I had my DH make two nipple waters this weekend and hung them in two cages. The Serama cage has a roo/hen. They are about 5 mos old and have always had a regular water setup. I placed the food next to the water so they were eating and as they stood back up the nipple was right there at eye level. The rooster seemed to ignore it that first day so on day two I held him by the nipple. tapped it and would drop the water from my finger onto his beak. tap,tap,tap.. drop the water on his beak. Did this about 6 times and then left him alone. Checked later and saw him eyeing it and next thing I knew he was drinking from the nipple. I knew then he would show the hen how to do it to. They really do mimic each other. Today I saw her eating her breakfast and then tap, tap, tap... she was drinking. I am monitoring the water level too to assure I have an idea of how much they are drinking.
The second waterer is in a large brooder in the barn and there are 8 month old chicks in there. They seemed to not even notice it hanging in the brooder so I placed a 1 gallon waterer right next to it and tonight there were two chicks going tap, tap, tap so there curious nature took over and they are figuring it out. I feel pretty confident the others will also investigate and learn that it has water. Chicks are pretty compulsive about following the leader.
