Water System

NDan · Post by **NDan** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:23 am

I'm a bit flumoxed as to how to water my birds when I leave for 3 days. With the cages I could use the tube type waterers. They WON'T use the drip water bottles.
Now I have them in a flight cage with 1"x1/2" wire mesh and those water containers won't fit on the wire.
I tried the obvious bowl of water but by the 3rd day its either dried out or splashed out.
Any grand ideas?
I love those seed hoppers too!
only one of my societies couldn't quite figure it out. kept pecking at the top and sides...

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:26 pm

Have you thought of using a waterer/feeder designed for chickens?

Like this,

NDan · Post by **NDan** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:58 am

Great Thought! I'll look for one.
Thanks

TammyS · Post by **TammyS** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 8:55 am

I use an automatic watering system. You can purchase one from AgSelect for about $30 for a starter kit using a gravity bucket (www.agselect.com). It took most of my birds only a weekend to learn how to use the water valves and you can leave for a week and not have to worry about them running out of water. Plus it makes the day to day care of your birds easier. I only change the water in the bucket once per week (sometimes more often in the summer though).

NDan · Post by **NDan** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:32 am

I tried the water bottle with the bead in the end and my birds just gave it the wallow eye and avoided it. not sure I can convince them about tubing.
I left that one in their cage for about 2 months I think.
Altho I have 2 newer birds.... I will try it again.

kenny · Post by **kenny** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 3:36 pm

my drinker which i call the holiday drinker ,for when i am away for a while is a dog fountain it holds 5 ltrs of water the only problem is half of them use it as a bird bath dont know whether these are avaliable in the u.s.a.

http://www1.uk.shopping.com/xGS-dog_dri ... id-8003898#

ken

Post by **Sally** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 12:51 pm

TammyS - I checked out the water system you use at AgSelect, and am really interested in it. I would probably use the water bucket gravity system. The AgSelect site says with the gravity system, the bucket should be emptied and refilled once a day. I notice you go a week, more often in summer. Also, if you use water-soluble additives, do you need to flush out the system each day? My whole point of using such a system would be to be able to leave town for a few days, so daily refilling of the water bucket defeats the purpose. I'm interested in learning your experiences with this. Their 'Water Buddy' also looks very interesting, but a bit costly.

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:38 pm

I use the animal water bottles with the ball at the end. It took about a week and a half for them all to learn how to use it. But it can last up to two weeks w/o refilling (depending on how many birds are drinking from it).

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:20 pm

I use the LIXIT bottles and love them.

Gunnar · Post by **Gunnar** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:00 pm

Sally,

I use the Edstrom watering system and have for years. Thats the one they now sell on AGselect. I bought my first edstrom valves from edstrom inc. back in 96 or 97.
I work 24 and 48 hour shifts so I need something that will last my birds a few days while I'm gone. With my schedule I usually change/refill the water every two days, but sometimes up to 4 days. To keep germs and bacteria from growing I will often add a few drops of chlorine to the water bucket when I fill it. Just a few dropps per gallon, it never hurts the birds and will evaporate in a day or two and kills any bacteria that may be in the water. They also sell water buddy bottles that are great if you have only one or two cages or for traveling.
I've only had a problem with my edstrom system one time. (earlier this year in fact) It started after I had begun adding vitamins to the water for about 2 months. I had a couple of valves plug up. (2 of about 20) And I did loose a couple of birds. (3 out of over 100 on the system) After this loss I found that some of the leader lines coming off of the main line where angled down (should be up) and there was a sludge buildup in those lines Apparently a carrier for the vitamins I was using. After replacing the lines and valves, I no longer add vitamins or medication to the system anymore and I bought a few of the water buddys. I use them to give vitamins to my birds on a rotateing basis. I only put vitamins in the bottles and use them in place of the system valve of a few days at a time. So now I can keep a close eye on the bottles with vitamins for any buildup and my birds can still have some water soluable vitamins.

I have also had good success with hamster type water bottles and Oasis "Bird Bottles" but the hamster type bottles are alot cheaper.

You can help train your bird to use the watering system, or a water bottle. The best way is to put them in a cage for a few days with a bird or two that already knows how to drink from it. Of course If none of them know how starting out can take a little time.

Here is a good way to get them started
1. Give the birds water in the morning and let them bathe ect then remove the water.
2. Come back in the early afternoon (4-6 hours later) and add the valve or bottle.
3. Touch end of valve with finger or paperclip until you get a drop of water on the tip of it.
4. Sit back and watch the bird investigate.
5. Take note of which birds learn to drink
6. Come back an hour later and put a dish of water in the cage.
7. Mark which birds rush to the water dish to drink.
You can repeat this for several days until you either see all the birds in that cage drink from the new device or none seem interested in the water dish when it is replaced.
note: Always make sure your birds get a chance to drink an hour or more before bed time.

If you get your birds on a water bottle or watering system you can worry less about your birds running out of water while your gone. It also helps stop the spread of infectious diseases like ecoli, canker and guardia.
Hope this helps,
Gunnar

Gunnar · Post by **Gunnar** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:08 pm

Along with valves I also use these water bottles in my flight cages. They perch is lower than the water so they don't poop in it when they turn around.
http://www.redbirdproducts.com/400686water.JPG
at $7 a piece they are a little pricey but they hold a liter, hang well and stay pretty clean. I have 5 or 6 of them and think they're worth it.
There is my 2 cents,
Gunnar

Post by **Sally** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:01 am

Thanks for all the info, Gunnar. I think I will try water bottles on a couple of cages and see how they do. I use the tube waterers now, and not only do they get food bits in the tube, some of the tubes have leaked and so wind up with very little water in them. I like that hanging waterer from Redbird for an aviary setup.

TammyS · Post by **TammyS** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:51 am

Hi Sally,

I think most of your questions have already been answered.

The bucket does not need to be filled daily - I have gone on vacation for a week and was in no danger of the bucket being empty when I return - and that is in flights with 30 or so birds.

As for supplements and using the automatic watering system - that can be a a drawback if you give most of your supplements in the water. I choose to use supplements that can be added to my birds food instead of their water. If there is a case where I do need to administer something in the water, then I just pull the water valves and use a water tube.

Post by **Sally** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:53 am

Thanks for all the info, everybody. When I think about it, I just converted these birds over to pellets, so I won't be doing as many supplements as before, and probably a lot of them could be added to veggies or eggfood when breeding. So now it will be just figuring out what would work best in my birdroom, and then see about converting them over to water bottles or valves. I think I will do one cage, try Gunnar's suggestions for converting them over, and see how it goes.

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:02 am

I think it is great how much information we can learn on these forums! Just like you Sally, I used seed... I mean that is what they tell you to feed them. I've converted mine to pellets. I used to use just plain water dishes and never washed them, now I use water bottles.

I just want to thank everyone, cause I learn so much here! My family will come look at my birds and ask questions and they are so surprised that I know so much about finches!