Are nipple waterers hard to keep clean?

Nipple waterers are the easiest waterer to keep clean. They are a nearly sealed system so no dirt can get into them. As a result they don't need cleaning often. The new nipple waterer I put out in November is just now going to be cleaned for the first time. Water is still clean but algae is starting to grow with the warm weather. I'll clean it out and put some copper pennies in it to retard the growth of algae. I'll be looking around for a dark colored container that will not let light in and algae grow. At the moment my container is a clear tote with lid.
 
I LOVE my nipple drinkers. I use the mini Hen Hydrator. I haven't converted all of my flocks to this but I'll be so happy whenever I do. I add 1/8 teaspoon of Oxine AH every other time to keep green algae at bay. They do drip, which is my only complaint. It's worse if it's slightly frozen so I'd worry about frostbite on toes if I lived in a really cold environment, but I'm in NC. My chickens took to it quickly too

Edited to add that the Hen Hydrators are opaque blue so that helps with algae growth
 
the first time using my horizontal nipple waterers my chicks did somehow manage to get chick crumbs into the tank but has stayed clean since so by far the easiest to clean. Only needs a quick rinse out.

The only problem I had was my bantam birds could not properly start using them till they were 6 weeks old.

I still feel like they don't like using them, the principle seems to simple, push the lever and fill your beak but they keep pecking it and pecking it and get a drop at a time.

It might not drip and they do get enough water and for the sake of convenience I will stick with horizontal nipple waterers but the birds don't like using them much.

I persoanlly think they are great, my birds would say less so ;)
 

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