Drinkers: A Reliable Water Supply in Every Single Pig Pen

Drinkers: Water Is the Most Important Feed of All

A pig eats only as much as it can drink. If water intake falls, daily gains and the sow's milk yield drop away within a few days. That is why drinker equipment in a pig house decides more about performance than any other part. Here you will find bite nipples, trough nipples, drinking bowls and trough drinkers in stainless steel and brass, to suit everything from the suckling piglet to the lactating sow.

Nipples, bowls and troughs

The classic bite nipple is available in stainless steel and brass, with a thick or thin pressure cone and in versions for piglets and for sows. The AquaGlobe ball nipple works cleanly even at high pressure. With the Brybak type trough nipple you set the jet and so decide how much water ends up in the trough. Stainless steel drinking bowls give the animal an open water surface, which suits sows particularly well. For larger groups there are a 35 litre stainless steel trough drinker and the Water Level tipping trough, whose level is held constant by a Rotecna drinking valve.

Fitting, flow rate and frost

A nipple sits well when the pig reaches it with its head slightly raised, so roughly at wither height and angled slightly downwards. More important than the number of places is the flow rate: suckling piglets manage on a few tenths of a litre per minute, while a lactating sow needs many times that. So check regularly with a measuring jug that line pressure and jet are still right. In a naturally ventilated house a heated trough drinker that stays frost free down to minus 15 degrees is a help. Guard bars protect valve and bowl from being trodden on, and matching connecting pipes and the APEX XtraFlo float valve complete the installation.

Frequently asked questions

How much water does a pig need a day?
Weaned piglets come to around two to four litres, finishers to six to ten litres depending on weight and temperature. A lactating sow, by contrast, easily drinks over thirty litres. On hot days all these figures rise sharply.

Bite nipple or drinking bowl?
The nipple is tough, hygienic and cheap to fit, but loses more water to the channel. A bowl or trough drinker offers an open surface that sows drink from more quickly, and in return needs regular checking for feed residues.

What helps against blocked nipples?
Usually it is scale or biofilm sitting in the pressure cone. A filter ahead of the line holds particles back, and flushing the lines between two batches loosens deposits. Nipples can be taken apart and cleaned piece by piece.