Nipple watering system for Peafowl

[Garden Peas]

Since I don't have enough half-finished projects

around here, I'm trying to put together a nipple watering system for the peas. I think I have largely figured out how to do it, between the various posts and instructions and youtube videos, and I think I can keep it from freezing (since, obviously, winter is the best time to try to install a water system, right?) but there is one piece of information I haven't been able to come up with.

I am not sure how high to mount the nipples above the peafowl. I'm planning to use vertical nipples. Everything I read for chickens shows the nipples very much directly above the chicken, so the chickens basically stick their heads up anywhere from vertical to about 30 degrees off of vertical to drink from the nipples.

I haven't found any posts/threads so far that discuss nipple waterers for peafowl. Has anyone used them? Did they work well? How high did you mount the nipples, relative to the peafowl? I'm asking, because when I watch the chickens drink, versus watching the peafowl drink, the head/neck geometry and motion isn't necessarily exactly the same...

I'll be happy to post photos when I'm done, assuming it works ...

Thanks!

 

[zazouse]

Have ya checked youtube,
Just make sure they are all using it before you pull the water bowls head of other animals dieing of thirst because the owners was not aware the animal did not understand how to use it
Are you on a well or city water?
Looking foward to seeing photos of the setup

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

The most important question is, will the peas understand how to drink from these nipples?! I'm not sure.

 

[Hannah15]

I have a nipple waterer in with my younger pea's. I love it, and will be adding one for the bigger birds as well. (I am NOT unfreezing waterer's this winter.) My birds didn't have any trouble learning to use it, though I will admit that I suspect the pea's learned from the chickens, who picked up on it pretty quickly. I don't know that for sure, since the pea's ARE so nosy, they may have just checked it out while I wasn't in there. I started by taking their waterer out during the day and putting it back in during the evening and left it overnight for a few days. Then I only put it in for a few minutes morning and night for a few days so that they could get a good drink if they needed it. Then I cut back to doing that once a day, and then none at all.

I have the horizontal nipples, and the bucket is just sitting on a concrete block with the 12" side up. (8"x8"x12") That is about as high as the tiny d'Uccles can go without having a step. I had initially planned on moving it up as the pea's got bigger and just providing a step for the d'Uccles, but the pea's haven't had any problems with it, so I haven't bothered. Of course that would be totally different for the vertical nipples. Unfortunately, I have no advice for the vertical nipples, I have a system that I intended to use for the bigger birds, but it only makes sense to do if I can hook it up to the faucet, and I can't do that until we get the leaking pipe fixed.

ETA: I forgot that the youngest two pea's had a nipple waterer in their brooder. (Once again, they were horizontal nipples.) I followed the same pattern to get them used to it, though I will admit I was a little more hasty with them. They were alone, so they definitely did NOT learn from chickens, and they had no problem figuring it out at all. I have found that the pea's are not as willing to try new things in front of me though, so I just have to watch the water level.

 

[Garden Peas]

Thanks, @Hannah15 , that's helpful

I had originally intended to hook mine up to the faucet, and even got the parts to do that, but when I did more research, I figured out the system won't work right with that much pressure, and it's hard to step it down low enough to work properly from the faucet. The pressure needs what you get from a few inches of elevation difference, not the big pressure from a city water line. So I'm going to have to use a bucket after all. But there still should be less scrubbing than now

So your horizontal nipples are coming off the bucket about a foot in the air?

 

[Hannah15]

Thanks, @Hannah15 , that's helpful

I had originally intended to hook mine up to the faucet, and even got the parts to do that, but when I did more research, I figured out the system won't work right with that much pressure, and it's hard to step it down low enough to work properly from the faucet. The pressure needs what you get from a few inches of elevation difference, not the big pressure from a city water line. So I'm going to have to use a bucket after all. But there still should be less scrubbing than now

So your horizontal nipples are coming off the bucket about a foot in the air?

Sorry, I meant to respond last night! They are actually only about 9.5 inches up. I have the bucket sitting on the 12" side of the cement block, so that is only 8" high, and then the nipples are probably 1.5" from the bottom of the bucket.

 

[Garden Peas]

Sorry, I meant to respond last night! They are actually only about 9.5 inches up. I have the bucket sitting on the 12" side of the cement block, so that is only 8" high, and then the nipples are probably 1.5" from the bottom of the bucket.

Thanks, Hannah!

I'm with you on the NOT de-icing over the winter...

It doesn't usually get horribly cold here, or stay cold for really long periods, plus I have an idea about heat tape and a bucket heater that I think will work. Planning to insulate, though, so no possibility of a pea getting anywhere near the heat tape to avoid disastrous burns.

I'm rethinking whether to get horizontal nipples though, I originally thought vertical would be better and stay cleaner, but am second-guessing that... Anyone have any experience with the vertical nipples? Hannah, do the horizontal nipples collect dirt and crud? We have a lot of airborne dust and dirt here

so anything that can collect dirt, will. Instantly

I am SOOOO tired of scrubbing water containers all the time

and hoping this knocks down the frequency of scrubbing a whole lot

 

[Hannah15]

Thanks, Hannah!

I'm with you on the NOT de-icing over the winter...

