Great idea. I came up with a very similar idea, a few days ago but I couldn't figure out how to close the door. Now I know :) Thanks for sharing. BTW for opening it, I thought you could just use a reservoir on top of the top bucket and another water timer that would let the water into the top bucket.
Thanks Jim, that's a great idea about using a reservoir if your away from a water supply. I did an update to the door (closing mechanism) that you can check out and made it much more (to the minute to be exact) accurate in the time it closes. Very happy with the upgrade and outcome.
A hydroponic flood and drain system uses a mushroom type setup to automatically drain at a certain level. You could eliminate that lower drain system just by turning on the fill cycle until the threshold to drain is passed. Blah blah :) Anyway! Awesome setup- very useful concepts to keep in mind. Thankyou.
"mushroom type setup" I think you mean to say they use a Bell Syphon / or U Syphon. This is what I came up with that uses that. Way cheaper way easier. drive.google.com/file/d/1jesXbuzPj7leY2wjd-Om9wiKeBl5dwEE/view?usp=sharing
ingenious! I'd probably add some rubber hose to the end of the pvc down into the bucket so the water doesn't get wind blown onto the ground... eventually there might be enough on the ground to make it pretty muddy... maybe even a rubber hose going from the upper bucket to the lower one too. Awesome fix and perfect timing. Put a bunch of chicken nipples on the outside of that bottom bucket.
I'm in the UK and I came up with the same idea about 20 years ago I made it so some water would flow In to a drinker so they had fresh water every morning the timer only cost me a few pounds best idea yet. People couldn't believe how clever and simple it was. By the way I know how they built the pyramids 😉
10/10 for ingenuity and innovation. But, this would be very difficult to have working in the winter, anywhere where temperatures drop enough to freeze the water lines, you also have to have running water and electricity nearby, honestly speaking I don't think this would work for anyone far enough up North that has cold winters. You still need to buy the water timer, thats not cheap, why not use a linear actuator on a timer or even on a solar sensor that can open/close with the sun coming up and going down, come is about the same, you don't need running water, no freezing in the winter, and cost wise you're probably looking about the same. Just my two cents for anyone considering this system. Not to offend the video creator, like I said I think that it's very smart design and if you live far enough south and have warm winters then this system might be for you.
Excellent!! I have thought about it for a long time but could not figure out how to do it as Jim Jimmy could not either. My improvement would be to use a length of 6" pvc rather than the ugly Home Depot bucket.
Like the idea, except it be a problem when temperatures drop below freezing! Although you might be able to make a similar system more on a closed containers and maybe use anti freeze that the chickens couldn’t get into!
NEVER USE ANTIFREEZE near the chickens. Any leaks or even failure in the suspended buckets breaking or falling down will kill the chicken, if they drink any of the anti freeze filled water. So if the bucket falls down (or leaks) they may get lucky that it doesn't fall on them but they will for sure drink the poisoned water.
to improve on this, purchase 2 water timers have a big reservoir that drains into a piece of pvc and then drains out the end. If you are worried about freezing you could use rubbing alcohol or just mix in some rubbing alcohol which won't freeze, I would keep it in an area that wont get near the birds. I would also add a packet of kool-aid so you can change the color and know the water is not drinkable.
NEVER USE ANTIFREEZE(that goes for rubbing alcohol too) near the chickens. Any leaks or even failure in the suspended buckets braking or falling down will kill the chicken, if they drink any of the anti freeze filled water. So if the bucket falls down (or leaks) they may get lucky that it doesn't fall on them but they will for sure drink the poised water. The koolaid, food coloring or pond dye are good ideas to be able to spot leaks when they happen.
Would be interesting to see if this would work with a simple, tiny drip hole. When enought has dripped out, it shuts the door. It would make it even simpler, eliminating the drain valve.
you can do this setup with 2 cheap timer that battery operated. i use them to water my flower bed. 1 goes to hose, another mounts on bucket. program open and close time and it works like a charm . 30$ solution
Most timers wont work for the drain phase because they require high water pressure (at least 10 psi) to actually open the valve to let the water out at dusk.
@@artCrummer Most timers. Well that's why you get the right kind of solenoid valves. I just purchased one not to long ago from amazon. Goes from the under sink water filtration to the coffee maker and to the pet water fountain. Set up a vale that only lets water fill the tank when the motion sensor goes off. I put a float valve in the tank but the solenoid valve keep the free flow of water from happening if the tank gets damaged or gets kicked over. As for the timers, that really doesn't have much to do with the water pressure.
