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Sunday, May 23, 2010

Automatic water for pigs or sheep (part 2)

These pictures show a nose-activated waterer that's an alternative to nipple based systems.  I like this style because it allows piglets to drink, and seems to be more liked than the nipple based systems I talked about yesterday. 
As the animal drinks the water in the cast-iron dish, it depresses the nose valve and water squirts in.  I mount these low on the posts, maybe 8" up from ground level, so that weaners can drink from them as well. 

This is the style of waterer found in the farrowing crates, and any sow or weaner that's been in the crate knows how to use it. 

The complete waterer assembly sells for about $35, the swivel fitting from 3/4" pipe thread to 3/4" hose is about $7, and the lag bolts to attach it to the post are about $2, giving a total cost of $45-50 per setup. 

I've shown the hose going direct to the back of the unit, inside the post.  If I were going to install this again, I'd put a nipple in to extend the rigid pipe out the back of the post.  I'd do that becuase the hose is the part of this setup that gets messed up the most, and with the hose fitting inside the post I have to into the pen and remove the unit to replace the hose.  If I extended it to replace the hose I'd just unscrew it from the outside of the pen and replace it. 

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