Get you two 55 gallon drums and build a stand for them to sit horizontally. Add a shut off valve to the bung plug holes and plumb them together with PVC. Run the PVC into the pen and add
Chicken Watering Cups inline to the PVC. Fill the drums full of water and add a tiny amount of bleach to kill the algea that will grow in the drum. This will water your chickens for an extended period of time depending on how many you planned on getting.
I didn't read the whole thread so I'm wondering if you are getting them to eventually use for meat chickens or strictly for eggs. If it's the latter my recommendation is to get <5 hens and no roosters. You don't need roosters for egg production and unless you are feeding a pile of eggs to a large family daily you won't need more than 6. When I went through my first round of them I bought 14 hens and we had so many eggs I was having to give them away by the basket.
