Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Chicken Water Nipples

Yeah! The chicken water nipples that I ordered finally arrived in the mail today.


I used an old 5 gallon bucket and a lid (the kind with a small pour spout hole in it). I drilled out 6 evenly spaced holes in the bottom using an 11/32" drill bit, then screwed in the nipples by hand until they were fully seated. Put the lid on and hung the bucket from the peak of the hoop house, and filled it with water using the small hole in the lid. It occurred to me that if you don't put a lid on it, a chicken might drown in the bucket. It also keeps the bugs and debris out of the water.

When I hung it I used a flat nylon tie down with a hook on it and just hung the bucket handle on the hook. That way I can easily remove the bucket with out untying anything. The hardest part was hanging it at the right height so that the chickens can reach it but not too low. Now that I think about it, a ratchet tie down would work nicely to be able to adjust the height as the chickens grow.

It took the chickens all of about 5 minutes to figure out how to use them. One curious cockerel started pecking at one of the red nipples and was surprised when water came out. Soon others followed suite (as chickens always do) and before you know it they were all happily drinking away.


Now when I move the hoop house the water bucket will come along for the ride. And 5 gallons should last them all day so I don't have to worry about re-filling it 3 times a day. The best part is NO POOP in the water like you get with a bowl or font. Between my sliding feed trough and my hanging water bucket, my chicken chores are a breeze now. All I have left is to build a bigger roost bar system that is suspended off the ground.

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