I would think so if a solar panel can operate a water pump. Possibly put another pump inside the bucket to turn on and pump the water back out and re-use the same water.
I am thinking about taking this concept on to open/close several laying box doors.... now when it comes to rain (I have Tucson Monsoons), I figure the door only needs to open a foot. With that said, I will have tubing/hose that enters through a hole on the top of the COVERED bucket (bucket is over a foot tall and the hole only needs to be large enough to allow the bucket lid to slide past the tubing/hose). Sure, I may deal with some rain entry - but I could also create a cover or surround over this system. This question posted by Mr. Sardinha can potentially be answered with a $2 bucket lid and some tubing - or a surround at some more cost to prevent rain entry. Basically the cost of a bucket, lid, and some tube or hose (Less than $10 for the water weight side of the pulley system). This sure beats trying to wire in so many electrical and/or solar parts or even spending well over $150 for a pre-made, yet door specific automatic door opener. Now to work on pricing of the garden timers, and to figure out how to route the door closing water to fill my chicken watering pools. Loving the idea, as well as a way to daily fill my chicken pools (basically kid's plastic swimming pools).
@@suev3214 "This sure beats trying to wire in so many electrical and/or solar parts" NO. NO it does not. Not one bit. There are way too many things that can go wrong with a system like this. If you like I can go over all of them. For now I will only go over the main ones. Weight. Weight of door, water filled buckets and counterweights are all potential dangers to the chickens. If any part of the suspension part of the system fails you could have fatalities. Freezing weather. Do I have to actually explain this? Space. Compared to other systems , this thing takes up way more real-estate. Support. You have to have a good frame to support something like this. Cost. Now I can can get the cost way down for this setup. With a $10 - $15 Timer, a limit switch, $13 pump and A bell syphon made of a few cheap PVC parts. Water is recycled and can double as water for the chickens. Plus buckets, tubbing, and the rest and it will only be a few dollars cheaper than a good decent not to expensive Linear Actuator setup. "sure beats trying to wire in so many electrical" I can give you a diagram and parts list and if you can follow it you would get it done in very little time and effort. And it would have a safety mechanism too. No worries about freezing or logistics of setting up water buckets.
@@AztecWarrior69_69 Although I was initially upset with your condescending "Freezing weather. Do I have to actually explain this?" comment... I realized I do not know where you are located, nor do you know where I am located. You may want to choose your words a little better rather than presume your subject audience / chat readers are complete imbeciles. Southern Arizona seldom gets freezing weather, yet we know enough to winterize our plumbing on those 2 or 3 cold nights. The basics of this system include a water hose, two timers / valves and two buckets. Mind you, this is in a nutshell. I do realize there are counterweights, pulley's etc. BUT, a basic person has the ability to set this up using trial and error on the counterweights, more so than purchasing solar panels, wiring hydraulic door hinges, setting up either daylight sensor switches or an additional timer. Not everyone on these channels have the electrical background nor the money to set up a solar system. I would be interested to hear the cost of your system with "No worries about freezing or logistics of setting up water buckets." compared to a bucket/pulley/counterweight and off the shelf garden timer system. I do not want to presume your system is solar, but also would like to know if it is solar or if you are running an extension cord and using transformers for the low voltage aspects., inverter for DC motors, capacitors for motors, etc. How about the space needed for all the electrical so it is out of the elements? The maintenance required and cost to upkeep? LOL, I can see a monsoon season not allowing my doors to ever close, so the elements have a lot of impact on either method. I don't discount your technique. I know it has benefits. I also know it has cost and requires someone to be comfortable with electrical work. Often the caveman way is better when it comes to dealing with chickens.
There are several components to doing a pro job. One resource I discovered which succeeds in merging these is the Coop Magic Tactic (check it out on google) without a doubt the best info i've seen. look at this super resource.
Looks very expensive with those irrigation timers. Even if you already had them, the cost of replacing would be heavy. Pun intended. You could have made this with a $10 - $15 Timer, a limit switch, $13 pump and A bell syphon made of a few cheap PVC parts. Water is recycled and can double as water for the chickens.
With the cost of an automatic sprinkler timer, sprinkler solenoid, aqua timer, piping and water, wouldn't it have just been cheaper to buy an actual automatic chicken door?
