2 watering questions

[ChickenCanoe]

Yes, as I mentioned I'll be using horizontal nipples. I understand beak height but what is the beak height? Can't seem to find anything on bird heights.
I get putting a cap on the end for cleaning but how do you clean the inside of a pipe that's say 3 ft long?

Beak height varies with age, breed and sex. It could be 2 inches for a Serama chick or 3 feet or more for an adult Malay rooster.
Best bet if using a bucket is to hang it and keep raising it as your birds grow.
They make wire or sponge brushes on long wire rods for cleaning.

 

[Jellybean05]

I get my chicks this Thursday so I'm still quite awhile from drinking water in the coop/run but I'm always thinking about the next step because this is my first go 'round with chickens.
I have horizontal nipples that I was originally going to use with a PVC pipe system. I was talking to another chicken keeper this weekend and he said that he tried that method also but the inside of the pipe would get all gross with slime and whatever and said it was just huge pain to clean out.
Q1- Has anyone here experienced this and how do you remedy it?
This person also said that they now use the bucket system with the red/yellow cup system and hangs it from the bottom of the elevated coop and they love the simplicity of just having to clean the bucket. I would tend to agree with that.
Q2- What is a good height for the nipples to be at? I'm sure it varies for different types of birds and ages so let's just use some general guidelines.

Thanks so much!

A1- with using pic pipes as the waters I think could make it to where it has moving water at all times but idc how to help with that. I use th cups with the nipples they're great!
A2- I would maybe 1ft you don't want them duck underneath ya know?
Hope this helps

 

[EggyErin]

You could also add a little Oxine AH to the water each time you refill. Does wonders for keeping buckets/troughs/pipes cleaner longer.

 

[Skipcurt]

You could also add a little Oxine AH to the water each time you refill. Does wonders for keeping buckets/troughs/pipes cleaner longer.

I've never heard of this stuff but doing a quick read about it the stuff sounds pretty awesome. A quick search didn't come up with any local retailers carrying it.

Thanks so much for the tip!

 

[EggyErin]

You can get it from Amazon but it will ship from Revival Animal Health, which is where I get it from. You don't need the activating crystals.

 

[PingoBags]

No growth in my pipes but mine has no light leaks. The more light that gets in, the faster the growth.

 

[aligarysmom]

I have heard you can put ACV in the water too. Supposed to help the birds and retard growth in the waterer.

 

[Beer can]

I've never had any build up in my nipples, use the vertical, no sunlight, no algae. Even if I did, is it a really big deal? Chickens eat their own poop.

 

[aligarysmom]

I have them as well. Didn’t think of that. It could be a problem

Since OP mentioned using nipple watering system, adding ACV might not be a good choice since most nipple systems have metal toggles and ACV can corrode it.

 

[aligarysmom]

So I looked this up and it turns out that in theory as long as you don’t go over the one tablespoon per gallon ratio it won’t affedt the nipple.