- 2 litres — about a day's water for four hens, two in real heat
- One genuine Lubing cup, with the Dine-A-Chook float upgrade
- Refills itself as the level drops — nothing for the birds to press
- Made for brooders, small pens, chicken tractors and as a second summer drinker
- The one to use for dosing medication or supplements
- UV-treated ASA, lead-free and BPA-free. Mounting kit included. Australian made, $22.95 flat delivery NZ-wide
- 2 litres — a day for about four hens
- One Lubing cup, self-refilling
- Brooders, small pens, second drinker
- Good for dosing medication
- Lead-free, BPA-free, mounting kit included
The drinker you keep for medication
Most poultry medicines, wormers and supplements go in the drinking water, and the hard part is the dose: too little in a big drum does nothing, and you never know how much the birds actually took. This is a 2 litre drinker with two Lubing nipples, made for exactly that job. Mix the dose against an easy 2 litres, hang it as the only water in the pen, and watch the level drop. Keep it for treatments and you are never second-guessing whether the main drinker was rinsed well enough.
- Worming the whole flock, or a single bird in a hospital pen
- Vitamins, electrolytes and probiotics after heat, moulting or a move
- Quarantine and isolation pens, where a sick bird needs its own water
- Brooders and chicken tractors, as a compact everyday drinker when it is not needed for dosing
How long 2 litres lasts
An average hen drinks around 500ml a day, and up to a litre when it is genuinely hot. So a full 2 litres is roughly a day's water for four hens in mild weather, and about two hens in real heat. Chicks in a brooder will take far longer to get through it.
Litres and cups are two different things
The litres decide how often you refill it. The cups decide how many birds can drink at the same moment. One cup, so one bird drinks at a time. Neither number is a flock size — if you want to fill a drinker once and leave it, look at the larger drinkers and drum drinkers instead.
How it is built
| Body | UV-treated ASA industrial thermoplastic — it does not go brittle or crack in the sun the way PVC does |
|---|---|
| Water contact | Lead-free and BPA-free. No glue, no adhesives, no internal screws to rust |
| Outlets | Two genuine Lubing nipples, made in Germany |
| Filling | Top-filling, with a lock-on lid, lid hook and carry handle |
| Mounting | Built-in moulded hooks, plus a mounting kit of two steel brackets and four screws |
A nipple releases a few drops each time a bird pecks the pin, so there is never a pool of treated water sitting open for dirt or droppings. Chickens learn a nipple within a day; tap the pin with a fingertip while they watch and a drop of water shows them what it does.
Getting the dose right
Follow the label rate per litre and mix it into a measured 2 litres. Hang the medication drinker as the only water so the birds take the full course, and check the level at the end of the day to confirm they are drinking. Shade matters: sunlight breaks down many medicines, and the opaque body keeps it off. Wash the drinker out properly at the end of a course.
Wash it out properly afterwards, and keep one drinker for medication if you can — it saves second-guessing whether a rinse was thorough enough.
Nipples in a brooder
Two nipples suit a brooder well: nothing to stand in, nothing for droppings to land in and no damp patch through the bedding. Set it low for chicks and raise it as they grow, so the pin is just above head height and they reach up to it.
New chicks do need showing where the water is. Tap the cup or the float with a fingertip while they are watching — that is usually all it takes.
Keeping it clean
The cup sits above the ground and is shaped to keep dirt, dust and scratched-up feed out of it, which is most of the job done. Rinse the cup out when you refill, and give the bottle a proper wash whenever it has held anything other than water.
Keep it out of direct sun where you can. Warm water grows algae faster, and shade also means the birds are drinking something cool in summer.
Nipples or cups?
This drinker has nipples because there is no open water to contaminate a dose. For everyday water in a small pen, the 2L cup drinker and 2L twin cup drinker are the same body with self-filling Lubing cups.
If several birds tend to want a drink at the same moment, the twin-cup version.
Specifications
| Capacity | 2 litres |
|---|---|
| Outlets | Two Lubing nipples |
| Lasts | About a day for four hens; a course for one or two birds lasts longer |
| Height | 375 mm |
| Weight, empty | About 620 g |
| Material | UV-treated ASA industrial thermoplastic, lead-free and BPA-free |
| In the box | Drinker, plus a mounting kit of two steel brackets and four screws |
3-year warranty on the drinker components Dine-A-Chook manufactures, and 12 months on the Lubing cups and nipples. Colour loss and fading, and rodent damage, are not covered. Full terms on our warranty page. Delivery is a flat $22.95 NZ-wide, any size order.
Product Specifications
- Capacity:
- 2 litres
- Outlets:
- 2 Lubing nipples
- Use:
- Medication, wormers, vitamins, supplements
- Height:
- 375mm
- Width:
- 130mm
- Weight:
- About 620g (empty)
- Material:
- UV-treated ASA, lead-free and BPA-free
- Includes:
- Drinker, 2 brackets, 4 screws
- Made in:
- Australia
$22.95 flat delivery NZ-wide, any size order. Delivery details →
Not sure which drinker suits your setup? Get in touch — we are a small Australian family business and we answer our own emails, New Zealand included.