How the fountain drinker minimises water wastage

A poultry farmer holds chicks inside his brooder. He uses drinkers to feed his chicks. Photo by Fred Muzaale.

What you need to know:

  • Once filled with water, the drinkers lower themselves, thus, breaking the circuit in the water supply system. The water never, therefore, spills onto the floor, writes Fred Muzaale.
  • He recommends use of clean water and a detergent like soap when cleaning them. He adds that use of a fountain poultry drinker is also very good when the birds are still in the brooder.

Some poultry farmers use open drinkers such as basins, troughs, saucepans and other types of open containers, when giving water to their birds.
In the event that a farmer uses open containers, the birds in the process of drinking the water step in it which results into contamination and spillage.
This, leads to losses and outbreak of poultry diseases.
Hussein Kigozi, an animal husbandry officer, who also operates an agro input shop in Mukono Town emphasizes that birds must at all times have access to clean and fresh water.

Fountain poultry drinker
This, Kigozi says, necessitates poultry farmers to use tools such as fountain poultry drinkers when giving water to their birds.
When a fountain chicken drinker is used, he explains, its lid (drinker) is removed and filled with water. After filing it with water, the lid is put back. The water then slowly flows out from the cylinder- like container through small holes and gets held on a U-shaped cover.
From here, the birds can easily drink the water without stepping or pouring it.
Kigozi says the drinker can either be directly placed on the ground or tied on a string so that it hangs within easy reach for the birds to access the water.

How it works
The system uses gravity to feed water into a tray.
A hen drinking from the tray reduces the level of the water temporarily; this allows air to escape into the water reservoir above the drinking tray; once the air goes into the reservoir, water is released into the tray filling it back to a set level.
Once an equilibrium between the water and the vacuum pressure in the reservoir is achieved, no more water will leak into the tray until it is removed again.

Cleaning
One thing stands out inside the chicken coop at Vincent Sesanga’s farm in Wakiso District. Hanging from the roof are cables holding several water drinkers.
Sesanga who has been keeping birds since 2010 advises farmers that the drinkers must be cleaned every morning before being filled with water.
He recommends use of clean water and a detergent like soap when cleaning them. He adds that use of a fountain poultry drinker is also very good when the birds are still in the brooder.
“The fountain drinker, especially the round one, concentrates the young birds within the brooder where the source of heat is. This is important as it limits the birds from moving away from the heat, which is so vital at their young stage,” Sesanga says.

Cost
Kigozi says a four-litre fountain poultry drinker goes for Shs8,000 well as the big one for 10 liters goes for Shs18,000. They are sold at almost all farm supply shops, he says.

Advantage
The advantage of this kind of system is that you do not have to carry water around in buckets, and the chicken can drink any time.