Getting them to drink from nipple waterer

CluckyHops

In the Brooder
Jun 8, 2018
5
13
26
Any tips on getting the girls to drink from their new horizontal nipples? I took away their fountain when I replaced it with the 5-gallon nipple drinker but now they just aren’t drinking. Any help would be appreciated.** I watched some tutorials, but still no success.
 
Mine figured out the nipple system within about ten minutes, just from me tapping on the nipple and them watching water drip from it in response. They prefer a trough-style waterer... I have both available to them, since I'm adding electrolytes to their water in the current heat. I only add those to the trough waterer, to avoid any risk of gumming up the nipple tank, and so that they have a choice. They're not as fond of the nipple tank... but if they're thirsty enough, they use it. I can't tell you how to get them to use it, since mine didn't need much convincing - but if they know there's water there, and they're thirsty enough, they should figure it out.
 
mine took to it as soon as I hooked it up
I mounted mine about 12 inch off the ground they love it
 

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Please make sure there is an alternate water source especially in this heat.... some of mine never liked it and I took it down and sold it, they stood there forever drinking little drips..... not for my girls . Now I have one of these in every coop, sure it gets dirty , my job is to keep clean water for them no big deal
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Watching them take big gulps is worth the occasional poop in the water
 
I introduced the horizontal nipple a few days ago. Initially they did not wanted to use the horizontal (I guess the vertical is easier to "push") so a few times a day I would get in the coop knowing they are thirsty and would push the nipple for them, till they were all done. 3 days later no need for me to go in anymore, they have figured it out
 
I grabbed some birds and pushed their beak onto the trigger until water came out. They usually drank the water while I was doing this. I can't remember if I did this with all of them or not, but I've seen all of them (even the ducks) use it.

On another note, I think having more head pressure really helps them get water out of a chicken nipple (vertical or horizontal). The taller the container, the more pressure there is so the higher the pressure, the more water comes out when pressed. Not everyone will have the same system, so not everyone will have the same results.

I have vertical nipples mounted at about a 30 degree angle on both sides of a 4" PVC pipe. If I hold a nipple, water sprays out. I couldn't understand why I kept seeing people post about their birds not getting enough water using chicken nipples. Eventually I realized that not everyone has a system that holds probably 5 gallons with about 3.5 feet of head pressure. I didn't design mine with that in mind, just realized the difference later on and glad that it worked out.
 

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