Preparing Your Flock & Coop for WINTER

[Goronson Chicks]

Where do you get the horizontal water nipples? We are in Maine and just started our flock early this spring. We haven't been through a winter yet. Our run is 20 X 30 and we have 15 chickens and 2 Guinea hens who live peacefully together. Our "big" coop is 4.5 ft deep and 9.5 feet wide and about 5 ft tall. It has a window. The "little" coop cottage is 5 ft X 5 ft. and only 2.5 ft tall inside. But no window.

Right now 4 chickens sleep in the cottage and the other 13 sleep in the big house. I 'm thinking we should make everyone bunk up together in the big house for the winter. What do you think?
Maureen
The Goronson Chicks

 

[MeepBeep]

Where do you get the horizontal water nipples?

From my searching Ebay is generally the cheapest for both types of nipples...

 

[Goronson Chicks]

But is there a brand that you prefer?
Thank you,
Maureen

 

[iwiw60]

I'm one of those crazy Canucks from 'way up north', NW Ontario. We have it cold here! Minus 30/35 Celsius, about the same in Fahrenheit it's that cold. And that's not including the wind chill!
This will be our first winter with the 'kids' and I've just finished my coop (pics to follow soon), and I went insulted style. I will not be using a heat light, and I currently have the regular light on a timer to come on at 4 am and off at 8 am. Good venting is in place, 5-6 inches of shavings and some Stall Dry on the floor. Chicken nipples are being feed by a 5 gallon bucket.
I don't think the water will freeze, but I think it's going to get really cold. I like the idea of using a water heater, is there something in particular that I should be looking for when shopping for one?

PS...Love the idea of using straw for the kids to walk on the snow!

Keith

I went with mini stock tank heaters for my horizontal water nipple buckets. They are safe for plastic buckets and turn on automatically at 38 degrees and off at 48 degrees...which for me will never happen til spring!!

 

[Gophfer]

I'm in North Central Florida (close to Gainesville, FL) I don't do anything special for my girls as the temp doesn't get much below freezing and we have a sturdy coop that is elevated. They have a covered area under the coop for outside shelter from the elements and inside gets them out of the wind and is covered but the top 20% of the wall area is open and just covered with hardware cloth. We do of course provide supplemental heat in our nursery coop/brooder and can cover the open gap at the roof line with an insulated panel. The walls of both coops are double walled which provides some insulation.

We have more of an issue in the summer with heat.

 

[MeepBeep]

But is there a brand that you prefer?

I honestly don't think there are many brands to choose from, most of the horizontal and vertical nipples are all coming from the same manufacture just rebranded and sold by other companies under their name... And ones made by other manufactures are pretty much identical in design, so I doubt there is really much difference... Either way you can get the vertical ones for dirt cheap, give them a try and if you don't like them it's not a huge lose, they can always be re-purposed for isolation cages and what not in an emergency...

There are of course a few styles some with cups others with not, some screw in others snap on... I personally would avoid snap on ones, with a 10mm x 1.0mm tap or even bolt to cut the threads you can get a great seal... Note don't really need to cut threads in a bucket they will self tap most of the time, but for PVC you will find cutting threads helps a lot...

I have been using vertical nipples as of late because they were the cheapest but I'm considering a switch to horizontal soon... The reason being is water build up int he coop, it's two fold the vertical depend on gravity and water pressure to close up, the horizontal have a spring, the spring seems to overall do a better job and avoid many 'dripping' nipples that never fully close... For my vertical nipples I have a tub under them filled with sand that catches all the water that drips or is spilled so that it doesn't get the bedding wet, it works sort of but the tub can become a nasty cesspool if not cleaned regularly... My plan now is to use horizontal nipples and put a 'gutter' directly under them that takes the excess dripping water out of the coop...

 

[iwiw60]

I honestly don't think there are many brands to choose from, most of the horizontal and vertical nipples are all coming from the same manufacture just rebranded and sold by other companies under their name... And ones made by other manufactures are pretty much identical in design, so I doubt there is really much difference... Either way you can get the vertical ones for dirt cheap, give them a try and if you don't like them it's not a huge lose, they can always be re-purposed for isolation cages and what not in an emergency...

