Nipple Waterer or Normal Waterer?

[AnimalGeek23]

Hey guys!
I haven’t posted in a long time! I’m on a trip in China-it’s a beautiful country. Wow! Okay, back to the topic ...
Since I’m getting chicks around September, they’re going to be put in the coop during the winter/cold months.
Since I’m going to be straight out preparing for winter materials, what do you guys suggest? Should I use a heat lamp? How much watts? Where should I put it? Sorry, a bombardment of questions
As the title says, should I get a nipple waterer or a normal waterer?
Thanks!

 

[LaurEliz]

I have a nipple waterer after years of using a regular waterer and I really like the nipple one for a couple reasons:
The water stays cleaner than regular waterers. Before, I had one with a top on it and the bowl around the bottom to only let some water out. That kept it cleaner, as the chickens were less likely to step inside of it, but they also could still kick debris inside the bowl and some liked perching ontop of it, which could get messy with their poop. The nipple waterer lets me put the watering jug outside of a fence I have inside the coop while the nipples go through the holes in the fence, so the birds won't perch on it and it's higher up so they can't kick anything into it either. Another perk is that I don't have to go in the coop to refill it and trip over birds who are used to seeing a container in my hand being food, not refilling water. I don't know if these things would be beneficial to you or not, but that's just what I think from my set up and experience. A note: My chickens had to be taught to use the nipple waterer, but now they all catch on pretty well. It may be because mine were about a year old by the time I got them the new waterer that they didn't understand.

I have never heated my chicken coop in the winter. I put straw (and lots of it) down instead of wood shavings for more insulation. I close the windows to the coop and nail old feed bags over them to prevent window drafts. I live in Central Illinois, if that gives you any hints about the weather here. Sometimes, it gets so cold my birds won't come out of the coop. I have heard you can use vaseline on them to prevent frostbite on their combs if you're worried, but that's never been a problem for me. The only time I would use a heat lamp is if I had babies at the time.

 

[SueT]

I use nipple waterers but in winter, I get out the heated dog bowl. There are ways to heat the nipple buckets, but I just put them away till spring.

 

[Bryant Redhawk]

I use a repurposed toilet bowl with float valve to refill and a 3/4" pipe fitted with 3 nipple for in the coop water outdoors I use rubber feed bowls set under the trees for shade. in the winter I drain and turn off the nipple setup because I haven't found a really good way to keep that from freezing up at the nipples.

 

[Chick Chick McGee]

I have always used a nipple waterer and In the winter to keep the water from freezing I put a de-icer in the bucket it works great! I don’t put a heat lamp in the coop in the winter I just put a smaller light to provide those extra hours of sunlight, in Minnesota we can have a long winter.

 

[Grammieshens]

has anyone put any type of insulation around the water can during the winter to prevent freezing? I have a thin insulation that has a foil-like outer layer which would protect the hens from pecking at the insulation material itself. My pen is too far from the house to safely run extension cords for heating lamps or water can heaters.

 

[wamtazlady]

A foil layer didn't keep my chickens from pecking the insulation on a door to the crawl space. Also, the insulation would keep the water warmer for a short time. However, as the days and nights become always cold, the insulation won't do any good.

I had chicks hatched late in August so close to the age of your chicks. The Mama chicken took care of those guys but I learned some things by watching. Even when we had some mornings that were down to 32 degrees, the little fuzzy chicks were mostly running around, pecking, and eating. When they got cold they'd head to Mama, spend a couple minutes under her and then go about pecking and eating again. Rather than using a heat lamp when the chicks are young, consider a heat plate. I used a Mama's heating pad last year and a heat plate this year and they work in a similar manner. When the chicks are chilly they go under the plate or pad, just like they would their Mama. One advantage of the plate or pad is that the chicks seem to feather out more quickly since they are not constantly heated. By the time they are 8 weeks old they don't require any supplemental heat.

I think nipple waterers are great. For smaller chicks I use the vertical type nipples. As soon as they are couple months old I change that to the horizontal nipples and they do fine. I have an idea, not sure if it's valid or not, that the vertical nipples are easier to use when the chicks are little. Once the chicks are used to getting their water from nipples, they just change over to the horizontal nipples without a worry. Instead of a bucket for my horizontal nipples, I use a 10 gallon tote. It holds more water and I can easily see when it needs refilled. The tote has a stock tank deicer in it that is rated for use in plastic. Even at -22F my waterer has remained thawed. My health is not great so I don't go out into the Montana winter. I have the young man across the street come to feed and water the chickens once a week. The 10 gallons of water is more than they need in a week.

 

[Grammieshens]

thank you for the advise. The chickens I am adopting are six month old chocolate English Orpingtons. I do have a white water bucket with vertical nipples but maybe I will check out one with the horizontal nipples.

 

[blackdog043]

You can buy the horizontal nipples on Amazon, if you want to make your own waterer. You will also need a 250 watt stock tank deicer. The vertical nipples will freeze, even if the bucket is heated.

 

[path.otto]

I became intrigued with the idea of a nipple watering system when I watched the girls drink the droplets of water from the metal on the run enclosure after a rain or heavy dew. One drop at a time! I haven't pulled the trigger yet and I don't know if I will before next spring because our winters are so cold and I have a pretty good system for keeping their water liquid when it's below freezing. There appear to be lots of different ideas out there and I want to do some more exploring.