Nipple waterers - a danger of frostbite in winter?

[mamadawn]

I can only add that last winter was very cold- the unit we put together worked like a charm! It came on automatically when the temp went below 32'
My BriteTap never had a leak or drip. So I dident worry about frostbite and never noticed a problem. I would think a fountian the girls could splash around in or stand in might be worst.
If your BriteTap unit had a continual leak you may want to contact BriteTap and have them replace the valve. Much of there marketing discusses keeping the coop dry... So their product shouldn't drip.

 

[pdirt]

I can only add that last winter was very cold- the unit we put together worked like a charm! It came on automatically when the temp went below 32'
My BriteTap never had a leak or drip. So I dident worry about frostbite and never noticed a problem. I would think a fountian the girls could splash around in or stand in might be worst.
If your BriteTap unit had a continual leak you may want to contact BriteTap and have them replace the valve. Much of there marketing discusses keeping the coop dry... So their product shouldn't drip.

The problem I had with the vertical nipples (the brite tap had two vertical nipples) is they dribbled a lot when they were being used by a chicken. They never leaked a drop when not in use, but dribbled profusely during use. Supposedly this can be mediated by adjusting the height of the nipples higher. I couldn't do this because of our smaller chickens. Placing a step under the nipples for the smaller ones to step on to reach the nipples only resulted in the larger girls using it too, defeating the purpose of raising the nipples higher!

The dribbling problem resulted in me digging out about 75 lbs of ice from underneath... From one Nipple waterer... Over the course of one winter.

I know I'm not the only one who has had this problem. Some folks have been luckier, most of whom seem to have one breed of chickens, meaning they're all the same size birds.

 

[mamadawn]

Yes all my girls are the same size. I'm confident you'll find your solution- good luck and keep us posted