There are of course a few styles some with cups others with not, some screw in others snap on... I personally would avoid snap on ones, with a 10mm x 1.0mm tap or even bolt to cut the threads you can get a great seal... Note don't really need to cut threads in a bucket they will self tap most of the time, but for PVC you will find cutting threads helps a lot...

I have been using vertical nipples as of late because they were the cheapest but I'm considering a switch to horizontal soon... The reason being is water build up int he coop, it's two fold the vertical depend on gravity and water pressure to close up, the horizontal have a spring, the spring seems to overall do a better job and avoid many 'dripping' nipples that never fully close... For my vertical nipples I have a tub under them filled with sand that catches all the water that drips or is spilled so that it doesn't get the bedding wet, it works sort of but the tub can become a nasty cesspool if not cleaned regularly... My plan now is to use horizontal nipples and put a 'gutter' directly under them that takes the excess dripping water out of the coop...

Good post, @MeepBeep ... I prefer the horizontal water nipples. I have a BYC page on them down in my signature block. The horizontals work much much better than the verticals, and if you have freezing winters like I do, adding a mini stock tank heater makes life sooo much better! The verticals tend to drip a lot, and the 'cup style' ones will freeze up on you real bad.

 

[RnRRidgerunner]

Good post, @MeepBeep ... I prefer the horizontal water nipples. I have a BYC page on them down in my signature block. The horizontals work much much better than the verticals, and if you have freezing winters like I do, adding a mini stock tank heater makes life sooo much better! The verticals tend to drip a lot, and the 'cup style' ones will freeze up on you real bad.

Ahoy! Greetings from RnR Ridge near the Grand Lake of the Cherokee in far NE corner of Oklahoma. I will be ordering some of those horizontal nipples for a new PVC 5 gal bucket. My girls have been using vertical nipples since they were fuzz butts. so no problem converting over. You intrigued me with the "mini stock tank heater". I would like some more info or perhaps a picture of one please. We have a Tractor Supply nearby is that where you may have gotten yours or on line? My chicken tractor is small but adequate for my four girls. I will cove with clear plastic in the front and perhaps black in the coop area and straw on the floor for the winter. I may lift it on (four inch) blocks and put straw under which would facilitate cleaning in the spring. The water freezing was my concern. Horizontal nipples and a heater should solve that. Great thread!!

 

[Ila88]

This is a good thread. I was wondering why I need to do for winter as this is my first year with hens. We are on a small island off Vancouver Island so it doesn't get much below freezing. My chickens do free range during the day. Is there anything I need to do?

 

[iwiw60]

Ahoy! Greetings from RnR Ridge near the Grand Lake of the Cherokee in far NE corner of Oklahoma. I will be ordering some of those horizontal nipples for a new PVC 5 gal bucket. My girls have been using vertical nipples since they were fuzz butts. so no problem converting over. You intrigued me with the "mini stock tank heater". I would like some more info or perhaps a picture of one please. We have a Tractor Supply nearby is that where you may have gotten yours or on line? My chicken tractor is small but adequate for my four girls. I will cove with clear plastic in the front and perhaps black in the coop area and straw on the floor for the winter. I may lift it on (four inch) blocks and put straw under which would facilitate cleaning in the spring. The water freezing was my concern. Horizontal nipples and a heater should solve that. Great thread!!

I ordered mine off walmart.com ..

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Allied-Precision-Deluxe-Bird-Bath-Heater-and-De-icer/17365953

• Aluminum housing
• Energy-efficient unit at 250 watts
• Heats water to 58-60°F and will turn off
• If temperature drops to 43°F, it begins reheating water
• Wrapped cord prevents chewing
• Made in the USA
• Dimensions: 10L feet

I bought 2 of them, one for the coop and one for the run. I was very impressed with the quality of the product. Extremely well built!