any advice on waterers??

[mamatink7]

our 16 girls from our first batch are turning 8 wk on Wednesday (hatch date was 27 April). we are 95% done with coop and thrilled. but I'm having issues with waterers spilling everywhere, even if they are hanging and propped up to not spill. this morning, waterer was empty and bedding was again soaked, yesterday i put in new bedding. this idea worked for 2 days.

any idea on how to prevent waterers from spilling??? the original brooder waterer was great once i propped it up onto bricks for support, however, its being used for the other chicks. i have used the mason jar waterer on top of a coffee can last week but its so small i refilled 3x a day. before this i used the hanging waterer and it tipped nonstop (this is same one I'm using again but with nothing underneath it). i loved the nipple waterer and am still using this for outside in the run area but it was constantly being pushed and soaked the bedding again. I'm trying to find some way to prevent this prior to moving them into coop or it'll be a complete nightmare.

thank you

 

[CluckerCottage]

We use cinder blocks to elevate the poultry drinkers and it's all good. You will have some damp shavings but not soaked as you are describing.
Since the bricks worked in your original brooder, get some more for your adoloescents'' area.
Good luck

 

[mamatink7]

thanks again for your wonderful responses. if i hang the nipple waterer in the coop (husband gave me holes to hang things) will it drip out and soak as it does in the brooder? I guess I'm most worried about shavings getting soaked leading to soaked wood floors. how deep is your deep litter?

 

[Intheswamp]

thanks again for your wonderful responses. if i hang the nipple waterer in the coop (husband gave me holes to hang things) will it drip out and soak as it does in the brooder? I guess I'm most worried about shavings getting soaked leading to soaked wood floors. how deep is your deep litter?

Do you have the vertical nipples...the ones pointed downward? I understand that those are prone to drip. The horizontal ones with the tiny catch cup are noted to be almost drip-free. A user here on BYC sales them on eBay and maybe here on BYC.

Here's a link to the eBay ones...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/322129181269?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Ed

 

[mamatink7]

thanks Ed. yes, we have 2 bucket waterers for outside run area as they tend to drip. i have seen those you mentioned thx to your link. could i just replace the current nipples with those?

 

[CluckerCottage]

At this point, the litter is about 4" deep.
If you are concerned about the nipple waterer dripping, grab a large old baking pan and fill it half way with rocks. Put it underneath and you won't have soaked shavings if it drips. The rocks are for weight so the pan does not flip over when the birds are standing on it.
Dump as needed.

 

[Intheswamp]

The horizontal ones are designed to work...horizontally. I'm not sure they would work vertically. Are the ones you want to replace in the side of a bucket or in pvc pipe?

 

[Intheswamp]

If you have vertical nipples in a straight piece of pvc pipe you could simply cut the pipe off a couple of inches from the elbow/tee leaving a stub there. Then unscrew the vertical nipples from the cut-off piece and install the horizontal ones. Take a coupling and reattach the pvc pipe to the stub, insuring that the nipples are now oriented horizontally.

If your vertical nipples are on the bottom of a bucket then you'll pretty much need a new bucket.

Best wishes,

Ed

 

[Stephine]

I got lubing cups from dine a chook and installed them on a bucket. The bucket is elevated on old pavers so the cups are at the level of the chicks back and I put an old plastic "cone of shame" on top of the bucket to keep chicks from perching up there. Love the combo - clean water, no spills. Horizontal nipples don't spill either if your chickens can work them, ours didn't use them well.

 

[mamatink7]

great idea!! thx i will try that