How much can you tilt chicken nipples?

10 Degrees ( with Welsh Corgi as witness )

Our chicken nipples are meant to be installed vertically in the bottom of a container, but Michael envisioned a PVC pipe waterer that was so slanted it could water everything from the smallest chick to the biggest turkey.  He emailed to ask how much of an angle the nipples could handle before they started leaking.

"I'm not sure," I responded.  "But if you find out, please let me know!"

With the help of a handy iPhone app, Michael was able to put his waterer to the test, tilting it more and more until the nipples started to drip.  Here's Michael's experiment in his own words:

15 Degrees - No Leaking Yet....

18 Degrees - All OK!

20 Degrees - Still OK!

23 Degrees .....getting a little wet, but not dripping


27 Degrees and not dripping ( ! )


30 Degrees! Not really dripping but close. End of "Test".

If you decide to follow Michael's lead, be sure to install the nipples vertically in the container before tilting it so that you get a good seal.  Our do it yourself chicken waterer kits give you lots of other tips to make the best waterer for your backyard flock.