Poultry Nipple Waterer for Backyard Chickens (3.5 Gallon)

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 floc

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. (For more tips, check out the comments thread on this post.)

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.

This 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 (this listing) is good for four to twenty chickens and larger coops like The Garden Coop and The Garden Loft.

If you’re starting with new chicks, our Brooder Bottle is intended for a brood of up to ten chicks.

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.

Yes! It’s not difficult to make a nipple waterer, and there are several tutorials online, including one of our own on how to make a nipple waterer for your chicks.

The trick is gathering the right food-safe container, lid, nipples, drill bit, hooks, and so on to put together what you want. (You might also want to buy a spare container in case you make a mistake drilling the holes.) Add up the costs for materials and shipping on mail order items to see if it’s worth it for you.

Or buy one of our ready-to-use waterers. We’ve streamlined the process by buying the parts in bulk and assembling it all for you!

If you decide to go the DIY route, the poultry nipples we sell are the same ones we use to make our waterers. Some basic instructions are on that product page.

You can hang your chicken drinker from above or from a post or wall. You’ll want to hang it out of full sun. Partial sun should be fine, but keep an eye on the temperature of the water from time to time. A bungee cord, chain, or rope is useful for adjusting the height as needed. Or you can set your waterer on a base. For your convenience, we ship two types of hooks with your order.

Though our waterers can work in any coop or run, the 3.5-gallon waterer hangs perfectly beneath the henhouse on The Garden Coop and The Garden Loft.

Hang your poultry drinker so that the nipples are just above your chickens’ heads. If you can’t get it quite that high, a little lower will be fine. Chickens have to raise their necks to swallow. One of the nice things about this kind of waterer is that you can position the water above their heads, so it trickles right into their mouths when they drink.

If you have chickens of different heights sharing a single waterer, position it at the height that’s best for your tallest bird. Then provide a platform (a wood block will do) for the smaller birds to stand on to reach the nipples.

You do not have to hang the waterer. You could set it on a cinder block with the nipples to either side, or devise another raised platform for it instead.

The buckets we use are made of FDA-approved, food-grade HDPE (High Density Polyethylene). This is a versatile plastic with a variety of applications, and it’s one of the few plastics that can be fully recycled.

Normally, HDPE has only fair UV resistance and will become brittle with extensive outdoor use. But with the black pigment added, the UV resistance of the material is greatly enhanced.

The black color also inhibits algae growth on the inside of the bucket, looks nicer (less noticeable) inside your coop, and serves as a good reminder to keep your waterer in the shade, where it belongs.

We do not offer other colors at this time.

CAUTION: If you’re going the DIY route, be aware that some black HDPE plastic is not food grade. Check with your particular supplier to be absolutely sure before you buy.

This is an issue with any type of unheated waterer, unfortunately, so take care that your waterer does not freeze solid, as damage could result to the nipples (and your chickens will get thirsty!).

Freezing is most easily solved by using a submersible birdbath heater (see our Buyer’s Guide). Customers have reported success with these for years. This solution works great with our 3.5-gallon waterer. Just keep in mind that the heater needs to stay below the water line to function properly.

If you prefer to go the “unplugged” route, our best advice is to:

1. Fill your waterer with warm water when you set it out. The thing you often hear about warm water freezing faster than cold water is not true, by the way.
   
   
2. Bring the waterer inside your home on freezing nights and back out in the morning.
   
   
3. Have multiple waterers so that you can alternate should one start to freeze midday.

There are nipple watering systems that work like that, but this chicken waterer is gravity fed. So there are no hoses to hook up, and no water pressure changes to deal with. Just rinse out and refill the bucket when it’s near empty.

We only sell the poultry nipples separately (in packs of 5 and 10). These are the same push-in style nipples we use to make our waterers. They are made of quality stainless steel parts inside a durable, hard, red plastic casing, and they’re sealed with a long-lasting silicone grommet. Made in China.

While vinegar can corrode standard metal waterers, it will not damage the food-grade plastic of our containers. It may, however, corrode the stainless-steel mechanisms within the nipples after a few years of frequent use. If this happens, you can always purchase a set of our push-in nipples to replace them with — they are easy to remove and install.