Today we are going to talk about chicken nipples.
Now don’t go and get yourself all excited, it’s not that kind of nipple. What I’m talking about is perhaps the best invention ever for chicken owners.
Chicken nipples are little, well nipples, that stick out of a water supply. You buy the little devices (that look remarkably like small spark plugs) and you insert them into the bottom of a bucket once a hole has been drilled. (I’ve also seen descriptions using PVC pipe for the source of water).
Chicken nipples
It takes a little bit of practice for the chickens to learn how to drink from these. Essentially they have to peck at the metal bit which then releases a drop of water. One morning, right after Marc had installed the nipple buckets, Trevor went out to the henhouse and for about 30 minutes “showed” the chickens how to peck at the nipples with his fingers. Once one chicken tried it and figured out there was water, the rest of the chickens quickly joined in.
Now they all drink from the nipples, even the smaller birds who have learned how to jump up for the water.
Marc made our water device from a supply store pail and hung it by a chain. We actually have two now, one in the hen house and one in the fenced in day area.
Chicken nipples are a must have for chickens because they keep the water supply clean. In the past we’ve used the typical metal cylinder that feeds into a metal tray. Sure it’s a way to supply water but chickens are messy drinkers, by the end of the day the tray is filled with dirt, wood shavings, and even poop from the chickens that sit on top of the cylinder and do their thing.
On a hot day, that means in a few hours we can go from clean water to cesspool.
Not the best situation if you want to have healthy chickens.
Marc found out about chicken nipples from a friend of his who also has chickens. You’ve got to try these, he told Marc in an e-chat. So Marc ordered them (I think he paid about 10 dollars for 14 nipples online) and we have never looked back.
Chickens using chicken nipples
The only adjustment we’ve made so far is to find a supply bucket that had a lid and it’s a good thing we did because already we’ve found chicken poop up there. But other than that, now we just fill up the bucket with water in the morning and the chickens have access to a clean drink all day long.
The only problem I anticipate with chicken nipples is when it gets really cold this winter. I can imagine that it won’t take but a few seconds for a drop of water to freeze when the temps drop below zero and so we’ll have to find a way to keep the water liquid.
But I’m sure that with just a little bit of research we’ll be able to find someone, somewhere who has figured out a solution to this upcoming problem. Chicken nipples are just too useful to have to put them away just because winter will have arrived in New Hampshire.
NH.com
Lessons Learned from the Flock 
cool! so does this also resolve the issue of water spillage in the coop? I have a real problem with that and it makes a nasty smelly wood-rotting mess.
Absolutely! The water is on demand and we no longer have the sopping wood chip mess under the water feeder.
Wendy
Wendy, you have a way with titles 🙂
Hey sis, didn’t know if I was going to like your column today or not. Turns out I really do!
Why not go to Menards or Home Depot and get a small solar lamp and rig it up to warm a pad that sits in the bottom of the bucket instead of a light. Maya was playing with these last year. That way the bucket is warmed just above the drinking nipples during the day. If you needed it to work at night you would then have to get a battery. These solar panels are now quite cheap and easy to use. (I am assuming you don’t have electricity out to the hen house.)
I use the 1/2″ Pvc pipe attached t o a tank, but I still get a lot of wet under the nipples.Is there any way to cut down the dripping when the birds are drinking?
Janet,
When the chickens drink from the nipples excess water will come out. Unlike us with lips, the chickens can’t create suction to contain the water and so it drips out. We still have wetness underneath the bucket nipples but it’s far less than if we used a conventional water feeder. It’s restricted to a small area as opposed to being all over the place like we got with the waterer and lastly, the water supply is always clean when you use the nipples.
This coming winter will be our first using water nipples. I’ll be interested to see if the spot underneath ices over significantly or even if the nipples will flow during our cold NH winters.
I’d love to see your water design for your hens. Can you send me a photo?
Wendy
I purchased some chicken nipples as you suggested here and it has turned out to be the best thing I have ever done! I put them into the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket just as you have shown and it couldn’t have been much easier, my flock to to them in about 30 minutes! Not sure where you got yours from but I found 5 packs for less than $10 delivered and they arrived in about 4 days. http://bafxpro.com/5-Pack-Chicken-Poultry-water-nipples-5.htm
I’m having a problem with the nipples “sticking”. I think it’s due to trash or calcium. I’m going to clean thoroughly, add some vinegar, and cover the waterer. Anyone solved this problem?
Thanks,
Terry
We’ve also had that problem (we have well water with lots of mineral build up.) Sometimes, though it was something physical, like a bit of wood shaving that had adhered to the nipple and then kept the flow open.
I have mixed feelings on chicken nipples. It’s kind of like that poem about the little girl:
There was a little girl, Who had a little curl, Right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, She was very good indeed, But when she was bad she was horrid.
I bought the chicken nipples and loved them for in the brooders. However when i moved the bucket to the coop the nipples have stopped working. Changed them out and still a no go… Not sure if sand is getting into them as we use sand in the coop or something else. Any suggestions?
We are setting up our first chicken nipples, have had trouble with them leaking, hoping we’ve resolved the problem with some epoxy- taking it out to test as soon as it dries. Maybe we got the holes too big?? We are planning to put a bird bath heater in the bucket for the winter as we also get pretty cold. I’ve heard that setting it in a flower pot isn’t a bad idea so it isn’t touching the plastic bucket. Will let you know how it goes.
Please keep me updated on both of these projects. Just one word of warning.
Epoxy sounds like a good idea for leaking chicken nipples.
In one of my posts, I made a chick warmer out of flower pots and candles (we were facing a large storm around here and I had to come up with an idea of how to keep the chicks warm if we lost electricity.) Flower pots *can* get very warm – warm enough that I could barely keep my hand on top of one that was being heated with a candle.
Just be careful and test your heater before you put it in the henhouse.
Wendy
Any issues with BPH or other chemicals leaching into the water using plastic buckets? Could one attach the nipples to a steel bucket?
That’s a great comment and especially when you have plastic buckets hanging in the sun. I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s a good reason to avoid plastic piping and buckets (unless they are BPH safe)
Our galvanized water feeders are sounding better and better.
Wendy
On Mon, May 5, 2014 at 11:01 AM, Lessons Learned from the Flock wrote:
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Hi! I am wondering what size hole you drilled in your metal bucket for the water nipples? Thanks!
We are using galvanized steel buckets to avoid the toxicity issue with plastic. How do you attach the nipples to the steel bucket? Thank you.
Hi! What size drill bit did you use to drill into the metal bucket. Thanks!
We used a plastic bucket and it was a few years ago, but my husband thinks it was an 11/32 bit.
I understand the reluctance to use a plastic bucket, however the fact that you can get plastic buckets with lids (to keep the chickens from falling into the water) was a huge bonus for us.
Wendy
On Mon, May 25, 2015 at 3:19 PM, Lessons Learned from the Flock wrote:
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