Chicken Nipple Waterer

[runt325]

OK, thanks.
Mine are the vertical ones but I am thinking of getting some horizontal ones to use in the winter.
Do they freeze up??

a nipple waterer ha

 

[ChesbroFarms]

Hi!
We use the nipple watering system. The first couple times, we had the same problem but now we drilled the holes just slightly smaller than recommended. Then we uses the O-ring that comes with it and then we also used plumbers tape along the grooves. We get super hot summers & super cold winters and the plastic has held up quite nicely without any leaks since starting this process. It really keeps the water clean and my wonderful husband hooked up lines from the sprinkler system (city water) to fill the buckets every time the sprinklers go off. This keeps the work load down 3 seasons out of the year. During the winter we hand fill the buckets and keep an aquarium heater in them to keep the water from freezing.

Good luck!

 

[AllynTal]

I use vertical nipple waterers. If installed properly, the nipples don't leak around the base but....sometimes the a chicken can grab and yank the metal dangler really hard and once in a while the dangler doesn't fall back into place. It stays cocked and then it drips. Outside, I don't care; but inside the coop, that's a problem. I solved it by putting a big plastic tray under the inside nipples. I put bedding in the tray, but if the nipples leak and the bedding gets wet, it doesn't seep out in an ever-widening circle to make the whole coop damp. If I find that a nipple has been leaking, I tap it to make it stop. Since I use sand in my coop, I can let the sand dry out on its own; I know the wet spot won't expand outside the tray. If you use shavings, you can let them dry out or you can dump the tray that contains the wet bedding.

This is the tray I use:
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/handy-tray/flats-trays-inserts

I'm not necessarily recommending that tray, I'm just showing what I use. I tried using a greenhouse seed tray first, but it was too flimsy and got holes punched in it and cracked. I switched to the tray in the link. It's sturdy enough to hold up to abuse. My waterer is a 5-gallon bucket so I need a big tray. If your waterer is smaller, you can scale down the size of the tray to something more appropriate.

 

[azjustin]

OK, thanks.
Mine are the vertical ones but I am thinking of getting some horizontal ones to use in the winter.
Do they freeze up??

I've never had a horizontal nipple freeze up. The winters here aren't exactly arctic, but we do get several weeks of below zero temps (or more).

 

[micah wotring]

Quote: Oh, ok
I guess i just assumed they did and quit using them when it got cold. I'll try using them this winter.

Thanks

 

[Matt M]

I use watet nipples where are they leaking from and what it hooked up to(pvc,bucket,ect).

 

[lilymia]

Thanks for all your help guys! Yes, it's not leaking, they are just not catching all the water when they peck the nipple. I how the hanging water nipple one from Tractor Supply. We have it inside right now, because we had to get the coop done in a hurry and only have a small outside run for them right now. We let them out of the coop all day every day to free range on our property. Eventually, we will have a giant outside run for the chickens, complete with a slanted metal roof so they can still go outside in the winter if they want and the snow won't completely fill the outside runs. So for now, I'll just have to deal with the water that falls when they peck at it. I read that only older chickens can use the nipple waterers, but i'd like to try it on the chicks we hatch also.

 

[AllynTal]

.... I read that only older chickens can use the nipple waterers, but i'd like to try it on the chicks we hatch also.

The horizontal nipples are hard for little chicks to actuate, but they can use vertical nipples, no problem.


These littles are two days old.