Texas

[hensfortherapy]

My Blondie made a great Mom.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

Exciting news (at least for me)! The first chapter of my book, "Chicken Poop for the Soul," won 1st place in the non-fiction category of the Helen Sheffield Memorial Writing Contest of the Brazos Writers group. I think this is the first time I've come in first place in anything since 5th grade when I won for my Halloween "cowboy on horse" costume.

Congratulations!!

 

[hensfortherapy]

my chicken's favorite place to find worms.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

If they are hanging down, I don't generally have a problem with leakage. If I'm using a bottle and have it tipped up to 45* or higher, it will leak a little bit, but that is easily rectified by positioning the nipple straight up and down again. And even then, the leaking is negligible.

We tried various watering methods before going to the nipples - the biggest problem we had was with spilled water up until we went to the nipples. Even the hanging waterers end up spilling all over the place if they have an open trough because the chickens will bump it, try to perch on it, etc. And wet chickens in winter wasn't cool either.

There are different nipple types. We use the type that will allow water through if the nipple is moved in any direction. There are also nipples that only work if the nipple is pushed straight up. I don't use this type though because you must always make sure that the watering device is above everyone's heads in order for them to get under it and push the nipple straight up. This wasn't feasible for our setup since we have varying sizes that may be drinking out of the same device, so the waterer must be at the height for the shortest bird to reach it - meaning bigger chickens and males may have to cock their head sideways and push the nipple in from the side to get water because they are too tall to stand upright underneath.

Everybody's needs are different, but I can tell you that after trial and error with different methods in different situations - we found that nipple waterers keep the water cleaner and have less leakage than other types of watering devices. You should also look at how often you are going to be checking the chickens too - how often you will be able to refill watering devices if they drink it all or they spill it. Don't want them to be without water, especially in summer, and you don't know about it because you're gone at work.

 

[tesaba]

ME TOO
Love my buddy Sam

Love my buddy Mel too!!!!!

We make a good team

 

[tesaba]

Exciting news (at least for me)! The first chapter of my book, "Chicken Poop for the Soul," won 1st place in the non-fiction category of the Helen Sheffield Memorial Writing Contest of the Brazos Writers group. I think this is the first time I've come in first place in anything since 5th grade when I won for my Halloween "cowboy on horse" costume.

Hey we can say "WE KNEW HER WHEN......" Congrats!!!!

 

[Teri Metcalf]

Congratulations!!

Thank you!

 

[Teri Metcalf]

Hey we can say "WE KNEW HER WHEN......" Congrats!!!!

Thank you! I am giddy with excitement this morning.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

Chickens need toys? I understand the concept. I've had these for my dogs. But do chickens need them?


Am I driving you nuts yet with all my questions?


Edit: Is this worth getting? The price is very good.

 

[bnjrob]

I haven't seen any brand names on the nipples. Because I use a lot of them, I get them from a farm supply store in larger quantities than what most people buy them. I've seen a lot of small, backyard flock owners here on BYC say they get theirs from Ebay since they can buy in small quantities with sometimes free shipping - usually I hear it mentioned that they get them in like a 5 pack. I get mine from QC Supply online - no minimum quantity has to be ordered but shipping isn't free. The nipples run about $1.29 each. Shipping is reasonable and pretty fast as well as they have good customer service. Since they are just a few states away, Nebraska I think, stuff from them usually gets here faster than stuff I order that comes from the western or eastern sides of the country. I think I also got my nest box pads from QC Supply as well. Been very happy with them and wish they carried more of the things that I have to special order.

There are also some differences in the nipples as to how they are put in. The kind that we use with the 360* nipple to get water from any direction also comes in a screw-in or a push in type. The screw in type is good for harder surfaces to put them into - like the bottom of a bucket or PVC pipe. But once you screw them in, if you try to unscrew them, it usually messes up the threads, so you can't reuse the nipple. The screw-ins are also good for places where you can't reach inside very well to help push the nipple in - like a pipe. The push in kind has a rubber o-ring that you fit into the hole and the nipple fits inside the o-ring. You can buy replacement O-rings so you can reuse the nipple.

We use both here. I put the screw in kind into the bottom of buckets and into PVC. The o-ring push in kind goes into bottle caps so we can take the nipples out if the bottle caps need replacing for any reason.

It takes an 11/32 sized drill bit to make the holes for either type of nipple. There some places that you can buy watering buckets with nipples installed or get pre-drilled holes in buckets - good for people that don't have a drill and don't really want to buy a drill if they are only going to use it to make a chicken waterer.

Occasionally we'll have birds perching on top of the watering buckets, but with the lid on, it's no big deal. Usually about the only time someone is perching on top of the bucket is when they are being chased and they freak out and get up there to get away from a bully.

The nipples are red plastic with silver metal so that helps attracts the birds. When first getting them used to it, after they have settled down from the fright of you putting this "scary" thing in the brooder/pen with them, you can go back and play with the nipple with your finger. They make a little noise as the metal piece moves around and you playing with it makes them think there is something special they need to check out. Generally after one figures it out, the rest follow. Very similar to teaching a chick to drink by dipping it's beak into the water trough.

LOL - working from home with chickens...I do the same and understand. After you have them a while they aren't quite as distracting. Unless you are hatching. It is difficult to tear yourself away from watching a chick hatch. Even when you've seen it before. There is just something fascinating about watching food turn into something that is alive.

If you want to buy pre-made buckets but not order them and have time to take a short road trip out to Greenville, there is a great feed/general store that has nipple watering buckets in different sizes. Atwoods is just north of I30 in Greenville right on Hwy 34 in town. Heck, going to Atwoods is just plain fun if you are into "country" stuff. They have stuff other places don't have and I enjoy driving up there just to look around at the cool inventory they have.