Nipple drinkers in layer cages

Medication tanks

A layer cage will come with a nipple drinking system. A nipple drinker is a way of allowing the hens to take water at will. The beauty of a nipple drinking system is that there is virtually no mess – unless your system is faulty. The water is stored in a header tank on the roof of the layer house and is then fed trough a manifold system down to the layer cages. Before it goes the the nipple pipes it is fed to a small tank attached to the battery cage – this is where you will put the medication. It then goes to nipple pipes which are  threaded through the layer cages. Embedded into the pipes are the nipples – Val nipples and Impex nipples are both fantastic products.

Nipples in a nipple pipe

The hens peck at the nipples when they are thirsty, and a drop of water is released. Nipple drinkers are used in both layer cages and broiler houses. Leaking nipple drinkers are caused by dirt water (clogs the pipes), too greater slope on the chicken house  (pressure to great – get a slope regulator) badly fitted nipples (find a professional to install your nipple drinking system) and the last reason is that the chickens are playing with the nipples and not actually drinking. How do I give my chickens water – use an automatic drinking system for chickens. The best makes are Val nipples or Impex nipples and both are available from Chicken Shack Agencies in South Africa. Chicken Shack carries a full range of poultry equipment including poultry heaters. A nipple drinking system can be used in a chicken cage, layer house, broiler house and it is suitable for both organic and free range chicken houses.