NIPPLE SYSTEM FOR BAKYARD FARMER

 

Choose a nipple waterer for your backyard chickens that's ready to fill, hang, and use. Or get the nipples you need to make your own.
Poop-free water. Less waste. Less work.

Like most backyard chicken keepers, we started out with a standard galvanized gravity waterer. Problem is, dirt and poop get kicked up into the open dish. Things can get pretty nasty, pretty quickly.

On the advice of a customer, we switched to a nipple waterer, and we haven't looked back. Instead of refreshing our chickens' water every day, we do so about once a week.

The water that goes in is the water that comes out, right into your chickens' mouths. So it lasts longer, saving you on trips to clean/change it out.

 

How do poultry nipples work?

Poultry nipples are a simple device used extensively in commercial poultry operations and more and more today in backyard coops. When a chicken pecks at the metal pin from any direction, this opens the flow of water enough for a few drop to trickle out, right into its mouth. There's less waste and no evaporation, which means more water for your flock.

Will my chickens learn to drink from the nipples?

Most chickens figure it out on their own within minutes. Chickens will peck at anything, and the red plastic casing especially draws their attention. Once they notice that water flows from the nipples, they're trained.
Chicks can be started on nipples in the first few days after hatching, but if you bought your chicks at a store or by mail order, please allow them a day or two with a dish waterer first to make sure they are fully recovered from the stress of their journey.

Which size waterer is right for my flock?

The Brooder Bottle is intended for a brood of up to ten chicks.
The 1-gallon waterer is intended for four chickens or less, particularly if they're housed in a small coop like The Basic Coop or a mobile chicken tractor like The Garden Ark.
The 3.5-gallon waterer is good for four to twenty chickens and larger coops like The Garden Coop.

Obviously, the more chickens you have drinking from one container, the more frequently you'll have to refill it. And if you're in a hotter, drier climate, factor that in as well.