I've decided to give up my nipple waterers / observations

[Tofer76]

Quote:
X2 thats what i use!!!!

 

[Tala]

Well I'm with the OP, I simply found nipple waterers too much hassle for me. I also felt that my chickens didn't like them, but I figured they could get used to it if I wanted them to. Well, I didn't like the nipples so the chickens can just get over it lol
I had some screwed into the bottom of a bucket, but my coop is over 100ft from my garden hose spigot, soooooo in order to fill that darn thing I had to HOLD it up while I filled it, then carry it back.....I switched to plain regular buckets instead. Plop em on the ground, stick a hose in, and then carry it back at my leisure, or have another bucket filling while I was carrying it. Having nipples sticking out of the bottom of the bucket was a major pain in my rear. Having multiple "dog buckets" around the yard is the easiest for me, especially in the summer when water consumption is up.

Right now while it's freezing we're using smaller black rubber tubs instead of full size buckets, but they aren't drinking a gallon a day in this weather either.

 

[bburn]

Quote:
I have the nipple waters. How do you safely keep them from freezing. Today mine are not but I have been going out in the morning and putting a liter bottle of hot water in the bucket and it seems to unfreeze the nipples after a while. It is a little warmer this afternoon that it has been the last couple of days and it was not frozen a while ago. But what is the safe way to keep it from freezing?

 

[kateseidel]

<<You do what gets you the best egg production and health and is easiest to maintain>>

Well, no. I am not particularly concerned with egg production at all. My hens came to the farm to eat bugs - every egg, every day is just a delightful bonus!! I have more hot weather than cold weather, and nipple waterer works fine. After a couple of rounds with my horse waterer and electric current in the water, I prefer to not use an immersion heater, so in the coop I have a metal waterer on a heated base, which works great. And in the run I have a nipple waterer which will probably remain frozen for the next few months! And of course, there is now an extra waterer in the horse paddock, which is where the hens like to hang out a lot. And then there are the horse tanks where they will occasionally hop up and have a hilarious dip and sip. And they can always wander down to the creek if they are really desperate. I'm pretty sure they are getting enough to drink! Sometimes I feel like the queen of watering options.

It IS a pain to not be able to set the nipple waterer down when I fill it, so I usually just haul a bucket of water out to the run to fill the nipple waterer (no hoses to the coop and run).

 

[Theo]

I have a 5 gallon water carafe with a nipple on it--the nipple is attached to the beveled edge, not the bottom, so I can set the carafe down while I fill it. I vastly prefer the nipples to all other waterers. I have never had a conventional waterer that worked for me. They leak, they get filthy and the chickens are geniuses at spilling them.

My coop is small, and the chickens warm it with their body heat. I haven't had a frozen nipple yet, but we don't get below freezing temps very often or for sustained periods, where I live

My gripe with the nipples is that I bought 10 of them (not from you, Neil) for a fairly high price from an online source, and of the 10, only 2 did not leak. I don't mean leaking around the plastic part, which can be stopped with silicone. I mean leaking from the metal tab. What a drag.

Which do my chickens prefer? I don't know--I don't offer them choices. They obviously get enough water from the nipples, because they are healthy and active. I'm satisfied with that.

 

[Schroeder]

Everyone talks about the nipples, but no one mentions the small little red cups that can be attached to PVC pipe. I haven't tried either yet, but wouldn't the cups have the same benefits as the nipples, yet allow the birds to chug the water as some owners seem to prefer?