It doesn't usually get horribly cold here, or stay cold for really long periods, plus I have an idea about heat tape and a bucket heater that I think will work. Planning to insulate, though, so no possibility of a pea getting anywhere near the heat tape to avoid disastrous burns.

I'm rethinking whether to get horizontal nipples though, I originally thought vertical would be better and stay cleaner, but am second-guessing that... Anyone have any experience with the vertical nipples? Hannah, do the horizontal nipples collect dirt and crud? We have a lot of airborne dust and dirt here

so anything that can collect dirt, will. Instantly

I am SOOOO tired of scrubbing water containers all the time

and hoping this knocks down the frequency of scrubbing a whole lot

I don't really have any problems with them getting a bunch of dirt in the nipples. There is a tiny "cup" underneath the actual nipple, and anything that gathers is in that spot. I haven't even had to spray it off on the outside bucket, and that building has sand and Sweet PDZ for bedding. The only time I have had to spray it off was for the one that is in a dog crate with a couple of hens that are in quarantine. I'm not sure if they are just excessively dirty, or what. Even the chicks didn't get it dirty, but I have always had it elevated (since it would have to be for the horizontal nipples).

Even when it does get dirty, the nipples don't seem to plug up or leak, though I have heard it can happen. The reasons that I chose the horizontal nipples is because I read that they tend not to freeze in the winter if the bucket is unfrozen because the water does not remain in the nipple when it is not being pushed. I have not had them over a winter yet though, so I cannot attest to that. The other, primary, reason I went with the horizontal nipples is that I was looking for something simple that could hold a lot of water, and I was uncomfortable with the idea of a hanging bucket in the coop. Now, I was probably being a little paranoid, but I was so afraid it would get knocked down or the tie would break and it would crush a bird. Sometimes my fears are just a little silly.

 

[Garden Peas]

I don't really have any problems with them getting a bunch of dirt in the nipples. There is a tiny "cup" underneath the actual nipple, and anything that gathers is in that spot. I haven't even had to spray it off on the outside bucket, and that building has sand and Sweet PDZ for bedding. The only time I have had to spray it off was for the one that is in a dog crate with a couple of hens that are in quarantine. I'm not sure if they are just excessively dirty, or what. Even the chicks didn't get it dirty, but I have always had it elevated (since it would have to be for the horizontal nipples).

Even when it does get dirty, the nipples don't seem to plug up or leak, though I have heard it can happen. The reasons that I chose the horizontal nipples is because I read that they tend not to freeze in the winter if the bucket is unfrozen because the water does not remain in the nipple when it is not being pushed. I have not had them over a winter yet though, so I cannot attest to that. The other, primary, reason I went with the horizontal nipples is that I was looking for something simple that could hold a lot of water, and I was uncomfortable with the idea of a hanging bucket in the coop. Now, I was probably being a little paranoid, but I was so afraid it would get knocked down or the tie would break and it would crush a bird. Sometimes my fears are just a little silly.

I don't think that's a silly fear at all... I was worried about the same thing

Actually, my most recent plan was to keep the bucket outside the pen, and run the nipples off a PVC line so I wouldn't have to worry about anybody getting crushed by a bucket (or knocking it over), and I can fill it without dragging the hose in there. I was kicking around ideas about float valves and the water spigot... but that's one more line to keep unfrozen, so still mulling it over. I love the float valve on the dogs' water dish, that's a great invention

 

[DylansMom]

I don't really have any problems with them getting a bunch of dirt in the nipples. There is a tiny "cup" underneath the actual nipple, and anything that gathers is in that spot. I haven't even had to spray it off on the outside bucket, and that building has sand and Sweet PDZ for bedding. The only time I have had to spray it off was for the one that is in a dog crate with a couple of hens that are in quarantine. I'm not sure if they are just excessively dirty, or what. Even the chicks didn't get it dirty, but I have always had it elevated (since it would have to be for the horizontal nipples).

Even when it does get dirty, the nipples don't seem to plug up or leak, though I have heard it can happen. The reasons that I chose the horizontal nipples is because I read that they tend not to freeze in the winter if the bucket is unfrozen because the water does not remain in the nipple when it is not being pushed. I have not had them over a winter yet though, so I cannot attest to that. The other, primary, reason I went with the horizontal nipples is that I was looking for something simple that could hold a lot of water, and I was uncomfortable with the idea of a hanging bucket in the coop. Now, I was probably being a little paranoid, but I was so afraid it would get knocked down or the tie would break and it would crush a bird. Sometimes my fears are just a little silly.

I don't think that's a silly fear at all... I was worried about the same thing

Actually, my most recent plan was to keep the bucket outside the pen, and run the nipples off a PVC line so I wouldn't have to worry about anybody getting crushed by a bucket (or knocking it over), and I can fill it without dragging the hose in there. I was kicking around ideas about float valves and the water spigot... but that's one more line to keep unfrozen, so still mulling it over. I love the float valve on the dogs' water dish, that's a great invention

I don't mean to butt in here, but I'm wondering if these are the type you are talking abut?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321156692438?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I tried these this past summer and my rotten birds won't use them. They are happy to empty the little cup once I stick my finger in there and fill it, but they won't fill it themselves. And they would have been so perfect no sparrow poo in the water buckets.