Have you used chicken nipples?

[kapie9969]

I use small gatorade bottles with the nipple in the cap,hung upside down,i put a small pin hole on the top with a nail.I wrap bailling wire around the bottle and make a hook with the wire doubled up to hang off the cage.
Future plans are for a pail with a fish tank heater inside and a fish air pump to make the water go up a 2 inch pvc pipe and then go down an half inch pvc pipe with gravity and use a return line with the nipples that well empty into the pail,so in the winter it well use just enough power to keep the lines and nipples from freezing up.
I wonder how a filter pitcher would work to get clean filtered water.Used as the pail.

 

[lstollin]

When my nipples drip, it's always that they just need to be tightened a little bit. In my case, it's never the threading into the 5-gal bucket, but rather the threads that hold the upper and lower parts of the nipple itself together. You can unscrew it all the way and observe/lose in the dirt the upper pin, ball bearing, and lower pin. You can also check to see if there is a bit of grit keeping the ball from seating correctly. But for me, just tightening that joint stops the leaking.

Perhaps the valve seat (where the ball seats on the lower half of the nipple) is poorly molded it won't seat tightly and there will be a leak. If you have extra nipples, you could try replacing it or even just replacing the bottom half to see if that fixes it.

The wetness I get (probably less than yours) is the inevitable dribbling that occurs when the chickens "peck-n-dodge" and I get to watch the drips rolling off their feathers. I moved my waterer out of the coop so the drips don't wet the coop floor. You could dig out a small "sandbox" under the waterer and fill it with sand/gravel so that area doesn't get muddy. Or put cement pavers or old bricks under it.

Re the cold - I'm from Texas so that hasn't been an issue. Maybe one of those old test-tube looking aquarium heaters set real low, together with some insulation around the bucket? Or a heating pad taped around the bucket? Or would it still freeze up at the nipple? I'd be curious to know what others say. The advertisement below (shopthecoop.com) has heating pads especially for coops....

Re having 2 kinds of waterers -- I think if one chicken uses the nipples, then they would totally be able to make the switch, copying each other as they do. If you like the nipples better for cleanliness, freshness, etc., then I would just switch to them. What I did was leave the watering fountain for a few days when I introduced the nipples, but then for a few more days left it there but let it get filled with litter and poop (like it did every single day). After 2 days of that they were pretty much going for the nipples because that water was fresher.

 

[Mexiontheloose]

Here's the link to my blog page where I update on the chicks, there is also the link for the video I made about switching chicks to the Avian Aqua Miser Chicken Nipples!!

Chicken Adventure #2

~Brian!

 

[Rich386]

This is my setup never dirty never leak.

 

[Rich386]

What a great use for a old toilet tank!!! Love it!!!!!

IRONIC ISN'T IT THAT A TOILET TANK WOULD BE USED ON A POOP FREE WATERING SYSTEM!

 

[Nicluvchocolate]

Regarding the Fish Air pump, you might not want to waste your time. I set up a similar system for my rabbits, heater in bucket, attached a pump to circulate the water through the pipes, even put heat tape over all the hoses, but since there is metal on the nipples, it would still freeze. Maybe the rabbit ones are worse since the nipples are all metal and not a mix like the chicken nipples, but I fought with it all winter. My chicken buckets have the nipples right in the bottom and the heater in the bucket, I never had the water or nipples freeze. If you are in a longer term freezing climate like mine (4 months frozen on average) I would not recommend pipes, just more buckets or larger buckets with more nipples. And a farm tank heater is super durable - a tefflon like disk, unlike the glass and filiment (sp?) in a fish tank heater.

 

[Rich386]

I use small gatorade bottles with the nipple in the cap,hung upside down,i put a small pin hole on the top with a nail.I wrap bailling wire around the bottle and make a hook with the wire doubled up to hang off the cage.
Future plans are for a pail with a fish tank heater inside and a fish air pump to make the water go up a 2 inch pvc pipe and then go down an half inch pvc pipe with gravity and use a return line with the nipples that well empty into the pail,so in the winter it well use just enough power to keep the lines and nipples from freezing up.
I wonder how a filter pitcher would work to get clean filtered water.Used as the pail.

Circulation not air will deter freezing. I used a Little Giant fountain pump about $12.00 at Lowe's. The water is circulated from the reserve through the pipe and back to the reserve tank. This works for my area we only get down to about 20. A heater of any kind could be added for lower temps.

 

[kapie9969]

The air pump is an idea for circulating water in aquaponics.The pumps are like 15 to 25 watts. The urban aquaculture manual has the plans.webofcreation.org Air pumps use less power and last longer.
If lightly warmed water circulates through PVC im thinking frozen nipples arent a problem.Well at least my chickens water supply anyhow.

 

[MamaAB]

I have had my chicks using a nipple since day two and they seem to love it...my problem is they might love it to much haha

I think they play with it some maybe? Either way the floor under it is WET. I am using sand but it is just wet. not like a puddle but a rather large area is just wet sand I don't think this is good for them.

What can I do here? Should I put somethign diff down for them? I am afraid once they get into their coop where I also plan on having sand that they will always have a wet floor.

(the nipples are not leaking its when they peck it and miss some of the water that comes out)

 

[Mexiontheloose]

What I would do is underneath the nipples make a small wooden frame, and fill that with gravel. Affix that frame to the ground in some manner so the chickens can't move it around. And if you are worried about them kicking out the gravel(which my girls would do on a daily basis) you could put hardware cloth on the top of it to keep that contained.

Hope this helps!!!