chickens won't drink

kellycyndic

Hatching
Aug 23, 2015
8
10
9
Hi my name is Cyndi and I am new here.We are also new to raising chickens and I have so many questions. These chickens are stressing me out. My most concern right now is I can not get them to drink. I have 11 Rhode Island Reds and they have been drinking out of the plastic hanging water container,it is so hot them kept tipping it and running out of water,so we got the rubber water bowls( suggested on here)and added them for about 1 month with the hanging ones. The chickens would not go near them so today we took the hanging ones out and just left the rubber ones. They will not drink they are panting and very hot but still refuse to drink. What do we do
 
It's not worth the battle when your chickens can die from dehydration and the heat. For now use the old waterer for them. While some of the greeters can help your brainstorm a better way.
 
They have a big fenced in yard, that is covered with wire as well and I have half of it with a tarp so they have shade. The bowls are to big to hang. I guess I am just going to hang their waterers back out. They are so set in their ways. They do not like anything new.
 
welcome-byc.gif


We have to hang our waterer too. We also have a large, shallow pan they wade in (and sometimes they drink while they are standing in it).

Good luck with your flock. If there are other things we can help you with so you aren't stressed about having chickens, please let us know. There are a lot of people here willing to help you out.

Thanks for joining us!
 
They have a big fenced in yard, that is covered with wire as well and I have half of it with a tarp so they have shade. The bowls are to big to hang. I guess I am just going to hang their waterers back out. They are so set in their ways. They do not like anything new.

That's true, lol. But it take just one bird to try something new for the rest to soon follow.
 
Hanging out the old waterers should work....but wash and rinse them really well before you refill them and put them up....when you are getting ready to wash them out...take a moment to use your nose...take a good sniff inside of the waterer...they may smell bad from algi build up due to the hot weather...some birds won't drink from a tainted waterer....strange as it seems since they don't seem to mind drinking mud water after they walk thru it....but I've seen it happen....you can also add a bit of sugar and a dash of salt to the water to make it more tempting to the birds....not much just a bit to sweeten it a bit....if you do this be sure to empty it at the end of the day and clean it out before you refill it....I fed my birds some watermelon when it got really hot here...I found it on sale...it was over ripe...they loved it...and it really helped to keep them hydrated...lettice, squash, apples....any moisture rich foods can help them when it's hot out..you can mix up some oatmeal with water and make a thin soup out of it...and offer that to them...I have run a bunch of carrots thru my food processor and made them a sort of carrot smoothie, they sure liked that...use your imagination...hydration is the plan it doesn't matter how you do it..just so they get the water they need...Good Luck!! Make it fun!!! The Birds will enjoy your efforts.
 
The comment about the birds not liking anything new...I change things around all the time in my chicken run...I add old chairs..or benches...a old hollow stump...a wheel barrow....little red wagon.. I have a couple of unbreakable mirrors hanging in there...along with a nice wind chime....they are curious by nature...the more variety in their little world the better for them...in my book anyway...it will break them of the fear of the new...they will start to look forward to any New change....I put something new in my run now and they crowd around it, to check it out...before long they are exploring the new thing...in their natural environment NEW is the NORM. Start slowly and small...Make the change tasty...
 
I did clean the water containers. I change their water 2 times each day ( I put electrolytes in the water) and 1 time a week I scrub them out. They were very happy this morning and oh so thirsty. Thank you so much for the help
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom