Horizontal Nipple Waterers... in your opinion, yes or no?

[Pioneertown mama]

I currently have those plain old chicken waterers, you know, these: (not my photo, and not the exact ones, but basically the same)
View attachment 2724261View attachment 2724262

I share a flock with my sister (@Starburst) and I have been really wanting to switch to this style, especially as we have rats (trying to get rid of them!) and I’ve seen them drink from the fountain waterers, which is NOT sanitary.

Another reason is that they basically splash the water up with their dirty feet and muddy it, and spill the water. I have to refill the two watered very often, which is a pain when one is 3 gallons and the hose is pretty far.

All in all, seems more sanitary, less work, however I do have some reservations. Well, more like Star has some reservations.

Here are her reservations:

Would stress them?

Unnatural?

How would you retrain them?

Chickens should be able to dip their combs in water. (I’m not sure about this one, but that’s what she says)



A few of my questions:

Where is the best place to purchase them?

How many can fit on a 2-3 gallon bucket (I don’t want to lift anything heavier than that)

How many for 16 chickens?

At what age can they start using them? (I have 3, 5 week olds, 7, 15 week olds, and the other 6 are full grown hens)

anyway, any help is appreciated!

My coop is made on stilts to give shade underneath inside a large enclosed chicken run. I used a 5 gallon water cooler "the kind that you see on a work truck" with a water float inside -like a toilet or a evaporated water cooler- and a garden water hose going up to the water cooler. I placed it above my coop on the roof. To this I connected PVC pipe down underneath it with 3 holes drilled into it, and attached 3 water nipples. This way they always have clean water that automatically refills it self with NO electricity. I have 6 hens. I trained them to use it by putting peanut butter on the nipples.

 

[knurse1]

I have them and think they are great! Everything stays so much cleaner. I do put out large shallow pans of water in shady areas on hot days, too, that I refill a few times during the day, because I've heard about the wattle thing, too, and they can stand in it if they want

I agree. We have a whole system for it. Even in the freezing cold and Winter we put a hot water warmer and it works great.

 

[3KillerBs]

How do you guys keep the water and containers from this?

The water from our well grows a slime of some kind after several days (or maybe it's a mineral deposit -- the water has been tested and is perfectly safe). When I refill the waterer I brush it down and rinse it.

MUCH cleaner than an open waterer -- which has to be brushed and rinsed at least daily.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I set the waterers out today so they could have access to extra water in case they figured it out (Its really, really hot in Washington today, like the 100s.)


2 of the younger ones immediately started pecking and were delighted to find water!

 

[dables1]

We use a 4 inch pipe with an ell on it reduced to 2 inches that hangs outside the coop and the smaller pipe extends into the coop. I have three chickens and one nipple. Filling the waterer about once a week works fine although in summer I top it off daily. I hang it about their height and they easily can get water all the time. Just touch their beak to the water and they are taught. No mess and would go no other way. The pipe is capped off on both ends and does not seem to grow slime or change color at all.

 

[Lori S]

I love mine. I use them year-round, with a heated version in winter. The water stays clean, as much as two weeks between fillings in cool weather. No bedding or poop in the water, and wild birds don't contaminate it. To start my girls, I tapped each nipple to let a little water pool under them, then watched to see them use it. I figure if one uses it they all will figure it out. Three nipples for up to 7 birds. I do still use a pair of half gallon chick waterers in the run, one plain and one with cider vinegar, and they much prefer the vinegar water. These are cleaned and refilled daily, but if weather keeps them in the coop they have water.

 

[Lori S]

I love mine. I use them year-round, with a heated version in winter. The water stays clean, as much as two weeks between fillings in cool weather. No bedding or poop in the water, and wild birds don't contaminate it. To start my girls, I tapped each nipple to let a little water pool under them, then watched to see them use it. I figure if one uses it they all will figure it out. Three nipples for up to 7 birds. I do still use a pair of half gallon chick waterers in the run, one plain and one with cider vinegar, and they much prefer the vinegar water. These are cleaned and refilled daily, but if weather keeps them in the coop they have water.

Oh, the heated version was from Rural King. The other I made from parts. Both are two gallons, as I too don't want to lift anything heavier.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I finally ended up setting them up, even though there’s a heatwave. I didn’t take away the chickens other (fountain) Waterer because I didn’t want them getting dehydrated in this weather, but I’ve already seen a few pecking at it and drinking.

Once the weather cools down I’ll try taking away the other fountain Waterer.

I’m just trying to allow as much water as possible.

The buckets are 5 gallons, and I realized I can carry them if they have the lid on. They can be a little awkward, but it works.

 

[JTHawk]

I set a large heavy duty tote on top of a milk crate after I put a row of seven nipples on one side. The curiosity factor had several of the girls fascinated with this new addition so I used my finger to get water into the nipples and most were eager to check it out. They trained the other ones. I like the tote for several reasons: It holds a lot of water, so I don't have to keep refilling it; I can see the water level through the sides of the tote; the lid snaps on, keeping the water clean. Every three or four weeks I let the water level get really low and then dump it out and scrub the tote, but I have never seen algae or anything like that in the water.

What I don't like about this system is that the chickens drip water on the floor, and even though I try to keep the coarse wood shavings away from the water they still spread them out and then the shavings get soaked and it is a mess. I have tried putting a boot tray under the nipples, which helps, but the chicks still like to rearrange the shavings and get a lot of them in the tray.

Now, in the summer, I have the tub outside in the shade and on the other side of the pen I fill three shallow plastic tubs with fresh water every day. While the chickens do like to drink from open water (I have never seen any of them dip their combs in it however) I also see them drinking from the nipples. BTW, mine seemed to learn faster with the nipples than with the cups, and seem to like them better.

 

[aart]

What I don't like about this system is that the chickens drip water on the floor, and even though I try to keep the coarse wood shavings away from the water they still spread them out and then the shavings get soaked and it is a mess. I have tried putting a boot tray under the nipples, which helps, but the chicks still like to rearrange the shavings and get a lot of them in the tray.

You need to see if it's normal drippage from drinking or if the nipple is leaking either from the pin seal or around the threads.
Can be hard to do. I empty and dry the outside of the waterer, put it up on blocks of wood on a clean dry surface(I use my dryer), fill the container to up over the nipples, wait and see where the drips are coming from using a flashlight to see better. Might have to dry and check again.