Chicken water nipples reviews?

[ladyrsanti]

I have not found any means to keep a nipple system from freezing here in the north, without compromising the safety of the coop. None whatsoever. Once those temps dip below 0°F and your nostrils freeze shut instantly upon going outside, there's pretty much nothing you can do. Kick the rubber bucket or get a heated dog dish.

It's been a rough winter. My nipple waterer is out of commission, waiting for spring.

 

[chad-o]

I have not found any means to keep a nipple system from freezing here in the north, without compromising the safety of the coop. None whatsoever. Once those temps dip below 0°F and your nostrils freeze shut instantly upon going outside, there's pretty much nothing you can do. Kick the rubber bucket or get a heated dog dish.

It's been a rough winter. My nipple waterer is out of commission, waiting for spring.

In your case the only way to keep your water from freezing, MOVE TO FLORIDA !!!!!!
LOL

 

[mmmooretx]

LoneOak,
As this is my first run at having chickens I will be starting with pullets, but your inputs are valid. As short as our freeze days are here in Houston I may just buy an aquarium heater and run an extension cord out to the coop.
Thanks for your time

 

[LoneOak]

LoneOak,
As this is my first run at having chickens I will be starting with pullets, but your inputs are valid. As short as our freeze days are here in Houston I may just buy an aquarium heater and run an extension cord out to the coop.
Thanks for your time

Put those pullets on the nipple waterer just as soon as you turn them loose in the pen or coop. Show them that they drip water and since they will most likely be thirsty you shouldn't have any problems. Do not offer them water by any other means. Remember the #1 rule for teaching birds to use the nipple waterers.

 

[mmmooretx]

LoneOak, That will be the first thing I do after I get the transport containers out of the coop. Hopefully they will not be too freaked out with the move and new digs.

 

[katbriar]

I have not found any means to keep a nipple system from freezing here in the north, without compromising the safety of the coop.  None whatsoever.  Once those temps dip below 0°F and your nostrils freeze shut instantly upon going outside, there's pretty much nothing you can do.  Kick the rubber bucket or get a heated dog dish.     It's been a rough winter.  My nipple waterer is out of commission, waiting for spring.

I have three fittings in the bottom of a five gallon bucket and use a bucket heater purchased at the local farm store. It sits on the bottom of the bucket, kicks on only when it needs to, and jeeps both the water and the fittings thawed.

I don't know when it would be too cold to work, but it kept up to -15F degree nights this winter.

 

[bsruther]

Been using a nipple on the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket for about 3 years now, same bucket same nipple and I wouldn't even consider another method now.
I hang the bucket from the ceiling and in winter, keep a cheap aquarium heater in it, turned all the way down, still using the same heater too.
I drilled 2 holes in the top rim of the bucket, opposite each other and put a piece of half inch pvc pipe between the holes.
I then slid a threaded rod through the holes and pipe and bolted the ends, this keeps the bucket from collapsing from the weight of the water.

 

[Melinda48]

Good to know. We tried to keep our bucket in its stand outside this winter and our immersion heater failed - ended up changing the water daily. Will try your method because we love our chicken nipples - keeps everything so nice and clean!!! Thanks so much for posting. I have copied your post and printed it out so we can modify our waterer.

 

[pdirt]

Good to know. We tried to keep our bucket in its stand outside this winter and our immersion heater failed - ended up changing the water daily. Will try your method because we love our chicken nipples - keeps everything so nice and clean!!! Thanks so much for posting. I have copied your post and printed it out so we can modify our waterer.

I also ended up switching from a 250W stock tank de-icer to a 100W aquarium heater. The 250W thing kept water thawed but the nipples would freeze below about 20F. The 100W worked down to -9F (the coldest it got here this winter). I also keep the 100W heater turned as low as possible. I've read others doing just fine with 15-50W aquarium heaters. With such a low wattage heater, they will be heating all the time, probably 24/7...I'd be concerned of such a heater from overheating or burning out prematurely as they were not designed for such a purpose. They were designed to be used indoors where the air temp would be closer to 60F...not -9F!

Next winter I am going to use some of that Reflectix (mylarized bubble wrap) to insulate the bucket and lid.

We also added another bucket using the horizontal nipples, which are less prone to freezing and dripping, but our one cross-beak bird can't physically drink from them.

It's also a good idea to have at least two nipples in the bucket (even if you don't need that many) in case one nipple freezes up due to cold or minerals in hard water, etc. I've gone out and (in an unheated bucket) found one nipple free-flowing and the other one stuck or frozen.

 

[newchicks5]

i hope they work ,i,am sick of carrying water feeders out to coop.