A different way to water chickens-Avian Aqua Miser

[cjexotic]

Be patient.. I did my OH pheasants on Saturday and I must have been there for a good two hours and they looked at me like I was the man on the moon. I had poured so much water over the bucket for the nipple to be wet that I created a puddle. Now they are more interested in the puddle.
So I just figured it was starting to get dark and the pheasant began to roost. Ok nothing I can do now as they are going to bed. So the Sunday morning before I went to church I dumped more water over the bucket again. water on ground and on cinder block that I had under nipple (so they had to step up to get to it). They drank the water from the puddle and off the cinder block but only stood under the nipple looking at it. So I poured more water over the bucket. Monday came now I have to go to work worried about them as I am not going to be there to keep watering the bucket I called the vet. The vet said no bird will thrust to death they have a natural instinct to hunt out water. He said keep doing what I am doing. He said if they are looking at it they are checking out to see if its staying in the pen and if they should continue to investigate. Ok i said and out again and watered the bucket. When I got home Monday evening they were all drinking out of it..50+ pheasant. As the vet said all you need is patience, trust in the bird, and leave them alone to figure it out and you only need one bird to figure it out and the rest will follow.

My chicks I just kept dribbling water down and finally 1 chick came and was drinking the water that was dripping down the side.. finally it saw a drop on the nipple and hit it. I stepped back and it decided to hit it again and they they all came a running to watch and within about 20 minutes they were all using the nipple.

Hope that helps and sorry its long.
I

 

[Carolyn252]

Quote:
Fabulous, detailed story. Thanks for this wonderful encouragement. I'm feeling more confident now that I read your saga.
Will keep on trying the water-over-the-jug and see what happens.

 

[Carolyn252]

Quote:
Fabulous, detailed story. Thanks for this wonderful encouragement. I'm feeling more confident now that I read your saga.
Will keep on trying the water-over-the-jug and see what happens.

Question: Did you remove all other water bowls/buckets/sources while waiting to see if they'd try the nippled bucket? And if so, how long was the longest that you left them with no water to drink (other than the nippled bucket)???

 

[trilyn]

Why not just take one and introduce them to it. I physically picked one up and tapped his beak against the nipple. Then he kind of stood back like what was that! Finally he drank and the rest followed suit. It took me a second to do that and within 2 hours the rest were drinking out of it. My bigger girls (at that time were only 4 wks) and they just dove at it and started drinking. You don't need to be rough, just pick the bird up, hold his head with one hand and tap his beak against the nipple, gently. The water comes out freely, so it's not like you're being cruel. Same principle as when you introduce a day old to water. I don't know-just a suggestion and it worked for me! Good luck!

 

[Carolyn252]

Quote:
Sounds BRILLIANT. I shall give it a try first thing tomorrow morning.

 

[cjexotic]

The vet said to give them 24-36 hours or to do what trilyn said.
Chickens don't freak as much as pheasants can. And them and quails can die right in your hands from getting so upset. That is why the vet said to give them the 24-36 hours before physically handling them to the nipple.
I am sorry I forgot that in my story and yes I removed all water but the bucket with the nipple on it. Vet said if you leave it there they will talk the easy way out.

 

[dtimms]

It worked!!! I put the jug with the nipple on top of my girls' cage. My toddler likes to toss Kix in through the top of the cage, so they are very curious about anything being introduced from above. They came running over and I pushed on the nipple so a bead of water was hanging from it. About 2 seconds later they were all squabbling over who got to drink next. I left it as the only water overnight and in the morning, all were fine and the water level was a little lower. First morning I didn't have to make a huge mess in the cage and the garage removing the waterer, cleaning it, and putting it back before work.... What a pleasure!!!!! You guys are my heroes....

 

[Carolyn252]

Whoooooo Hoooooooo ! Success !!
At 10am this morning I found them walking around on the floor of the coop and refusing to walk out into the run. I couldn't imagine why, so I looked around to see if I could find anything unusual in the run that might be scaring them or something.

What I found was a little disconcerting. Apparently I had forgotten to return their water bowl to them after yesterday's late afternoon teaching session of me tap, tap, tapping my finger on the nippled jug.

So they've been without water since then. Well, having them very thirsty is a perfect setup for another demo, so I removed the nippled jug from where it's been hanging for them outside the coop, and I put it in through the coop window and rehung it inside.

Reached in through the coop window and tapped the nipple twice and HennyPenny came over instantly and worked that nipple like she was born to it! FABULOUS!!! She took about five drinks, walked away for 30 seconds and was back at it again. Meanwhile, ChickenLittle was watching and finally got up the courage to try it. And voila, I've got both pullets drinking from the nippled jug.

HOORAY!!!
Now if I need to go away for a weekend, I'll leave a couple of nippled gallon jugs and two bowls of layer feed and all should be well when I get back.
SO HAPPY!!
Thanks everybody.

 

[dtimms]

 

[lindabean]

I have had my Avian Water Nipples for several weeks now. I bought the DIY kit and got 3. I have been reading about how weak the plastic milk bottles are, so have been looking for alternative that was free. I buy TreeSweet Apple juice at Costco in 1 gallon jugs that are made of a heavier plastic. They have a built in handle and a cap that screws on. So I am inserting my first Avian Nipple in one of those. I read on the Farm Tek site that a pilot hole should be drilled with a 23/64 inch (or 9.0 mm) bit. I didn't have that size, so I used a 3/8 inch bit. When I screwed the nipple in without a grommet or silicone sealer, then filled the jug with water, it leaked. I was careful to remove excess plastic from the hole, so I decided the hole was just a bit to big (did some calculations and determined that the 3/8 bit is .02 inches larger than the recommended one.

) So I removed the nipple and found a marine grade epoxy that I had on hand that claimed it would set even under water. I mixed up a little bit of that, smeared it around the threads of the nipple and the edge of the hole and carefully reinserted the nipple in the hole. Then I smoothed out the epoxy and checked to be sure there was none on the metal sticking up on the inside. Now I need to let it cure for a few hours. In the morning I will try filling it up again and check for leaks. If it seems to be holding, I'll take it out to the pen. I've about decided to wire it by the handle to a post of the run. When it needs to be refilled, I can either take the hose into the pen or just take another jug of water with me to refill it. My well water has a lot of sediment in it, so will probably keep it full with house water that has been filtered. Will also add ACV to it, which should keep it clean as well as sediment free. I'll keep y'all posted as to my progress. Next I'm going to try putting one on a bucket.