Wow, great question. I personally have not found an automatic chicken door that is adaptable to the sizes or number of doors I would like to open and close at specified times for less that $180 or so. With the water system, I foresee opening/closing 4 or maybe 5 laying box doors with two sprinkler timers, piping, hose/tubing and bucket(s); and the water then emptying the door opening bucket to fill the chicken pools. It appears I can pick up 2 timed water flow devices for less that $75, 3 buckets and lids for $15, a few feet of tygon tubing or even 100' of irrigation tubing for $11... for less than the cost of a single run door opener, I MIGHT be able to open 5 coop laying box doors AND fill the chicken pools with the water that empties from the water counter weight to open the doors.
if the ainstain is the number one iq master you are the number 2 in the hole solar system your idea my brother save my chiken from rats that attack in the night bite the chiken and have a desease that when bite the chiken in 3 days is dead from my botom of my hart i wish you good year health to your famili and mery cristamas my friend hapy holidays
Would you please give information about the Melnor valve on the bottom of the bucket? A link would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your excellent video.
Here is one Melnor valve that should work: www.homedepot.com/p/Melnor-Automatic-1-Outlet-Hose-Timer-558-026/203062295 or you could visit the Melnor site itselft.
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Great idea. I came up with a very similar idea, a few days ago but I couldn't figure out how to close the door. Now I know :) Thanks for sharing. BTW for opening it, I thought you could just use a reservoir on top of the top bucket and another water timer that would let the water into the top bucket.
Thanks Jim, that's a great idea about using a reservoir if your away from a water supply. I did an update to the door (closing mechanism) that you can check out and made it much more (to the minute to be exact) accurate in the time it closes. Very happy with the upgrade and outcome.
Thanks for the idea. I will take it from here and make my own version. My hat’s off to you.
Brilliant! You could also use a dawn to dusk photocell activated relay instead of the timer.
A hydroponic flood and drain system uses a mushroom type setup to automatically drain at a certain level. You could eliminate that lower drain system just by turning on the fill cycle until the threshold to drain is passed. Blah blah :) Anyway! Awesome setup- very useful concepts to keep in mind. Thankyou.
"mushroom type setup" I think you mean to say they use a Bell Syphon / or U Syphon. This is what I came up with that uses that. Way cheaper way easier.
drive.google.com/file/d/1jesXbuzPj7leY2wjd-Om9wiKeBl5dwEE/view?usp=sharing
ingenious! I'd probably add some rubber hose to the end of the pvc down into the bucket so the water doesn't get wind blown onto the ground... eventually there might be enough on the ground to make it pretty muddy... maybe even a rubber hose going from the upper bucket to the lower one too. Awesome fix and perfect timing. Put a bunch of chicken nipples on the outside of that bottom bucket.
Genius!
I'm in the UK and I came up with the same idea about 20 years ago I made it so some water would flow In to a drinker so they had fresh water every morning the timer only cost me a few pounds best idea yet. People couldn't believe how clever and simple it was. By the way I know how they built the pyramids 😉
cool idea but can something push up underthe door and push it up?
thanks man im useing this as an assignment! its really good
10/10 for ingenuity and innovation. But, this would be very difficult to have working in the winter, anywhere where temperatures drop enough to freeze the water lines, you also have to have running water and electricity nearby, honestly speaking I don't think this would work for anyone far enough up North that has cold winters. You still need to buy the water timer, thats not cheap, why not use a linear actuator on a timer or even on a solar sensor that can open/close with the sun coming up and going down, come is about the same, you don't need running water, no freezing in the winter, and cost wise you're probably looking about the same. Just my two cents for anyone considering this system. Not to offend the video creator, like I said I think that it's very smart design and if you live far enough south and have warm winters then this system might be for you.
Yeah there is way too many downsides/negatives/Cons to this that the Upsides/positives/Pros are severely out weighed. Pun intended.
Excellent!
Excellent!! I have thought about it for a long time but could not figure out how to do it as Jim Jimmy could not either. My improvement would be to use a length of 6" pvc rather than the ugly Home Depot bucket.
What about in the winter ❄️ and snow ⛄️ ?
Wow,
Very criative.
Like the idea, except it be a problem when temperatures drop below freezing! Although you might be able to make a similar system more on a closed containers and maybe use anti freeze that the chickens couldn’t get into!
NEVER USE ANTIFREEZE near the chickens. Any leaks or even failure in the suspended buckets breaking or falling down will kill the chicken, if they drink any of the anti freeze filled water. So if the bucket falls down (or leaks) they may get lucky that it doesn't fall on them but they will for sure drink the poisoned water.
