Nipple watering system for Peafowl

[Garden Peas]

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.

That's why I'm asking for info

Peas are... peas, not chickens

And not all peas are willing to learn "new" things

I grabbed a couple of packs of VERTICAL nipples from Tractor Supply the other day:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/harris-farms-poultry-watering-nipples-pack-of-4

They apparently have to be mounted vertically to work properly, regardless of the advertising blurbs

and I do think my peas would get the hang of them, because they like drinking the little drips of water off the wire on the pen when I've been spraying with the hose... I guess they already get the basics of how to do it

But I'm wondering about the horizontal ones, since it might be an easier install and I could possibly leave the supply pipe outside the pen fence.

DylansMom, were you using them with low water pressure (like a few inches of water in a bucket), or did you have them hooked up to a supply line, like a faucet or spigot with house-strength water pressure? I'm asking, because (and keep in mind, I haven't tried building this yet), as I understand it, the line pressure from a regular water line not only tends to cause the nipples to spurt or leak, it also tends to make the little nipple actuator harder to move/actuate. So if I am correctly understanding it, there has to be more force applied to the device to get the water to come out, which could discourage a bird, I suppose.... There's interesting stuff on here:

https://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/cat1;ft_poultry_equipment;ft_poultry_watering_systems.html

I'm jealous of your sparrow poo, I have MUD and gook and yuck 24/7, starting from about 5 minutes after I wash the waterers, if it lasts that long. I suppose I should think about better base material for the pens... maybe sand or something... (Edited to add, the pen floors are dirt, not mud, but when the peas kick and scratch the dirt into the waterer, I get mud!)

 

[DylansMom]

That's why I'm asking for info

Peas are... peas, not chickens

And not all peas are willing to learn "new" things

I grabbed a couple of packs of VERTICAL nipples from Tractor Supply the other day:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/harris-farms-poultry-watering-nipples-pack-of-4

They apparently have to be mounted vertically to work properly, regardless of the advertising blurbs

and I do think my peas would get the hang of them, because they like drinking the little drips of water off the wire on the pen when I've been spraying with the hose... I guess they already get the basics of how to do it

But I'm wondering about the horizontal ones, since it might be an easier install and I could possibly leave the supply pipe outside the pen fence.

DylansMom, were you using them with low water pressure (like a few inches of water in a bucket), or did you have them hooked up to a supply line, like a faucet or spigot with house-strength water pressure? I'm asking, because (and keep in mind, I haven't tried building this yet), as I understand it, the line pressure from a regular water line not only tends to cause the nipples to spurt or leak, it also tends to make the little nipple actuator harder to move/actuate. So if I am correctly understanding it, there has to be more force applied to the device to get the water to come out, which could discourage a bird, I suppose.... There's interesting stuff on here:

https://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/cat1;ft_poultry_equipment;ft_poultry_watering_systems.html

I'm jealous of your sparrow poo, I have MUD and gook and yuck 24/7, starting from about 5 minutes after I wash the waterers, if it lasts that long. I suppose I should think about better base material for the pens... maybe sand or something...

I mounted them low on the side of a 3 gallon bucket with a lid. The water stayed crystal clear in those buckets for over a month! I so wish the birds would have used them. Some would even come over and stand next to it looking at me and waiting for me to refill the little red cup. Rotten Peas. They filled easy, but they had to nudge the nipple and move it around to get the valve to open and they just wouldn't do it. I kept track of the water level and unless I filled the cup it didn't move. I had this inside the barn and another regular bucket outside, so I knew they would have water when outside during the day. And boy were they thirsty in the mornings when I let them out, they would go straight to the dirty water bucket and the covered clean one just sat and got dusty.

I currently have a paper copy of the Farm Tek catalog on my kitchen counter, have been browsing thru it here and there.

PS. Be careful if you use sand in your pens, make sure you have really good drainage. We tried it in one pen several years ago. It was great for the whole summer, kept the birds feet and feathers cleaner than a dirt pen. However in the Fall we had an unusually rainy Sept. and we got hit by the remnants of some hurricane and the pen didn't have good drainage. End result was 5 Peas up to their hocks in sandy mud that wouldn't drain off, hubby had to put on his chest waders and go in and net those poor birds to move them to the big barn. Personally we won't do sand again.

 

[zazouse]

Garden peas sand would really help it dries much faster than the clay mud we have here so once i found a vein of sand when i was digging a pond i hauled sand everywhere then i ran out .
Had to buy about 20 loads after the metal building was done cause it rained 2 of of 5 days a week and they made a royal mess.

, i keep a couple piles all the time cause when i need it i need it and it is usually to wet to get it same day with all this rain we been getting.

STOCK UP ON SAND

 

[Garden Peas]

I mounted them low on the side of a 3 gallon bucket with a lid. The water stayed crystal clear in those buckets for over a month! I so wish the birds would have used them. Some would even come over and stand next to it looking at me and waiting for me to refill the little red cup. Rotten Peas. They filled easy, but they had to nudge the nipple and move it around to get the valve to open and they just wouldn't do it. I kept track of the water level and unless I filled the cup it didn't move. I had this inside the barn and another regular bucket outside, so I knew they would have water when outside during the day. And boy were they thirsty in the mornings when I let them out, they would go straight to the dirty water bucket and the covered clean one just sat and got dusty.

I currently have a paper copy of the Farm Tek catalog on my kitchen counter, have been browsing thru it here and there.

