The only issue I see is if you just have chickens, I'd go with horizontal nipples so you won't have to clean cups all the time. If you have ducks, then I'd understand they would need the cups.
We use a DIY 5-gallon nipple waterer. We don't have to fill it but once a month, so to keep it fresh and algae-free, we put a few drops of RV water freshener in it. We had made that many years ago and had nipples left over so recently made one for the brooder out of an old unused Tupperware...