Nice, what about the wind, would it cause the water to splatter all over and not fill the bucket? My thought
that was awesome! thanks for the idea.
Cool idea - must not freeze where you are though.
Clever idea, but how messy/muddy is the pen after you dump a few gallons of water on the ground every day?
Yeah if it’s on a timer why not have the bucket set up outside the cage
Ingenius!
to improve on this, purchase 2 water timers have a big reservoir that drains into a piece of pvc and then drains out the end. If you are worried about freezing you could use rubbing alcohol or just mix in some rubbing alcohol which won't freeze, I would keep it in an area that wont get near the birds. I would also add a packet of kool-aid so you can change the color and know the water is not drinkable.
NEVER USE ANTIFREEZE(that goes for rubbing alcohol too) near the chickens. Any leaks or even failure in the suspended buckets braking or falling down will kill the chicken, if they drink any of the anti freeze filled water. So if the bucket falls down (or leaks) they may get lucky that it doesn't fall on them but they will for sure drink the poised water.
The koolaid, food coloring or pond dye are good ideas to be able to spot leaks when they happen.
Would be interesting to see if this would work with a simple, tiny drip hole. When enought has dripped out, it shuts the door. It would make it even simpler, eliminating the drain valve.
What happens when a wild animal jumps on the bucket and opens the door? how to keep that from happening is my question.
you can do this setup with 2 cheap timer that battery operated. i use them to water my flower bed. 1 goes to hose, another mounts on bucket. program open and close time and it works like a charm . 30$ solution
Most timers wont work for the drain phase because they require high water pressure (at least 10 psi) to actually open the valve to let the water out at dusk.
@@artCrummer Most timers. Well that's why you get the right kind of solenoid valves. I just purchased one not to long ago from amazon. Goes from the under sink water filtration to the coffee maker and to the pet water fountain. Set up a vale that only lets water fill the tank when the motion sensor goes off. I put a float valve in the tank but the solenoid valve keep the free flow of water from happening if the tank gets damaged or gets kicked over.
As for the timers, that really doesn't have much to do with the water pressure.
This is pretty damn kool
Are those buckets uv resistant? Just asking because I have had buckets severely degrade when left in the sun.
Great idea congratulations
Brilliant! Could this be done off grid? Tagging along, excellent content thank you.
I would think so if a solar panel can operate a water pump. Possibly put another pump inside the bucket to turn on and pump the water back out and re-use the same water.
Love it
Ummm, what happens when it's pouring rain overnight and it fills the bucket thus opening the door? Does that release valve stay open overnight?
I am thinking about taking this concept on to open/close several laying box doors.... now when it comes to rain (I have Tucson Monsoons), I figure the door only needs to open a foot. With that said, I will have tubing/hose that enters through a hole on the top of the COVERED bucket (bucket is over a foot tall and the hole only needs to be large enough to allow the bucket lid to slide past the tubing/hose). Sure, I may deal with some rain entry - but I could also create a cover or surround over this system. This question posted by Mr. Sardinha can potentially be answered with a $2 bucket lid and some tubing - or a surround at some more cost to prevent rain entry. Basically the cost of a bucket, lid, and some tube or hose (Less than $10 for the water weight side of the pulley system). This sure beats trying to wire in so many electrical and/or solar parts or even spending well over $150 for a pre-made, yet door specific automatic door opener. Now to work on pricing of the garden timers, and to figure out how to route the door closing water to fill my chicken watering pools. Loving the idea, as well as a way to daily fill my chicken pools (basically kid's plastic swimming pools).
Just put a lid on the bucket with a hole big enough for the filler. Problem solved
@@suev3214 "This sure beats trying to wire in so many electrical and/or solar parts" NO. NO it does not. Not one bit. There are way too many things that can go wrong with a system like this. If you like I can go over all of them. For now I will only go over the main ones.
Weight. Weight of door, water filled buckets and counterweights are all potential dangers to the chickens. If any part of the suspension part of the system fails you could have fatalities.
Freezing weather. Do I have to actually explain this?
Space. Compared to other systems , this thing takes up way more real-estate.
Support. You have to have a good frame to support something like this.
Cost. Now I can can get the cost way down for this setup. With a $10 - $15 Timer, a limit switch, $13 pump and A bell syphon made of a few cheap PVC parts. Water is recycled and can double as water for the chickens. Plus buckets, tubbing, and the rest and it will only be a few dollars cheaper than a good decent not to expensive Linear Actuator setup.
