

 

 

Still filling up and seems to be working. Is this it?
Toilet fill Valve needs some Adjustment

 

 

 

 

Here we go, filled up to the top and is running over. Time to adjust the toilet fill valve and bring the water level down an inch or so.
Water is Good!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!
We have a Winner!

 

 

 

 

Seems to be working out, the other watering device is right there. All dirty as usual. They have been drinking out of the other one for almost a year now. I tried to put the new automatic watering system in a position where they cannot poop in it.

Business as Usual

 

 

 

 

Added a lid and we are now on a path to better living. This project was well worth the effort. I had many ideas and PVC seems to bring it together. PVC also helps it to be servicable. A cup or other contraption could have been caulked in place, but that can never be cleaned without turning it all upside down. I have an idea for a tee handle to be put on the threaded coupler inside the cup so it can be removed easier. After a few days it did not want to come off.
Link to the next Automatic Chicken Watering System article with several weeks of use.

Make a T-handle for the main cup

How to build an Automatic Animal Waterer – Automatic Chicken Waterer – Automatic Bird Waterer – 4

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This is the 4th chapter in How to build an Automatic Watering Station for your Animals, Chickens, Birds, and whatever else can drink water. This system is very versatile and can be designed and customized to fit many different situations.
The Fill valve threads are under the Bucket Reservior

Here you see the threads of the toilet fill valve through the bucket reservior. Now we need to build a stand so we can allow this fitting to be free and not in a bind.

Testing for size

 

Testing the 2 by lumber for size. I am using pine lumber, but pressure treated is the way to go. A cinder block or a series of bricks will also work, but wood is lighter and can be customized indefinitely. Mark the wood so the container will be well supported.

Build a custom stand

 

 

The stand is finished. It is solid. This design will support the bucket reservior and allow the toilet fill valve threads to be connected freely.

Mark the bucket for the Cup Assembly

 

 

Now that we know where we are with a stand we can line up the cup assembly to mark for the through seal hole. Again this is just a female thread with a bushing to take up some space and a piece of pond liner as the gasket. The only manufactured product I can find to do this is a water heater pan. The fitting that comes with it is perfect, but it is 1 1/4″ fitting. Some hardware stores would have rubber gaskets or washers that will work better, but it may take a while to actually find the one that will work for your system.
Bucket Reservior and Cup AssemblyOk we are connected and ready to water test. After water testing, I found this cup container to be too flimsy and I switched to the tupperware bowl, which worked out much better. I placed a tee on the pipe coming out of the bucket reservior to go down to a cap that is at the right size to help hold up the cup assembly. I also placed another tee so that I could maybe put another cup in place near this one or even in another cage.

 

It is getting finished – Field testing is near.

Now to Install in the Field – Automatic Chicken Watering System – 5

Build an Automatic Bird Watering Station – Automatic Chicken Waterer – Water Your Birds – 3

In the last segment we measured the fill valve float to get our height. This measurement can change depending on where you have the fill valve set to. If you have smaller birds you may want it lower than higher. Larger birds would be higher. There is also a “too high”, because then they cannot comfortably reach it.

Measure the Bucket for Height

Measure and make a mark on the bucket where the center of the float is going to be. This is the control line.

This line represents the top of the water, no matter what container you are using for a cup. Water is the ultimate leveling system. This is where you can see exactly how high you want your watering cup to sit. You can adjust it somewhat in the field, by digging into the ground, or setting it up on bricks or wood.
Drill the seal hole

Be careful, the plastic can tear or break. This was the first cup I tried. I like to recycle anything that has another purpose. Also, the design allows to switch this part out and “use” another one, or a better one. This container was good, until it filled with water. It proved to be too flimsy and tipped over. The cup is better when it is not as wide, but tall enough.
Cut out the Gasket
Cut out a few gaskets. I was going to double these up, but there is no need. One layer will do. I am using a piece of a pond liner. I used my paddle bit to mark a hole, then cut with a razor knife. The size after that can vary, but just a 3″ x 3″ square is fine.
Bushing to take up some space

 

Put a bushing over the threads going into the bucket or the cup. The plastic is so thin, the fitting on the other side has to seat all the way down, and they just don’t go down that far. There is not a lot of pressure so it just has to press against it.
Sealing inside the containers
The fitting on the inside of the container is a female thread fitting that is also pvc. A brass fitting would work also. The connection to the bucket reservior is a more permanent seal. The seal on the cup is temporary, because it remains “servicable” or even “replacable”.

