post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Latestarter]

Is there a difference between horizontal and veritcle nipples, or is it just the placement? I would think they'd both be the same, but not quite sure.

Hey there lereg15:

and welcome to the thread! The only difference between the two really is placement.... One goes horizontal (or on the side of the water source) while the other goes on the bottom (underneath the water source). I chose the horizontal for a number of reasons...
1. Because the birds don't have water dripping in their face and nostrils from drinking above their heads.
2. with the horizontals I can place the bucket on a platform on the ground or suspend from above... nice if your coop is "vertically challenged" (not high enough inside to hang the bucket from the ceiling)
3. The horizontals have a little "cup" like protrusion under the nipple mechanism to kind of "hold" the water coming out rather than it just being a drip/dribble falling out of the nipple. I thought it made sense and would make it easier for the birds to drink from.
4. The birds can drink from a more natural angle by adjusting the height of the water source (bucket/pvc pipe).

 

[lereg15]

Just did. That might work on the future, But right now the little ones, Leghorns, would just climb right in there. And maybe even the Orpingtons. I like the idea tho

Latestarter... Thanks for the info. I will set up half the nipples in the coop and the other half in the run, Whenever I get that built...Wrapping up the coop this weekend..I hope!

Yeah, I was thinking you could continue what you have until you could move them to the coop. It should be a good enough size for them by then.

 

[lereg15]

Hey there lereg15:

and welcome to the thread! The only difference between the two really is placement.... One goes horizontal (or on the side of the water source) while the other goes on the bottom (underneath the water source). I chose the horizontal for a number of reasons...
1. Because the birds don't have water dripping in their face and nostrils from drinking above their heads.
2. with the horizontals I can place the bucket on a platform on the ground or suspend from above... nice if your coop is "vertically challenged" (not high enough inside to hang the bucket from the ceiling)
3. The horizontals have a little "cup" like protrusion under the nipple mechanism to kind of "hold" the water coming out rather than it just being a drip/dribble falling out of the nipple. I thought it made sense and would make it easier for the birds to drink from.
4. The birds can drink from a more natural angle by adjusting the height of the water source (bucket/pvc pipe).

I'm thinking about using this setup for them, as it seems like it would be less maintenance involved. I'm thinking that I could even pipe the water into the 5 gal bucket when it's time to refill. Or, should I rinse the bucket out each time the water gets low? I do plan on having a lid on it, but if I actually can pipe the water in it, I think that might eliminate the hens roosting on the bucket, maybe.

Thank you for the welcome!! It's great to be in a forum where everybody is so helpful!! I am/was on another site, but it took forever to get any answers for the people, and they didn't seem as happy to help. This site is a real blessing!!

Btw, I plan on getting some rir's buff orp's, barred rocks, and some wyandonettes, so about what height should I install the waterer? Beings it's a fixed pipe, I'd hate to have to keep moving it until I finally get it right!

 

[bruceha2000]

I'm thinking about using this setup for them, as it seems like it would be less maintenance involved. I'm thinking that I could even pipe the water into the 5 gal bucket when it's time to refill. Or, should I rinse the bucket out each time the water gets low? I do plan on having a lid on it, but if I actually can pipe the water in it, I think that might eliminate the hens roosting on the bucket, maybe.

Thank you for the welcome!! It's great to be in a forum where everybody is so helpful!! I am/was on another site, but it took forever to get any answers for the people, and they didn't seem as happy to help. This site is a real blessing!!

Btw, I plan on getting some rir's buff orp's, barred rocks, and some wyandonettes, so about what height should I install the waterer? Beings it's a fixed pipe, I'd hate to have to keep moving it until I finally get it right!

Some people have put toilet valves in their 5 gallon buckets and connected that to a hose. Bucket always full. With regard to the need to clean the bucket, I clean my once a year and it isn't really necessary. Why? Because it is a 5 gallon drink cooler installed in a box on the wall inside the barn. No sun ever gets near the water so nothing grows in it. I open the box every few weeks, take the top off the cooler and pour a gallon of water in.

My nipple water pipe is installed in the bottom of the nest box and I think that puts it 12" to 15" off the litter. You can put a paver stone or other step arrangement in for when the birds are too small to reach. Or, hang it by a chain you can adjust as they grow. That is what I did with my feeder. I just pulled the chain some and clipped the carabiner a link or two farther down until they stopped growing. Like Sylvester, I need to go to treadle feeders. My girls are out all day every day in the spring, summer, fall and don't eat much feed. But the chipmunks, wild birds and wood chuck sure do! Every time I go in the coop up to a dozen wild birds (sparrows and finches I think) go all nuts trying to figure out how to escape. Even though the chicken door AND people door are wide open. They panic and forget how they got in I guess.

 

[scchicaddy]

 

[lereg15]

Some people have put toilet valves in their 5 gallon buckets and connected that to a hose. Bucket always full. With regard to the need to clean the bucket, I clean my once a year and it isn't really necessary. Why? Because it is a 5 gallon drink cooler installed in a box on the wall inside the barn. No sun ever gets near the water so nothing grows in it. I open the box every few weeks, take the top off the cooler and pour a gallon of water in.

My nipple water pipe is installed in the bottom of the nest box and I think that puts it 12" to 15" off the litter. You can put a paver stone or other step arrangement in for when the birds are too small to reach. Or, hang it by a chain you can adjust as they grow. That is what I did with my feeder. I just pulled the chain some and clipped the carabiner a link or two farther down until they stopped growing. Like Sylvester, I need to go to treadle feeders. My girls are out all day every day in the spring, summer, fall and don't eat much feed. But the chipmunks, wild birds and wood chuck sure do! Every time I go in the coop up to a dozen wild birds (sparrows and finches I think) go all nuts trying to figure out how to escape. Even though the chicken door AND people door are wide open. They panic and forget how they got in I guess.

