7 week chicks not using nipples

[bwindrope]

I have four austalorp chicks about 7 weeks old and I am trying to have them use my new nipple watering system. Having built several other coops and had many chickens, I'm familiar with the basic stuff, and have learned that a carefree watering system is a huge upgrade. I found out about nipples here and have built a simple pvc system. Problem is, the birds do not use it. I have let them go nearly 24 hours now and by all indications they have not decided to peck and use the nipples. I go in every few hours and tap the nipple for water to come out and they get all excited, but they peck the sand floor instead of the nipple right above their head.

Any advice? Are they still too young? They are fully feathered and about half adult size, I'd say. Is it a developmental thing?

By the way, I absolutely love having switched to a sand floor after years of using topsoil and even hay. So easy to clean, and much less smell.

Thanks for help with the nipple problem!

 

[featherz]

Hmm... maybe it's too high? is there other water there also that they prefer? Mine use nipple waterers right out of the egg and have no problems, so it's not the age thing..

 

[bwindrope]

Good to hear it's not an age thing. No, I removed their old plastic waterer because I figure they won't use something new if the old one is there. The nipples are about at the height of the top of their head. They can easily peck at them without stretching, in theory. Should they be lower? Seems like they shouldn't be too low or they can't get the water in their mouth.

I don't know how long to keep trying before giving them their old waterer back, but that only prevents adoption of the nipples. Chicken intelligence can be a real challenge!

 

[chickensinwasillaAK]

I had white nipples, they wouldn't even try them. Friend suggested I change to red which attracts them, it worked fine now. Try the color

 

[A.T. Hagan]

7 week chicks not using nipples

Time to wean then...

 

[bwindrope]

Success! Yesterday afternoon I went down and finally they discovered the nipples. They were so thirsty they attacked them ferociously. Thanks for the encouragement here. I'm excited about my system because it will let me not have to clean or refill their water for long intervals. Besides the pvc pipe, red push in nipples and 5 gallon bucket gravity feed system, I installed the float system from my old feeder that attaches to a hose. Beautiful. Garden hose to float, which I secured through the bucket, and it self fills when the water level declines just as the old water bowl did.

Great improvement!