"sure beats trying to wire in so many electrical" I can give you a diagram and parts list and if you can follow it you would get it done in very little time and effort. And it would have a safety mechanism too. No worries about freezing or logistics of setting up water buckets.
@@AztecWarrior69_69 Although I was initially upset with your condescending "Freezing weather. Do I have to actually explain this?" comment... I realized I do not know where you are located, nor do you know where I am located. You may want to choose your words a little better rather than presume your subject audience / chat readers are complete imbeciles. Southern Arizona seldom gets freezing weather, yet we know enough to winterize our plumbing on those 2 or 3 cold nights.
The basics of this system include a water hose, two timers / valves and two buckets. Mind you, this is in a nutshell. I do realize there are counterweights, pulley's etc. BUT, a basic person has the ability to set this up using trial and error on the counterweights, more so than purchasing solar panels, wiring hydraulic door hinges, setting up either daylight sensor switches or an additional timer. Not everyone on these channels have the electrical background nor the money to set up a solar system.
I would be interested to hear the cost of your system with "No worries about freezing or logistics of setting up water buckets." compared to a bucket/pulley/counterweight and off the shelf garden timer system. I do not want to presume your system is solar, but also would like to know if it is solar or if you are running an extension cord and using transformers for the low voltage aspects., inverter for DC motors, capacitors for motors, etc. How about the space needed for all the electrical so it is out of the elements? The maintenance required and cost to upkeep?
LOL, I can see a monsoon season not allowing my doors to ever close, so the elements have a lot of impact on either method. I don't discount your technique. I know it has benefits. I also know it has cost and requires someone to be comfortable with electrical work. Often the caveman way is better when it comes to dealing with chickens.
Legend this is a good one
yeah... I'm stealing this idea..... hows it holding up?
you my friend are a genius hahahahahaahah
I assume it never rains where you live.
There are several components to doing a pro job. One resource I discovered which succeeds in merging these is the Coop Magic Tactic (check it out on google) without a doubt the best info i've seen. look at this super resource.
u can just put the hose directly in bucket and put a lid on bucket
This is outstanding! lol
👍👍👍👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Looks very expensive with those irrigation timers. Even if you already had them, the cost of replacing would be heavy. Pun intended. You could have made this with a $10 - $15 Timer, a limit switch, $13 pump and A bell syphon made of a few cheap PVC parts. Water is recycled and can double as water for the chickens.
That's awsum
OK , I set it up but I bought a Gilmour timer and it just drips, which might take hours to close.
I hope a different timer will work better
With the cost of an automatic sprinkler timer, sprinkler solenoid, aqua timer, piping and water, wouldn't it have just been cheaper to buy an actual automatic chicken door?
The extra cost pays for the fun and self accomplishment.
Wow, great question. I personally have not found an automatic chicken door that is adaptable to the sizes or number of doors I would like to open and close at specified times for less that $180 or so. With the water system, I foresee opening/closing 4 or maybe 5 laying box doors with two sprinkler timers, piping, hose/tubing and bucket(s); and the water then emptying the door opening bucket to fill the chicken pools. It appears I can pick up 2 timed water flow devices for less that $75, 3 buckets and lids for $15, a few feet of tygon tubing or even 100' of irrigation tubing for $11... for less than the cost of a single run door opener, I MIGHT be able to open 5 coop laying box doors AND fill the chicken pools with the water that empties from the water counter weight to open the doors.
Yeah it probably was fun to dream this up and do it but there is no way it is cost effective, all the timers and fixtures involved, but I like it.
This is actually much cheaper.
Nope
The good news is you can make your own chicken house even you're lack of woodworking skill
Just by following detailed blueprint and build your chicken coop yourself, uncover more here:
www.great7.net/easy-chicken-coop-plan
When your not an engineer you ttend to over engineer 😊
if the ainstain is the number one iq master you are the number 2 in the hole solar system your idea my brother save my chiken from rats that attack in the night bite the chiken and have a desease that when bite the chiken in 3 days is dead from my botom of my hart i wish you good year health to your famili and mery cristamas my friend hapy holidays
Would you please give information about the Melnor valve on the bottom of the bucket? A link would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your excellent video.
Here is one Melnor valve that should work: www.homedepot.com/p/Melnor-Automatic-1-Outlet-Hose-Timer-558-026/203062295 or you could visit the Melnor site itselft.