Val-Co has developed a guard for nipple drinker systems that prevent drinking from a contaminated drip cup and protects the drinker from activation by bird movement.

Solid drip cups accumulate water with levels of bacteria at levels too-numerous-to-count inconsistent with a closed watering system.  The halo guard provides the nipple with protection from inadvertent activation. Since water does not accumulate in a cup there is no potential to spread pathogens including pathogenic E. coli and Salmonella that persist in biofilms and are introduced into drip cups.