 

Line up the Cup system

 

 

Next we have to line up the cup system and see where it falls in with the control line. You can see the 12″ mark at the top of the cup. The 8 1/2″  mark is the bottom of the cup. This won’t even let water come in over our seal fitting. We are going to have to lower the cup system.

Tupperware fit the bill

 

Now that we are on the cup, after I water tested the new Automatic Chicken Watering system, I found the OxyClean container just fell over. I know part of it was that I did not center the hole, but it really just fell over. So I hunted for a new container, and I came up with this tupperware bowl. It was the correct size, height, and strength. The tupperware bowl has not been used in a while (so we could part with it) and is very strong. When I drilled the hole it wanted to break up a little (it is probably 20 years old or more), but did fine as far as the size, so the seal worked out fine.

On to the next round!!!!

Next article for Putting it All Together

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How To: Build a Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer – Automatic Poultry Watering System – 2

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A homemade automatic chicken waterer is not to hard to put together. The whole idea here is to have a reservoir to fill up and establish the “height” for the cup. A 5 gallon bucket is very convenient for this, because it is tall enough to house the fill valve, large enough to sit and not tip over easy, and can get a lid that fits pretty easily. There is a 3″ or so spread between the top of the fill valve where the water stops, and the bottom of where the arm swings where the water kicks on. The cup has to be maintained at the correct height. There is a balance between how high you can put the cup and how high the chickens can comfortably drink from. The whole point in doing this is so the chickens can drink.

Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer Valve to PVC transition Hose

This is the same fitting that is in your home connecting the toilet to the water source. The toilet fill valve is a 5/8″ thread. There is not a PVC fitting for this size, but there is brass fittings. This hose is better anyway, because the hose lets play exist between the bucket and the water line.

What you are seeing in the photo are 3 items:

Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer Parts Layout

  1. The Toilet Fill Valve Hose. 5/8″ thread on the fill valve to – whatever you want to attach to. In this case I am making my way to 1/2″ pvc as my water supply line. This is the one under pressure so it should be the one with the best effort and setup.
  2. The fitting to go from the other end of the hose to the PVC.
  3. PVC fitting with slip or glue on the other end.

This is the parts list to build the Automatic Chicken Watering System. I have already changed from the larger PVC pipe coming out of the bucket to smaller (3/4″) pipe. The idea was that the pipe itself was going to be the “cup”, but it looked like it would be too heavy once it all went together.

Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer - Plain old Toilet Fill Valve

The other thing was that it gets into some money with all the larger parts.

The fitting to go inside the bucket to fill it with water is already included and is really one of the best “seals” you can get.Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer - 1 inch paddle bit to drill seal hole

 

 

 

 

The 1 inch paddle bit will drill the through seal hole for the fill valve and a 3/4″ thread for the outlet valve. You want to find a bit that is just bigger than the threads without any play, if at all possible.

 

Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer - Measuring the toilet fill valve

Measuring the fill valve is important to establish the ultimate height of the cup. Usually the toilet fill valve can be adjusted by about 4 inches or so. This can raise or lower the cup the chickens drink out of. The center of the float at the top of the float arm pivot is the control measurement of the system. This is going to be where the level of water fills to everytime.

Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer - Find out where the center of the float is at the top

If you lower the float arm pivot and measure, it should be around 3 1/2″. This is the minimum height the cup can be to function properly. It may have to be taller due to the coupling seal fitting to let the water into it.


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To be continued – It’s time to drill some holes.

Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer 3

 


Automatic Chicken Waterer – How to Build an Automatic Poultry Waterer – Homemade Chicken Watering System

Automatic Chicken Watering System

 

This is a small project that can have lasting results with your chicken chores. The automatic chicken watering system is a homemade device that will extend the watering of your poultry indefinitely. All parts can be collected from home or purchased at any hardware store. Parts can be salvaged from other projects and collected over time.

Please click over to the second page where it starts at the beginning.

 

To be continued…..

Here is a link to the beginning article.

Homemade Automatic Chicken Waterer – 2

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