Water nipples

[Neil Grassbaugh]

Quote:
So, my girls hate the nipple waterer, and run for pans of water,too.
What's the correct height?

The height of the nipple has nothing to do with the fact that they will generally choose a pool of water to drink from rather than a nipple drinker. The purpose of nipple drinkers is to prevent wastage, promote dryer floor conditions, provide the most hygienic water and reduce work required for optimum management. If the birds do better on nipples, and over 95% of the chickens in the world drink from nipples not because they are deficient in some way, then maybe this idea that they "hate" something is misapplied.

This is the recommendation for the nipples I sell.

If you got them from some other source check with them. I am sure the people who answer the phone in Connecticut or Bangladesh have the same amount of in the chicken building experience as I have. Or you can just wait for them to answer questions here on BYC. They should be along any moment now.

 

[ChestnutRidge]

I love the nipples - clean water, much less spillage/waste. I read somewhere on here that a bit of peanut butter on the nipple will do the trick if they are slow in figuring it out. I have a slow group in the brooder right now and that worked perfectly. As far as freezing, people also use bird bath heaters or direct a light bulb to shine directly on the nipple to keep it from freezing. I also saw once where people made a ceramic stand for the waterer and put the light inside of that to create a heater. The stand was shaped like a crescent moon and stood about 8" deep.

 

[RoosterGeek]

I'm using a repurposed water heater (free and insulated) cut in half with a floating stock tank de-icer and pvc pipe. I'll probably insulate and run a pipe heater this winter. Last winter in my area was pretty harsh.

My chicks picked right up on the nipples. I think the red color of the nipples helps to attract their curiosity.

 

[5Leepy!]

Quote:
Hi Neil,

It's great that you offer these nipples for sale and at a lower cost than other online sources. However, I'm new to BYC and new to chickens in general. When I first learned of the nipples from the man we bought our hens from, he recommended FarmTek as the source. Once I got on this site and started reading about the nipples, someone else recommended QC supply. I saw your name mentioned a couple of times but could not find any information about what company you represent. So, I chose QC supply. I can tell you have a ton of experience and a lot of regulars on this forum trust you completely but I haven't been on here long enough nor seen your posts enough to form that trust myself. When I place an order with QC or any other supplier for items, I can dispute my credit card charges, etc... and know that their huge conglomerate of a business has some background and longevity as well as being reliable. No, they do not offer personalized service. I don't expect most companies I buy from today to have that, which is unfortunate.

Again, I think it's a wonderful thing that you offer competitive prices on this item but I don't think denigrating someone who has bought them from another source is very charitable.

As an aside, I tried to buy them from my local feed store. It's a small Mom & Pop operation that's been in business since the 20's. Unfortunately, he can not find who manufactures them directly and can't order them for his shop. He's tried but only found the same sources I did. I do my best to keep my purchases as local as possible but in this case it was impossible.

5Leepy!

 

[edselpdx]

Quote:
So, my girls hate the nipple waterer, and run for pans of water,too.
What's the correct height?

The height of the nipple has nothing to do with the fact that they will generally choose a pool of water to drink from rather than a nipple drinker. The purpose of nipple drinkers is to prevent wastage, promote dryer floor conditions, provide the most hygienic water and reduce work required for optimum management. If the birds do better on nipples, and over 95% of the chickens in the world drink from nipples not because they are deficient in some way, then maybe this idea that they "hate" something is misapplied.

This is the recommendation for the nipples I sell.
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL384/1082797/13243225/385742382.jpg
If you got them from some other source check with them. I am sure the people who answer the phone in Connecticut or Bangladesh have the same amount of in the chicken building experience as I have. Or you can just wait for them to answer questions here on BYC. They should be along any moment now.

Thanks. Maybe I'm just a sucker, but the girls really hate the nipples, an I've just got a small backyard flock of 4. The diagram isn't any more than we've already done. I'm
not worrying about larger scales of economy, so I'll just keep up the pans of water if that's what they like.