My coop will be under a closed porch, so my water bucket wont see any sun either. I just wasn't sure if it may get slime or anything into it if it wasn't periodically cleaned out. I like the stepping stone idea, just in case they are to small to reach it!!

I never even considered the non predators that could get in the coop, but I guess it's not really too terrible of a thing. I guess I'll have to keep my wild bird feeder full this year!

Thank you for your help!!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

That looks like a nice setup.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hi all - just wanted to share our experience with the BriteTap nipple waterer from chickenwaterers.com. We got tired of finding wild bird poops in our open chicken waterers so we switched to a couple of BriteTap nipple valve waterers with a Rubbermaid 2-gal jug. The wild bird population in our yard has cut down to half since there's no more open water bowls. We have a couple chicken treadle feeders on order so that should eliminate any wild birds eating our chicken food as well.

Our older hens are free-range and never used nipple valve waterers before. We managed to train one smart hen how to use the valves but the other 2 hens didn't quite understand how to hit the valves. They knew there was water but didn't know exactly how to get it to come out. We went out several times every day tapping the valves but only the smart hen would use it. BriteTap told us not to set out any of the old water bowls to get the chickens thirsty enough to use the nipple valves. Well, it took a week before the 2nd hen got the hang of it and 8 days later the last hen caught on. We tried to pen the girls up in the coop with the BriteTap but they were too frantic to be released out of the coop to notice the BriteTap. So, by afternoon we took the BriteTap out of the coop and released the girls and the smart hen went to the BriteTap's new location to drink. We had 90 degree heat so we gave the hens cantaloupe, grapes, fresh corn, etc. to get moisture so they didn't dehydrate. At last all 3 of our girls are having fun using the BriteTap like it was a new toy - hurray! I discovered that old free-range hens CAN learn new tricks but require more patience than training little chicks to the nipple waterers.

Now I hope our girls will be smart enough to eventually use the treadle feeders on order with the new Barn Coop so we can be completely free of the wild bird hoards that keep swooping in to eat our organic feed and pollute the old water bowls. Just ridding the yard of available water bowls has greatly decreased wild bird visits!

P.S. Having the BriteTap has eliminated cleaning old water bowls 2 and 3x a day with floating pieces of feed, grass, dirt, or wild bird poops in them. Also, with the Rubbermaid jug we don't have any pvc piping, or hoses, or having to leave a water spigot running all day. It's just a dream to use and if we want to add electrolytes during the heatwaves we just put it inside the Rubbermaid jug water with some ice cubes and it stays cool throughout the day. No algae build-up in the clear see-through BriteTap plus we got a Sun Cover for the BriteTap to keep the UV rays out. It's not the cheapest way to water our birds but certainly has been the cleanest, easiest way. We liked it so much we ordered two more.

I understand what you are saying. I use chicken nipples too. its the only way to go, I think. But, so far it's just in the brooder, trying to decided the best way for the coop and run. Can you post some picts? I have a few Ideas But I would like to see what works for other people..

A picture saves a thousand words so here is the link to chickenwaterer.com for the BriteTap waterer, Rubbermaid jug (optional), and the Sun Cover that protects the BriteTap from UV rays/algae build-up. It took a while for my old hens to all start using the BriteTap but Customer Service was patient with suggestions for me to help my girls transition. If your birds already understand nipple valves then it'll be a breeze. I almost went with Solway waterer with nipples coming out of the sides until I came across the BriteTap which works best for my hens which will number 5 hens total this Spring.
http://www.chickenwaterer.com/Chicken-Poultry-Waterer-s/1817.htm

 

[Sylvester017]

I'm thinking about using this setup for them, as it seems like it would be less maintenance involved. I'm thinking that I could even pipe the water into the 5 gal bucket when it's time to refill. Or, should I rinse the bucket out each time the water gets low? I do plan on having a lid on it, but if I actually can pipe the water in it, I think that might eliminate the hens roosting on the bucket, maybe.
Hi lereg15 - we've had a Rubbermaid jug with a BriteTap nipple valve water screwed in and we haven't changed the water for over a week. It stays cool and just drop a half dozen ice cubes into the jug every few days. It also sits in the shade all day and there's been no algae or cloudy buildup. We don't use tap water because of too much chlorine and possible fluoride (both damaging to egg shells of layer hens) so we use bottled water. Since it stays clean for days in the Rubbermaid we don't waste the good water like in our old open bowl waterers.
Thank you for the welcome!! It's great to be in a forum where everybody is so helpful!! I am/was on another site, but it took forever to get any answers for the people, and they didn't seem as happy to help. This site is a real blessing!!
This site is GREAT! And don't take offense at some comments as we're not all experts at expressing ourselves in writing but do our best!
Btw, I plan on getting some rir's buff orp's, barred rocks, and some wyandonettes, so about what height should I install the waterer? Beings it's a fixed pipe, I'd hate to have to keep moving it until I finally get it right!
I'm not an expert but BriteTap suggested about 20-inches height for the nipple valves for large fowl but we set ours lower so the Silkies can reach up to hit the valves. Our tall Ameraucana (my avatar) has to bend down a little to reach the nipples but she does fine getting good long drinks. It's amazing how long the necks are on chickens!

 

[Sylvester017]

How wonderful to have a patio awning over the nestbox lid. I hope the awning extends far enough out to protect yourself from rain when you collect eggs.