$5 Chicken Waterer & Homestead Barn Hop!

The metal waterer you see in the background costs about $40.  When we needed another one my husband decided to use his handy man skills and make us one.  This little baby only cost about $5.  A few readers inquired after I showed this on Friday as to how to make it, so here it goes:

Materials Needed:
1 5-gallon bucket with sealed lid and access hole (pouring spout)
1 bottom out of a plastic or metal container.  The base should be larger than the base of 5-gallon bucket.  (We bought a $5 rope-handled bucket from Wal-Mart, and Skyler cut it to form the water dish).
1 tube of construction adhesive caulking

Tools Needed:
Circular saw - use to cut the bottom out of your container
Drill - used to drill a hole for water
Electrical or Masking tape - used to keep cutting line straight.

Instructions:
1) Make sure there are no holes in your bucket, and your lid seals properly.
2) Measure how tall you want your base dish.  Ours is approx. 1 1/2 inches (it's red in the picture above).
3) Mark that 1 1/2 inches at various locations around the container, and connect with tape.
4) Cut along tape line using circular saw.
5) Put caulking all along the bottom of your 5-gallon bucket.
6) Place 5-gallon bucket in the center of your water dish.
7) Press down firmly to ensure proper adhesion.  Set a weight of some sort (we used a 35 lb weight from our weight bench set.) on your bucket, and let it rest for a few hours.
8) Once the caulking is dry, remove weight.
9) Next, drill a small hole in your 5-gallon bucket that sits just below the top of your water dish.
10)  Through the pouring spout on the lid of your 5-gallon bucket, fill with water, while plugging the drilled hole with your finger.  Once the bucket is full, you can place the cap back on the pouring spout, let the water drain from the drilled hole. 
NOTE:  This works like a vacuum.  In order for it to work properly you must have the lid on the 5-gallon bucket securely fastened, and the screw top lid for the pouring spout in place in order to stop the water from overflowing out of the water dish.

Hope that helps some of you out there who are trying to raise chickens on a budget!

And for a little more homesteading inspiration join the Homestead Barn Hop!

Hosted By:

Jill @ The Prairie Homestead

Amy @ Homestead Revival

Kendra @ New Life on A Homestead

and me!