[WoodlandsDevon]

Any advice on using nipple drinkers would be much appreciated. I'm planning on putting a few nipples on the bottom of a large water container for my laying flock. are there any major problems anyone's encountered with these?
thanks

[Womble]

Hi,
 
The advice I'd give is keep it simple!
 
When I built my mobile chook house, I installed a really fancy system with a header tank, and the nipples mounted on the bottom of a slanting plastic pipe. The idea behind this was that as the chicks grew, they'd use progressively higher and higher nipples.

Frankly that didn't work!    Firstly I had a hell of a job getting the red plastic nipples (really cheap from Ebay BTW) to seal onto round 2" pipe.  Secondly the birds tended just to peck at the nipples at eye level, which over time flooded the floor.
 
In the end, I took an empty mineral lick bucket (they grow in the hedges round here) and drilled some holes in the bottom. The nipples screwed in and sealed onto the flat surface without any issue, and it was really easy to tell how much water was left, and to refill.
 
I keep thinking I should come up with something fancier, but it works fine, with no hassle or mess. Even older birds seem to take to them very quickly. You just have to make sure the nipples are above head height so they have to stretch up to drink.

HTH!

[cuckoomarans]

try the horizontal nipple drinkers from solway feeders,i use these in plastic drums,25ltr size.drill a hole a few inches from the base of a drum and just screw in the nipple drinker,  can be placed on bricks, makes a cheap drinker if you use a discarded plastic  container the sort you get farm disinfectants,bulk household cleaners in