PS. Be careful if you use sand in your pens, make sure you have really good drainage. We tried it in one pen several years ago. It was great for the whole summer, kept the birds feet and feathers cleaner than a dirt pen. However in the Fall we had an unusually rainy Sept. and we got hit by the remnants of some hurricane and the pen didn't have good drainage. End result was 5 Peas up to their hocks in sandy mud that wouldn't drain off, hubby had to put on his chest waders and go in and net those poor birds to move them to the big barn. Personally we won't do sand again.

Your "rotten" peas have you well trained

Guess I need to figure out how to get a paper copy, cuz I was very excited when I found their website

I'm going to just have to experiment, I guess, and see what works and what my peas will use. With as much blowing dirt as we get here, I'm worried the little bowls will fill up and I just trade muddy waterers for little muddy waterers...

 

[Garden Peas]

Garden peas sand would really help it dries much faster than the clay mud we have here so once i found a vein of sand when i was digging a pond i hauled sand everywhere then i ran out .
Had to buy about 20 loads after the metal building was done cause it rained 2 of of 5 days a week and they made a royal mess.

, i keep a couple piles all the time cause when i need it i need it and it is usually to wet to get it same day with all this rain we been getting.

STOCK UP ON SAND

OMG I love it!!! Wait till I show PeaLover130 THAT picture...

Sand

... I sooo hate sand... it makes me cough and it gets in everything. But it may be the best answer in this case. But, boy oh boy, do I hate sand.

Of course, I'm none too fond of clay mud, either, it does make sand look like the better option, when you have that stuff

I have swelling clay in my alfalfa field -- dries like brick, but after I irrigate, I can sink knee deep if I don't watch where I step

 

[DylansMom]

Your "rotten" peas have you well trained

Guess I need to figure out how to get a paper copy, cuz I was very excited when I found their website

I'm going to just have to experiment, I guess, and see what works and what my peas will use. With as much blowing dirt as we get here, I'm worried the little bowls will fill up and I just trade muddy waterers for little muddy waterers...

TINY, TINY..... little muddy waterers!

 

[Hannah15]

Those are not the nipples that I have. I did not choose those because I was SURE they would freeze when water was invariably left in the cup. I have the ones like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Solway-HO...033?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item339842dd99

I'm kind of undecided about the sand. I love how easy it is to clean (I REALLY hate getting poop on my shoes when I go in there), and I love how easily it drains. With that said, I do NOT like how dusty it is, and since I only have it inside right now (I still have just a little bit of grass in my pens, I'm sure that won't last) I have found that I do have to spray it down lightly to keep the dust down. I don't think it would be as dusty in my area outside, but I intend to put in legitimate drainage underneath when I eventually put it down outside (use a rototiller to dig down a few inches, lay down gravel, then landscape cloth and then sand). At least that is my current plan until I change my mind again. Also, our property is basically one big slope, so there is quite a bit of drainage anyway.

 

[PeaLover130]

STOCK UP ON SAND

Uncle Sam wants YOU to stock up on sand. Time to do the good thing for America.

 

[DylansMom]

Those are not the nipples that I have. I did not choose those because I was SURE they would freeze when water was invariably left in the cup. I have the ones like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Solway-HO...033?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item339842dd99

I'm kind of undecided about the sand. I love how easy it is to clean (I REALLY hate getting poop on my shoes when I go in there), and I love how easily it drains. With that said, I do NOT like how dusty it is, and since I only have it inside right now (I still have just a little bit of grass in my pens, I'm sure that won't last) I have found that I do have to spray it down lightly to keep the dust down. I don't think it would be as dusty in my area outside, but I intend to put in legitimate drainage underneath when I eventually put it down outside (use a rototiller to dig down a few inches, lay down gravel, then landscape cloth and then sand). At least that is my current plan until I change my mind again. Also, our property is basically one big slope, so there is quite a bit of drainage anyway.

We only wanted them for summer use, our buckets freeze every year, last year they froze solid on a daily basis. We figured no nipple waterers would survive that, so we would have been content with lessening the work load 3/4 of the year.
Good luck with the sand, I hope it works for you. I loved it at first, but it turned out the entire pen area was in a bit of a "bowl" and it turned into a soup of black mud/sand. Picture dipping the peas in dark chocolate, and that's about what they looked like. Thank goodness they had dropped their trains before the rains started.

 

[Hannah15]

We only wanted them for summer use, our buckets freeze every year, last year they froze solid on a daily basis. We figured no nipple waterers would survive that, so we would have been content with lessening the work load 3/4 of the year.
Good luck with the sand, I hope it works for you. I loved it at first, but it turned out the entire pen area was in a bit of a "bowl" and it turned into a soup of black mud/sand. Picture dipping the peas in dark chocolate, and that's about what they looked like. Thank goodness they had dropped their trains before the rains started.

Oh, we will definitely have to have heaters to keep them from freezing!! We do get VERY cold, and in fact, already are well below freezing.

I was pleasantly surprised though because when I checked the bucket last night it was NOT frozen, but that one is in a nice, insulated shed. Good thing too, because apparently I need to order the heater online.

That does sound like a terrible experience with sand! I really hope that the drainage that I am planning will help prevent that, it is similar to what is used for all weather horse arenas, so I would hope all the money put into those would get them something that wouldn't turn into a mess. This is the first year we have owned our property, but I feel fairly comfortable saying that it will take an awful lot to flood it. We received record amounts of rain this year, and the whole property did well. We do have somewhat sandy soil anyway though, which helps.