Cheap homemade chicken nipple waterer

[ChickenEllis]

I just wanted to show off the nipple waterer that i finished today. Nothing groundbreaking or original. Thanks to all of the creative posters in the forum in the past whose ideas i utilized to create this.

Start out with the nipple device that can be purchased for under 2 dollars online.

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplie...ering_systems-ft1_hoses_nipples;pgwc1030.html

I also added a snug rubber washer and a metal nut to tighten from the inside.

I bought a cheap plastic pitcher at the 99 cents store for... 99 cents.

I used a paring knife to carefully craft the right size hole in a flat area of the bottom of the pitcher. A buddy of mine tried to drill one and it cracked.

I screwed the nipple device in the bottom of the pitcher and then put the rubber washer on the inside of the pitcher and tightened it down with the metal nut.

Here is the finished product mounted.

and the view from the bottom.

a couple of my EE's figuring it out.

It didn't take my girl's long at all to figure it out. They really go at the nipple hard. Not sure how long this one will last. The pitcher is not the highest quality. So far no leaking. I am going to make one more for inside the coop and one for outside in the Free Range backyard.

 

[Marbleheader]

Wish I had seen this before I bought the same thing for $30 from avian aqua whatever it's called. They also used a $2 nipple and a $0.99 pitcher. Is yours still working?

The good news, is that my birds picked it up right away, too. If you check my live coop cam, ou can see it in the upper right-hand corner.

 

[PeeperKeeper]

Looks good!
Thanks for sharing.

 

[gryeyes]

I bought the DIY kit with one nipple from Avian Aqua (or whatever), and built a waterer from an emptied plastic milk gallon jug. My chicks took to it right away. Then I saw the instructions on this forum for an automatic waterer using the nipples, PVC pipe and big plastic bucket from the grocery store (used to hold frosting for the bakery). I did some research and found the exact nipples from FarmTek, ordered four of those and put it all together. I should probably take pictures....

Right now I'm just putting the pullets outside for a few hours each day, and they took to the waterer right away. (I did have to put an upside-down dog food dish directly under the fourth nipple furthest from the bucket of water so the youngest, shortest pullets could reach the nipple. Although the medium ones will jump up and tap the nipples now and then when the "lowest" one is being used by 2 or 3 pullets standing on the dish beneath it...)

Anyway, this is SO much better than changing the water every 20 or 30 minutes because somebody's pooped in it! And no litter gets kicked into it, either!

 

[ISSOLA]

i'm very impressed! good job...!!

ISSOLA

 

[GarlicChicken]

I just placed my order for 18 nipples this afternoon form FarmTek. I'm so impressed w/their cusomer service. Shawn at ex. 248 spent 20 min reviewing all of their chicken watering options. For my flock of about 40 in 4 seprate coops he advised the Poultry Nipples...at $2.09 ea plus re-using some buckets I already have... it's worth a try. thanks for the tip. I'll keep you posted w/results

 

[Redley]

Quote:
How high do you put the nipples on the waterers? My chickens aren't fully grown yet, so I can't put them slightly taller than head height (my chickens are still in the egg state), but I am making the water stand and will have it set to the adult height and put a ramp up for when they are youngsters. I will have Orphingtons, RIR, and Barred Rocks. Let me know, your nipple looks perfect

 

[robnms]

I'm gonna use a 5 gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bottom hanging from a chain so you can adjust it to the height you need, then drill a 1.5" hole in the top to fill it with the hose. This makes watering easy and less mess. Here's a link to QC supply, the price is a little better on the nipples and they carry different styles. http://www.qcsupply.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=nipple

 

[FireTigeris]

Anyone know if rabbits can use these too?

I moved my doves so that leaves rabbits and chickens (some under 6 months) in the large run.

So I really need a way to water everyone w/o worry when we leave.

 

[carabar]

I had seen a post on the water nipples and was intrigued. I had gotten on the site to find the gentleman who sells the nipples and the put together nipple waterer when I found your post.... Thank you so much for your post!....... I went to the link you posted, ordered the nipples and my husband was able to get clean 5 gallon buckets that originally had contained food product. He was able to purchase the O rings at the local hardware store and a friend had the correct size drill bit which he kindly gave us. We put together a 5 gallon nipple waterer for each of our 4 coup rooms and the chick room. We then hung them to the 4x4 posts in the corner of each coup room using metal strapping to secure each one. We originally had used a 55 gallon plastic drum that sat next to one end of the chicken coup, we filled it with water and then hand carried a large bucket to each coup room bringing their water dishes outside to clean, replace and refill. This made feeding time quite a chore and time consuming. Since making the nipple waterers I have had more time to spend with my chickens picking them up and petting some (I always talk to all of them) when I go to feed. Now with the hanging feeders and the mounted nipple waterers my chickens always have clean feed and clean water. We keep a check on the waterers as we feed and fill with a water hose when necessary. Had I not seen your post I would have had the same convenience at a much higher price. I can't express my Thanks enough.

, me doing a happy dance. and a

to you. Thanks again!!!

All of my chickens caught on to drinking out of the nipples right away. We would show one and they showed the rest. This includes the chicks in the chick room, they were a bit slower but once they figured it out they went right to it. I think it took maybe 10 minutes to accomplish this, much less time for the older ones.