Chicken water nipples reviews?

[cabutler13]

Anybody use anything from avianaquamiser? They say theirs don't leak but I'm new to all this chicken stuff. They sell vertical nipples.

 

[pdirt]

Anybody use anything from avianaquamiser? They say theirs don't leak but I'm new to all this chicken stuff. They sell vertical nipples.

We had purchased our vertical nipples from CCONLY.com. They seemed very high quality and never did leak. However, they dribbled a LOT of water onto the birds and the ground, but only when the chickens were actively drinking from them. Supposedly this problem can be reduced (but not eliminated) by raising or lowering the bucket to the correct height. But that only works if your entire flock are the same sized chickens. We have roosters, bantams, regular large fowl and usually some pullets...all different sizes. One bucket height would be ideal for reducing dribbling for one size of chicken, but not for the others. They also froze way too easily in winter (even with a bucket heater).

We switched to horizontal nipples and were MUCH happier with the result. They dribble probably only about 15% as much as the vertical ones did (and I didn't even notice until winter when a small mound of ice appeared after 2 months of freezing weather). Plus, they've never frozen on us (down to -9F so far).

I'm sure avianaquamiser's vertical nipples are very high quality, but they are still going to be suspect to the same dribbling and freezing issues as any other vertical nipple would.

 

[Faraday40]

I use 40 watt Bird Bath Deicers and in my water buckets with Horizontal nipples and they never froze even when we had -15 degrees F. at night and never got warmer than 9 degrees during the day for a week to ten days.

This was a rough Midwest winter with a few lows of -30'F nights and highs of -10'F during the days. I must say my waterer (with heater) & horz nipples worked well. Last year with the vertical nipples, they froze during the polar blasts, but the water inside the bucket was liquid. This year no problems.

Now that spring is here, our thoughts turn toward chicks. For my youngest chicks, I still like the vert nipples. They're cheaper (can make many for multiple brooders) & slightly easier for day olds to use. Once the chicks are older, they can easily switch over to the horiz nipples. (Takes less than 60 sec for them to figure out since both are red.) The only thing I sometimes find is that chicks raised on nipples might need to be TAUGHT how to drink out of a bowl.

 

[Blooie]

True the horizontal nipples won't freeze but the water in the bucket sure will without a low watt deicer if you get cold weather.

Um, I beg to differ. <sigh>


Thawing frozen nipples with a heat gun.


One of the icicles that formed from the cup all the way down to the ground. This was after hubby had thawed out the cup and metal spring, and the top part of the brick. This was with a stock tank heater in it.

 

[thegreatwhite]

at what height should the nipples be for full sized birds? for example, 12", 16", 18"?

Thanks

 

[fried green eggs]

Wow. I think your nipples are defected or you have too many nipples available to birds. We had a few days this winter and last that got that cold and mine never froze but, I have enough hens using mine so, they never left water in the catch below the nipple.

 

[Blooie]

Wow. I think your nipples are defected or you have too many nipples available to birds. We had a few days this winter and last that got that cold and mine never froze but, I have enough hens using mine so, they never left water in the catch below the nipple.

Could be a multitude of reasons, I suppose. There are 4 nipples around the bucket, and I had 10 chickens using it, plus one little chick who ended up with frostbitten feet, most likely because his feet got wet standing on the brick. I can see possibly one nipple being defective, but this was what we found on all four, and on several mornings, not just one. The routine was get up, start the coffee, bundle up, grab the heat gun and get out there and thaw. We are redoing the entire waterer this spring - it works great for the reasons we all love using the horizontal nipples, but earlier this winter in talking about this issue on the forum someone suggested that we raise the nipples up substantially. Worth a shot and buckets aren't that expensive. When we ordered the horizontal nipples we ordered the 10 pack, so we still have some of those on hand too.

 

[fried green eggs]

at what height should the nipples be for full sized birds? for example, 12", 16", 18"?

Thanks

I have found with the horizontal nipples the best height is at eye level when the bird is standing tall. With the vertical nipples I also put them high enough so the bird had to stand under the nipple and raise and tilt their head up to drink.

 

[Marylani]

Quick question what size drill should I use to install the horizontal nibbles in/on my bucket?

 

[rogersne]

can you tell me how you set up this cup system? I ordered the cups off ebay with a regulater but no instructions on best way to set up..What size pvc? Thanks in advance