Chickens always seem to find new and inventive ways to dirty their water and after needing to replace Itchy's water bowl two to three times a day, I thought it high time I made her a proper one. I have wanted to try water valves for a chickens as they are widely used in the poultry industry.  My future plans for chickens will have me caring for hundreds, if not thousands of chickens and so this was a perfect opportunity to test this watering system out.

The metal valve at the end has a bearing attached to it on the inside of the plug, as the chicken pecks the valve, the bearing lifts up and allows water to drip down - it keeps the water clean and is super efficient.

I found a great supplier online and ordered five, they are pretty cheap and cost around $2 each.

Installation is really simple.  Use a 9mm drill bit and drill into your water container, then screw the thread of the water valve into the hole, fill the container with water and you're ready to go.  I chose some spare PVC pipe as my water container, I spent another $2 on a cap and glued it into place.

I installed it into Itchy's shelter and, being very familiar with this type of drinking system, she took to it straight away.

So far I have found the watering system to be amazingly efficient - I haven't had to fill this for a week now!

I'm still not sure if I would use this for my future production system yet.  Dirt would be a factor and could easily clog the valve.  In this event, I wouldn't be able to tell if it's blocked unless looking at it while a chicken is trying to drink or if I tested them all individually.

For now I'm very happy with this watering system ... and so is Itchy.