
They may be designed for use with nipples or cups.

Waterers designed to accommodate bucket heaters are very handy if your temps regularly drop below zero.

For that matter, a waterer could be a large bowl or dish---but we don't recommend that, really. In general, you want a chicken's waterer to be difficult to topple over, and designed to keep scratched up bedding out of the water so it stays fresh, clean and healthy for your flock.