Training for Nipple Waterer

[Pele]

Hi all,

I've finally had enough of mess and spills and constant water changing, and bought a nipple waterer for my girls. The only problem is, I am very worried that they will not use it.

I have left the waterer in their coop for about a week now, and also put their normal waterer in. Nobody has touched the nipple waterer, the level is completely unchanged.

My worry is that if I remove their normal waterer to force them to use the new one, that it might be beyond their mighty intellect to figure out and use the new one. I tried removing the normal waterer during the night, but they'll just wait me out till I lose my nerve and they rush it in the morning when I replace it, like a bunch of dudes who crossed the Sahara.

Have any of you experienced such rockiness switching over? Any hints or suggestions? Anything helps, thanks!

 

[BellevueOmlet]

I used to have the same problem. I removed the main source of water and they started using the nipples but did not seem to get enough water. Others swear by nipples but I prefer water cups. They work the same as nipples but leave a small pool of water in a cup for them to drink from. That is just my preference. I hope you have luck with nipple training. You can try showing them how by hitting the nipple and getting water in your hand and then let them drink from your hand. that's how I did it with my chicks and it worked but might be more difficult with full grown birds.

 

[jmagill]

If you search the posts you will see that some have tested the amount of water that they drink from nipples and from open source waterers. If you actually measure it turns out the same when they are offered only one source. You need to take away the old waterer and let them learn to use the new one.

With the nipple waterers they actually drink what they need. With other waterer's it can be spilled and evaporate.

 

[lizch]

My 8-week-olds have been using the nipple waterers for a couple of weeks. I think they'd still prefer water bowls if I provided them, but I'm the boss, so I don't

 

[jmagill]

Quote:
Love that! These are chickens after all.

 

[Pele]

Lol that's true, I am the boss. I'd just rather not be the boss of 10 dead chickens. It sounds like I do need to just be tough on them then.

Thanks for the advice.