Parent stock birds deserve their own breeder nipple

Water is critical for regulating body temperature, digesting food, and eliminating body wastes. At normal temperatures, poultry consume at least twice as much water as feed and drinking water helps them grow and develop according to defined growth charts to help achieve their genetic potential to produce maximum numbers of fertile hatching eggs. If their fresh water source is not reliable, birds prioritize support for basic necessities first, thus negatively effecting the egg production process.

That is why the poultry experts turned to engineers to design a drinker suitable for parent stock birds which is easy to operate, maintains clean and dry litter conditions, and provides the necessary amount of water per day. Breeder companies recommend two main systems to supply water to breeders: plastic bell drinkers, and comparatively recently they started recommending nipple drinkers, recognizing that the nipples do provide fresher and cleaner water and meet the need for the dry litter conditions.

So, what is that about the breeder nipple that it won the preference even of the most traditional growers?

The breeder nipple was not just invented, it was already in use as a drinker for broilers. The main drinker requirements remained for the breeder nipple as well: to give the birds as much water as they need without wasting a drop. Val-Co took their high-quality stainless-steel roaster nipple and made a new model with the UP action only. UP nipple activation is essential to keep the litter dry and at the same time allow breeders to behave naturally during mating, being active at the time of feed distribution and going to the nest to lay eggs. A prominent parent stock company in Spain has changed their drinker systems to the Val-Co standard flow breeder nipples at their production farms and they were very pleased to see how the water just stayed in the nipples and not going to the slats, litter, and floor when the active birds caused incidental spillage. “The UP action works”, they point out.

Being a precision-made nipple, it already gives just the right amount of water as soon as the birds activate the nipple pin. No drip cup is needed, unless preferred, and still no spillage, no wet litter, no ammonia in the house day after day of using the breeder nipples. The option for a low flow (VBR250L) or standard flow (VBR250) will ease the growers’ contemplation about the water pressure sustaining the flow rate. It is worth mentioning that there are breeder drinkers on the market but there are only a few which are made to resist the wear caused by the adult bird.

Another satisfied customer from Sweden has confirmed gladly that the low flow breeder nipple with the UP action has solved their two main issues: they have doubled the drinking period from 5 hours to 10 hours, eliminating the short period of watering time for the birds! And there is no longer an ammonia issue, as the litter and floor were totally dry.

The manufacturing companies have created the breeder nipple to satisfy the birds’ needs for the sufficient fresh water supply and solve the farmers’ concerns about the wet litter. However, the nipple will not just work on its own – the management of the watering lines remain the crucial aspect: the correct line height, flushing the lines, clean water supply, etc will surely help the growers to reach their goals in keeping the parent stock healthy and achieving a high number of fertile hatching eggs.

The up recommendation is for the birds in production (post 20 weeks), whereas a 360-degree nipple is recommended for rearing or day old to death situations. As it is crucial that young birds get the appropriate amount of drinking water.

Another reminder would be, whenever possible, try to use the same type of watering systems during the rearing and production phases so that the birds will have no issues finding their water source and prove their performance according to the breeder production charts.

At Val-Co, we have the watering systems and nipples for rearing and production, meeting any specific climate requirements and bird types, as well as farmers’ preferences. A simple evaluation of the flow chart with testing possibilities will be the first step in eventually choosing your perfect nipple.

For more information: www.val-co.com/poultry