Another Way to Water Chickens

[trilyn]

letsgobucks! :

We're currently trying to transition our three hens (5 weeks) to a rabbit/gerbil waterer. The first few days they didn't seem to drink much. Some, but not as much as they were with a regular waterer (that kept getting messy...).

We are on day 3 and they are taking in much more. They definitely know how to use it and have from the beginning. They just have to work harder for it and I'm not sure they were into that.

If they make the transition, we'll be SO stoked. No more messy waterers...We'll see.

Our next step, if this doesn't work, will be to try those nipples from FarmTek mentioned in a previous post. They are just expensive to ship (unless there's someone out there who can find them cheaper). You CAN get them on eBay too. They are a lil' different from the Farm Tek but seem to be basically the same thing. Again, however, they are in China and are about the same as the ones from FarmTek after the shipping...Seems to me to be "half-dozen one way, 6 the other.

There's actually a couple sites on ebay that have them for 26.00 with shipping for 20 of them. If I need to buy more I was going to check them out. If I can find the link, I'll post it. Also, if you order from tek supply, call there and see if they'll send them to you in a media envelope. Tell them you heard that they ship a catalog and gloves with your order and you're not interested in those items. That's what they did to me, they charged me for junk I didn't want or need! But I purchased 5 nipples and 5 extra grommets. The total order came to 20.00 and change, so for 4 bucks a piece I gained 5 waterers. Still not a bad price, but it could have been a lot cheaper!!​

 

[lindabean]

I have some heavy duty plastic jugs that have had laundry soap in them that may do well for containers for water. Has any one tried these for water, and if so, how do you clean them of soap residue? I think these would be great to put the Avian water nipples in.

 

[lindabean]

Little Giant is a brand name for poultry products and other animal feeding & watering products. I can walk into a Tractor Supply and buy them off the shelf, so go to the TSC web site and see what you find there. If you have a feed store in your neck of the woods, they may also carry them. I'm really suprised that a google search didn't come up with something. Go to www.EggCartons.com and look for them there.

 

[lindabean]

I finally decided on a container for my first Avian Water Nipple. It's a 1+ gallon Tree Top Apple Juice jug that is made of heavier plastic than a milk jug. I get these at Costco. My hole was a little to big & it leaked, so I mixed up some marine grade epoxy and wiped it around the threads of the nipple and around the drilled hole. I'm letting it cure overnight before I will test it for leaks. I think it will be fine. I need to get the proper sized drill bit, as recommended by Farm Tek, which is a 9.0mm or 23/64 ". I'll also try the ones that use grommets and push in. I'll let y'all know how it works!

 

[letsgobucks!]

I have tried the rabbit cage waterers without much success. They drank it but not as much as they would had I let them use our regular waterer (typical mason jar style).

I have tried a 3 inch PVC pipe waterer today. It's about 24 inches long, capped on both ends, and has 2 big holes in it, very much like many PVC waterers people make. However, only one of my chickens will drink from it, at least from what we have observed.

I don't think the other 2 hens realize there is water in the holes because the water is clear and they therefore don't see it.

I'm open to ideas of how to get them to use it.

 

[BarnSweet]

Quote:
Most animals are creatures of habit, so why try something new if the old one works.

My dh came home from Farm and Fleet with a "nipple" waterer (to attach to a bottle). I haven't tried it yet, but would like to as an additional waterer and for when I'm "washing" their "normal" waterer.

What height do you hang the bottle. Should it be so they have to put their beaks up or just to the side to drink?

Thanks,
Kathy

 

[missouri]

Has anyone attached a nozzle or nipple to a larger water container or PVC pipe? I like the idea of the nozzles etc, but the gerbil bottles are very small and I imagine they would have to be refilled very often.





I have a handful of hens and a few small guineas. I built a small coop for the chickens and have large rabbit cages for the guineas.
I would like to build a larger coop, water dispenser, better feeder, etc.. Any clever ideas out there?

How high do you recommend I build my fence?

 

[mayden]

Here's the ones I tried. They come with a rubber grommet and then you simply push the nipple into it. You simply drill a 3/8 inch hole and put the grommet in and then the nipple. You can use any plastic bottle or jug you want. I bought 4 and only used 2 so far. I didn' t even have to coax the chickens at all to get them to use it.

Here's the link where i bought mine.

https://www.teksupply.com/farm/supp...ering_systems-ts1_hoses_nipples;287f0f77.html

 

[nhnanna]

http://www.eggcartons.com/product-exec/product_id/1040/nm/Pop_Bottle_Drinker_PBD
Here is the page for them.

 

[briteday]

Quote:
I bought the poultry nipple drinkers from FarmTek online. I bought the push in ones with the grommets for a small coop that houses 6 silkies. I made them 2 waterers. I took a one gallon jug and drilled a 3/8 hole, cleaned the edges of the hole, pushed in the grommet and then the nipple. Works great.

I also bought the same nipples that you screw in. I drilled 3/8 holes in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket for the nipples. I also bought a simple toilet float valve and drilled a hole in the center bottom of the bucket for that. The float valve gets attached to a 12" hose that I bought at the hardware store as well, meant to go from the valve (normally installed in the bottom of a toilet) to a 3/4 fitting at the other end where it would normally attach to the water supply pipe in the wall of your house under the toilet. Instead, mine is connected to a garden hose that I leave turned on at a trickle so it can fill the bucket as needed. This one has worked out great since I never need to fill it. The bucket hangs by the bucket handle on a hook that I screwed into a 2x4 of the shed. I lift the lid daily to be sure that the water fill is working. And I've also been putting frozen water bottles and blue ice containers to keep the water cold in the awful heat. For the winter I'm hoping to put a bird bath immersion heater in the bucket to keep it from freezing. Also, the nipples work on gravity so the lid doesn't have to form a seal. They don't drip. In fact, for the water to come out you need to leave some sort of air gap by leaving the lid unsealed or poke an air hole near the top.

However, as with anything new to the birds, I'm also leaving a pan of water out for them where they were accustomed to finding it before the nipple waterers came along. I'm not taking any chances in the summer heat.