Family feud over Chicken Nipple bucket controversy - Hens not helping!

[RedDrgn]

Chicken instinct is to drink from standing water; ANY standing water, so they will. It doesn't matter if they have plenty of water or not, they'll hit every place they learn has open water. Ours used to do this even when we did have a fount for them, but we quickly got sick of the tedium of cleaning one of those things properly and switched to a 5-gal bucket with nipples. They're fine. They have access to them whenever they want and always have plenty of water. Due to one chicken having foot injuries, we had them all locked in the run and barred from free range for almost two weeks; they had nothing to drink from except nipples, and no one shriveled up and died (so they must of used them)!

 

[breakout]

They probably are smart enough to drink from puddles to get bacteria that build up their immune system -- even when not thirsty. We would never want to do such a nasty filthy thing ourselves -- better to go pay the doc to shoot dead viruses directly into our bloodstream

 

[debir1966]

I am not going to listen to the guys anymore LOL.

And I am ordering some chicks and was going to get a standard chick waterer (which I might, just to have on hand "just in case" - yes I know, more confidence please! LOL), but I bought some chicken nipples on ebay today so I can make my own pop bottle chick nipple waterers!

 

[chichichickapea]

I am pretty new to chickens....have only had them 5 weeks. But, I bought the 5 gallon bucket with the nipples on the bottom and it is the neatest thing since sliced bread!!!!! It took my chick about...2 second to figure it out and start drinking from it!!!! My standard watering containers stay filthy and I wash and refill them at least twice a day. I ordered more chicken nipples today and plan to make my own little watering system for the coop and the run!

 

[snowk]

We just finished our chicken nipple waterers. They are hooked to a hose and controlled with a float switch. I love them... the girls don't. I have taken each girl and put her beak up to the nipple, nothing. The next day I went out with a cup of cream cheese and kept smearing cream cheese on the nipples. They were more than happy to peck off the treat and I thought that they had it! Then yesterday I went out and found one of my Bramahs dead in the run. With no signs of injury or disease I assume it was dehydration. I immediately put the old waters back in and am about to go back out with some more cream cheese. One tractor seems to have adapted and I can hear them rattling the nipples and can see that the ground under the bucket is wet... but now I am second guessing myself. I feel so guilty about Baby and certainly do not want any of the other girls to be thirsty? I am going to continue to put the old waterers in for a while until I am SURE that everybody knows how to use the nipples.

PS I have one bany and we were worried about how high to put the nipples (one tractor ranges from bany to Jersey giant) so we put two pieces of firewood under the bucket. The taller girls can step on them or not and the bany can use them as a step stool!

 

[debir1966]

I am so sorry to hear about your brahma Snowk!

Since we are free ranging the hens during the day, I can't really tell if they are using it for sure or not! I feel that they did before we started free ranging on a consistent basis, and won't really know for sure until this winter when it will be the only water they have.

I am going to start my new chicks on nipples right away... even though I am going to go ahead and buy a baby waterer "just in case", I am not intending to use it!

I read to use jam on the nipples, but that didn't seem to help my chickens learn. What I did was get a stump to sit on next to the bucket and I tapped on the nipples and let drips of water drop out and the girls got curious and came to see what it was all about. I know for sure "some" of the hens can and do use the nipples, but I have not see them all do it, especially our light brahma, Big Bertha. I even raised it up to make sure she could use it and have been worried about it being too high for the others now!

Thanks for the idea to use some boards to make different heights for differen size chickens! I am definitely going to do that for ours since Big Bertha is almost twice the size as the other hens, and I am hoping to keep a black broiler for a rooster out of our new chicks.

Like you, I am still second-guessing myself but I KNOW it can be done and I LOVE how much simpler, easier and CLEANER watering our chickens is now - I never want to go back to the old, poopy gross way again LOL.

Hang in there! I read and was told that if one chicken learns how, they will teach the rest! Once we get our new coop built I am thinking about setting up one of those motion cameras LOL, so I can see if all the hens are drinking (and then I want to use it later to see who is laying!).

Good luck!

 

[hearts34]

I bought some of the chicken water nipples, but never got brave enough to use them. I use a five gallon bucket with lid and two holes drilled in the lower two inches of the bucket. I set this in a plastic dish pan.

It provides water for about three days. It is pretty nasty when I rinse it out and refill though.

Anyone ever heard of or considered a recirculating open system? Like the decorative garden streams?

 

[CarlaRiggs]

I haven't used the hanging bucket set-up with nipples; I did watch a short little video showing chickens drinking from it, though.
My inclination was to not use this. The bucket isn't stable, but swings about as the hens drink. And they don't seem to be getting much at each peck made at the nipple.
If I had to drink like that, I wouldn't like it at all, ie. drips from something swinging over head!
I've watched our hens on a mildly hot day, and they take big gulps of water, lifting their heads for a few seconds to swallow. I'm sure they're getting more water than they would with something dripping from a swinging nipple.
I clean the water container every couple of days or so. It gets leaves and grass clippings in it. I don't mind, though as I believe this is a much better way for them to drink and be satisfied.

 

[chichichickapea]

My nipple bucket doesn't swing, I have it sitting/straddling two cement blocks. My chicks like playing on the blocks and going thru them, etc.

 

[breakout]

I haven't used the hanging bucket set-up with nipples; I did watch a short little video showing chickens drinking from it, though.
My inclination was to not use this. The bucket isn't stable, but swings about as the hens drink. And they don't seem to be getting much at each peck made at the nipple.
If I had to drink like that, I wouldn't like it at all, ie. drips from something swinging over head!
I've watched our hens on a mildly hot day, and they take big gulps of water, lifting their heads for a few seconds to swallow. I'm sure they're getting more water than they would with something dripping from a swinging nipple.
I clean the water container every couple of days or so. It gets leaves and grass clippings in it. I don't mind, though as I believe this is a much better way for them to drink and be satisfied.

If you and your birds are happy with your system then that's all that matters but just so you know there are certainly ways to make the bucket stable and nipples are the standard method in the poultry industry -- no industry would use a method that would decrease production when other methods were easily available. Our birds not only drink from them -- they shower! By which I mean they take a mouthful and preen themselves with it -- you can see their feathers getting wet