Wet floor from nipples

[Glennm]

I have 50 meat birds and I put in a run of central vac pipe with 7 vertical screw in nipples. They work fine and don't leak. I was hoping to add another run along the wall so I can get rid of the water containers completely.
The birds quickly figured out how to use the nipples but they spill as much as they drink making quite a mess below the run of pipe.
Has anyone got any suggestions? I was thinking about some kind of trough to catch the spillage and drain it away?

 

[barneveldrerman]

That might work but I would have used horizontal nipples instead. But a trough should work.



Hope this helped!

 

[Papagena]

Subscribing because I have the same problem. Trough might work, but either way, nipples are a whole lot better than fountain waterers as far as mess goes

 

[Mac in Wisco]

The nipples have to be at the correct height and correct water pressure. The nipples should be high enough that the birds have to lift their breasts and peck upwards at the nipple. If they are pecking at them from the side too much will drip on the ground. The pressure has to be adjustable too. The water pressure dictates how much water is released each time the drinker is triggered. Commercial drinker lines have a regulator that allows the pressure to be adjusted from 0 to 24" of water column pressure. 28" of water column is about 1 PSI. They are usually operated at a fraction of a PSI. The drinker lines in our hen houses are usually set at around 6" of water column pressure.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

http://ziggity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Management-Procedures-Floor-Systems.pdf

 

[pdirt]

The nipples have to be at the correct height and correct water pressure.  The nipples should be high enough that the birds have to lift their breasts and peck upwards at the nipple.  If they are pecking at them from the side too much will drip on the ground.  The pressure has to be adjustable too.  The water pressure dictates how much water is released each time the drinker is triggered.  Commercial drinker lines have a regulator that allows the pressure to be adjusted from 0 to 24" of water column pressure.  28" of water column is about 1 PSI.  They are usually operated at a fraction of a PSI.  The drinker lines in our hen houses are usually set at around 6" of water column pressure.

This is the most comprehensive answer I have read in the 3 years I have been learning about nipple waterers.

The height thing is easiest if all your chickens are the same breed and size.

 

[Glennm]

Looks like it's too low. My birds are growing fast and they now bend over to push on the pin. I will raise it up and see if that solves the problem! I don't have much control over the pressure, it is gravity from a plastic bucket

 

[pdirt]

I switched last year from the vertical nipples to the horizontal nipples and have had FAR LESS dribbling issues (no dripping when not in use, but dribbles when a chicken uses it, like you are describing). Biggest sign of this was the several massive ice chunks I dug out from under the vertical nipples compared to small two ice chunks I dug out from under the horizontal nipples. Plus our chickens were no longer getting wet like they did while using the vertical nipples. The only solution would have been to get rid of my mixed flock and get all chickens of the same size, which I was not willing to do. I tried adjusting the height, but even with stepping stones, the little ones had to reach too far to get to the water and often fell off. Plus the horizontal nipples do not freeze up easily like the vertical ones do. Read a good thread about it:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-vs-horizontal-spring-loaded-watering-nipples

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Looks like it's too low. My birds are growing fast and they now bend over to push on the pin. I will raise it up and see if that solves the problem! I don't have much control over the pressure, it is gravity from a plastic bucket

How is the bucket filled? You can make a makeshift regulator by putting a float valve in the bucket to maintain a constant water level in the bucket. Then adjust the height of the bucket to adjust the water column pressure, i.e, adjust the height of the bucket so that the water level in the bucket is 6" above the nipples, or 8" above the nipples.