Yes, chickens really drink from them. I have had typical trough waterers for my chickens since they were babies, but they make such a mess I finally bought what I needed to make my nipple waterers. I locked everyone in the run for 2 days with the new nipple waterers and as soon as a single...
I found it really easy to just lay another layer of paper towels down over top when I thought it was looking bad, and then every few days I'd remove all and start over. We only did paper towels for a week though because it was much easier to switch to shavings and just add some more when it was...
Here's our brooder. Her name is Lucy
It's just a small sectioned off space of our covered run, with a bin on its' side and food/water. Lucy has 8 chicks out there with her and they're all doing great!