by Texas Homesteader ~
Every chicken raiser knows how important clean water is for their chickens. But chickens like to scratch, sending dirt everywhere. And the water in their fount gets dirty fast.
We came up with a system that provides our chickens plenty of water and that water stays clean. We made the water system ourselves for cheap and you can too!
(Note: Some links in this post will take you to other related articles for further information. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click and buy something I could receive a tiny commission.)
Raising Backyard Chickens
We love raising our chickens. They’re a natural pest control eating up hundreds of grasshoppers before they reach my garden. And chickens are entertaining to watch too.
Plus they provide our breakfast every day!
You can read all our posts & tips about raising chickens by clicking the button below:
Buy today I’m sharing how we made a large homemade watering system for our flock. It’s easy and inexpensive.
Plus it assures they always have plenty of clean water available.
Providing Water For Backyard Chickens
We initially tried those small *Chicken Water Founts. But the chickens were constantly scratching dirt into the water.
The good new is – keeping backyard chicken’s water clean doesn’t need to be complicated.
Tips For Keeping Chicken Water Clean
In an effort to keep poultry water clean, many people hang the water fount off the ground. That keeps the chickens from scratching dirt into their water.
But our chicken yard doesn’t have a setup that allows for a hanging fount.
So instead, we elevated the chicken water fount on bricks. While that did help keep the water cleaner longer, they still scratched dirt into the fount’s water well.
Plus they only held about a gallon of water. So we were constantly refilling those chicken founts. What if we needed to be away from the homestead for a few days for vacation or business?
There had to be a way to assure our chickens always had plenty of clean water. We needed a larger chicken water system.
Easy DIY Homemade Poultry Waterer
We made our own easy homemade poultry water system. It was quick, inexpensive and it only required two items:
*Large Covered Bucket with Lid
*Screw-In Water Nipples
For our homemade poultry waterer we used a large 30-gallon tub with a cover. Our cattle’s protein supplement is sold in these large tubs so we already had them. #UseWhatchaGot!
But you can use any covered Plastic container – anything from a *5-Gallon Bucket to something larger. Just make sure it has a lid to keep the water clean and that it’s opaque to keep algae from growing inside.
We elevated the large watering bucket on 4 cement cinderblocks and installed four screw-in poultry watering nipples. (we would have been fine with just two since we only have a few hens)
The chickens access the clean water by pecking on these screw-in poultry watering nipples. Water trickles down the device to offer the chickens a drink.
How To Keep Chicken’s Water Cool During Hot Months?
Texas summers are hot. How will we keep the sun from beating down on that large water bucket and heating the water it contains? We sure don’t want our chickens drinking hot water on a scorching hot Texas summer day.
Here’s what I did to keep the chicken’s water cooler:
First I arched a cattle panel over the bucket. The ends were pushed into the ground.
Then I pushed large *Landscape Staples in several locations across the bottom horizontal bar and into the ground on either side to keep it stable.
On top of the arch I attached some *Shade Cloth to shade the poultry waterer system from the sun. I even layered some wide strips of repurposed denim from RancherMan’s old jeans beneath the shade cloth to make the shade more dense.
To keep the shade cloth in place I used some *Metal Binder Clips. They’re easily removable so I can remove, add to or change this shade cloth any time I wish.
I left the sides of the cattle panels uncovered and planted sunflowers on either side. The huge leaves of the sunflower plant offers shade but still allows breezes to pass through.
Plus our honeybees love the blossoms. Dual purpose, bebe!
The chickens often enjoy lounging in this shady area on a hot summer day. So this shade actually offers cooling benefits for the chickens too.
Using this large homemade poultry water system means our chickens always have plenty of cool, clean water available to them.
I check the water level every morning as I check for eggs. When it needs to be refilled I use the water hose to top it up again.
This homemade poultry water system has worked well for us for years. Give it a try!
~TxH~
Other Backyard Chicken-Raising Posts
Chicken Care
- How To Teach Free-Range Chickens To Come HOME
- Keeping Chickens Safe From Predators: Automatic Coop Door
- How To Break The Broody Hen & Get Her Laying Eggs Again!
- Keeping Our Chickens Mite Free
Saving Money On Raising Chickens
- How Much Does It Cost To Raise Your Own Chickens?
- Cheaper Ways To Raise Chickens Using What You Have
- How To Get Free Chicken Food
- MYO Low-Waste Chicken Feeder
- Repurposed Coffee Can Chicken Feeder
Other Chicken Posts
- Keeping Wild Birds Away From Your Chicken Feeder
- What Color Eggs Will My Chickens Lay?
- Nutritional Difference Of Free-Range Eggs
- How To Protect Seedlings From Free-Range Hens
All Posts About Chickens
C’mon by & sit a spell! Come hang out at our Facebook Page. It’s like sitting in a front porch rocker with a glass of cold iced tea – lots of good folks sharing! You can also follow along on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.
If you’d like to receive an email each time a new blog post goes live it’s EASY to
Subscribe to our blog!
