What to get? Nipple waterer vs. traditional waterer

tamera983

In the Brooder
7 Years
May 4, 2012
12
0
24
Olympia, WA
Hi all, I'm fairly new to the chicken community....I have 3, 5 week old chicks. I'm looking to get a hanging watering system for them, since they scratch to much bedding into their little chick waterer. I live in the Pacific Northwest and winters can get cold sometimes....my question is, should I invest in a nipple watering system and just hope the water doesn't freeze in the nipple during the winter.....or should I get a traditional hanging waterer?
 
If I were just starting I would go with the auto nipple waters for 10-11 months of the year.

There are those periods where it will get cold enough to freeze things up, so I would drain the system for those Dec - Feb cold snaps and give them traditional waters then.

The traditional waterers freeze up to, so be prepared for extra effort in the cold snaps.


Good luck....
 
Here in Chicagoland, the winds can make things WAY colder than the air temps.

Someone here posted a very clever 'cookie tin water heater' - basically a cleaned out cookie tin (think Danish cookie tin) with a night-light assembly inside it. The warmth from the night light is *just* enough to keep the water thawed out.

So in my run, I have a ceramic plant tray upside down (for height, otherwise, the hens get too much dirt in the water), the cookie tin on top of it, the waterer on top of the metal. Worked like a charm!
In the coop, the waterer is suspended from a chain - so the cookie tin is on an old coffee can for spacer to reach the height of the waterer. Worked great!

If your chicks are getting too much gunk in the water - try putting the waterer up on a couple bricks or stones to elevate it. Worked great for my chicks! (and hens too!)
 

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