Switching the type of Chicken waterer

[Thechickenfeast]

I'm about to build a new coop for my chickens but before I start what kind of waterer can I use? Im also worried that since the chickens have been on bucket waterers all their life they will not use the new waterer if it is too drastic a change; Is that possible?
I'm trying to find an easy maintenance waterer any ideas?

 

[FirewifeJess]

I'm about to build a new coop for my chickens but before I start what kind of waterer can I use? Im also worried that since the chickens have been on bucket waterers all their life they will not use the new waterer if it is too drastic a change; Is that possible?
I'm trying to find an easy maintenance waterer any ideas?

I literally *just* switched our watering system over from a typical trough waterer to a bucket nipple waterer. The last few days water consumption is a bit lower, but they are learning to drink from the nipples. There is almost NO maintenance daily. Just a quick refill if it needs more water and all I do is spray the hose directly into the top of the bucket. Here's what I'm talking about:

^^^Drill 3/8" hole in bottom of any bucket, install nipples by pushing them in

^^Hang higher than their heads so they can still reach it. When they peck the nipples water comes out and they drink the drops.

^^Even my baby chicks under mama Lucy over there are using the 2L bottle nipple waterer; they learned much faster, but everyone has the hang of it now.

 

[Quyen Le]

They will learn faster than you think.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

They learn faster with the waterer cups since they can actually see the water.
They will learn and use both fine but with waterer cups, you don't get the water puddles like you do with leaking nipples.

 

[jmagill]

The bucket and nipples is really the way to go. Less cleaning and easier to keep from freezing.

 

[FirewifeJess]

They learn faster with the waterer cups since they can actually see the water.
They will learn and use both fine but with waterer cups, you don't get the water puddles like you do with leaking nipples.

Mine don't leak. At all. Not even a drop on the ground except after the chickens have used the waterer all at once then there's a couple drops in the dirt.

 

[wildrice]

how do you keep the bucket waterers from freezing?

 

[FirewifeJess]

how do you keep the bucket waterers from freezing?

We only get frozen buckets about 10 days of the whole year; I bring out a kettle full of boiling water and pour it in the bucket with the frozen water. Defrosts everything perfectly in under a minute. If I lived somewhere colder, I'd keep water in the coop instead of the run. If it still froze in the coop frequently, I'd switch systems.