chickens won't drink

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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!
 
kellycyndic said:
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.
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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.
 
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
 
We read somewhere that they were probably bored so we hung old cds in the yard for them of course they were scared of them, I guess I will go put them back out. We are getting a bale of hay today for them to climb on. They have just turned 5 months old and are not laying yet, so we thought maybe we were stressing them out by adding things. We feed them laying pellets and I give them watermelon, tomatoes and grapes daily, some days they get extra stuff and each night my husband catches then grasshoppers. I hope I am doing things right. Just frustrated NO EGSS yet
 
The eggs will come when they are ready. Are they squatting yet? Are their combs and wattles getting red? Some birds (even in the same breed) just take longer to mature.

Glad to hear they are drinking again. And they should have fun with the hay!
 
I have a couple of old 1 gallon ice cream buckets. When it got really hot here this summer, I chopped up fruits and veggies that were on the edge of us wanting them, put them in the buckets, filled the buckets with water and froze in our deep freezer. Then on a hot afternoon, I tipped one into a steel pan that we have out there and took the bucket off. They LOVED it and kept cool.

I also use a mister (Cobra mister made by Orbit) out there to keep the area cool. I haven't started using my nipple waterer yet that we'll transition to this winter...waiting for it to cool off some more. I'm hoping that they transition to that well.
 
Yes some of their combs are red. We have 4 that have big red combs and waddles, and the rest are just starting to get theirs. I do not know what you mean by squatting
 
kellycyndic said:
Yes some of their combs are red. We have 4 that have big red combs and waddles, and the rest are just starting to get theirs. I do not know what you mean by squatting
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They'll squat down almost like they're pooping...but usually when you come up to them. Mine were laying and I didn't know it...they found one spot that they could stash eggs that we couldn't see without going inside the coop. We had to block that area off.
 

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