Nipple watering

[Lorraine Perth]

I am about to change my hens over to a nipple watering system. How do you train them to use it and do you need to leave their usual water bowl out while they are learning?

 

[BellevueOmlet]

You can always try the drinker cups. They work much like the nipples but leave a little pool of water in the cup that chickens can see and drink.

 

[jimmywalt]

You have to remove all other sources of water or they won't use the nipples.

Once all other sources are gone then they will use the nipples. You need to show one or two chickens how they work, flick the nipples so that water drips and make sure that they see you. Watch for them to use the nipples, and then the other chickens will learn from them.

Good luck! Once you go to a nipple waterer you will never go back to the dirty old dish!

 

[chad-o]

There are hundreds of people on BYC that have converted to horizontal nipples. There is not one post that says " I converted to horizontal nipples and they died of thirst " I think we all worry too much.

 

[jakes bayou]

mine took to it right away, but I did have to remove their other water source first. if you want to see how to make a good nofuss waterer, I am very happy with the one I have built:

 

[pdirt]

The cups looks great, but won't work in our climate...too cold in winter.

For our chicks, they all had the nipple waterer figured out within 2 hours. I started them on the nipples around 2-3 weeks of age, though I'm sure you could start sooner. The first chick figured it out in under 15 minutes and the others followed in less than 2 hours. I removed all other sources of water. Thirst drove their desire to find water. If you leave them an easier/known source, they will likely ignore the nipples.

For our grown birds, it took a bit longer. When I first hung the nipple bucket, they pretty much ignored it for the first couple hours. Then when one of the chickens was near it, I flicked one of the nipples in front of her and I saw that she saw the water drip from it. I did this several times and each time it garnered more interest from this bird, she kept going to where the water was dripping onto the ground litter. This was after a couple hours, so I know she was thirsty (it was a warm day 85F or so). I set up a video camera aimed at the bucket and left for 3 hours while it recorded. When I reviewed the video, the first bird to figure out the nipples was the one I had shown it to and she figured it out about 30 minutes after that. Within a few hours, most of the birds had figured it out. They seem to learn from watching the others. There was a couple birds that I hadn't yet seen using the nipples, but that doesn't mean that hadn't figured it out. They acted and appeared fine...no sluggishness or signs of dehydration. I had removed other sources of water except for the small pond that was about 150 yards away. They usually only drank from the pond in the morning, so for two mornings in a row, I kept them shut in the coop/run with the nipple bucket as their only option for water until after noon. I verified all but one on the first day of the shut-in and the last one on the second day. To summarize what I did:

day 1: hung the bucket, flicked a nipple in front of a bird, let them free range, verified most birds use the nipples
day 2: shut them in for half the day, verified all but one bird using the nipples
day 3: same as day 2 and verified the last bird

 

[Lorraine Perth]

Thanks for the great suggestions, I removed their other sources of water 2 hours ago and they all have used the nipples! So there you go easy!

 

[chad-o]

When teaching day old chicks to drink from the nipple do you have to put their beaks up to it? Like when you dip their beaks in the water to show them where it is. I am going to be using nipple waterer for the first time in my brooder hoping to keep the water and brooder cleaner.

Just my opinion!!!
I have never had to dip their beaks to get them to drink. Can't hurt to do it, mine always seem to find and drink the water. I think that dipping their beaks is more for the poultry owner than for the poultry. LOL
I just give the nipple a little flick so it is not dry. There are hundreds of post that state that they removed all other water. Their birds started using nipple in a matter of hours. If you think that they need a dip do it there is no way it can hurt. If you want the opinion of a pro you can contact the Solway US rep. using the contact seller here.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221371433386?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

 

[pawtraitart]

I have a question for those of you in the colder states... what do you do with the chicken nipple waterers in the winter? Do you switch back to a heated metal 5-gallon, or is there some way to keep the water flowing in the nipple waterer? Thanks!

I just drop a de-icer in the bucket. For my small drinkers we make a heated box unit with only the nipple sticking out or place the container on a seedling heat mat if it's one of our small drinkers for the bantams. We use the horizontal nipples which are spring loaded so they don't have to hang.

 

[pawtraitart]

Horizontal nipples in a 55 gallon drum