Broken beak chicken and water

[Lulu-vt]

One of my roosters has a broken beak (broken top beak). He had a very unfortunate situation when he was a day old. He is lucky survived as his egg-mate didn’t.
I had hoped it would grow but apparently it’s not (he’s about 9 months old now).
For most of his life I have provided water through a 5 gallon bucket with nipples. Which I thought was fine. But now I’m realizing that he may have difficulty drinking from that. When I bring water in to fill up the main watering bucket, every time he almost dives into it, quenching his thirst like a man lost in the desert.

My question is…does a nipple waterer not work for a chicken with only a lower beak, no top beak? If not a nipple waterer then what is another watering mechanism that I can use that I don’t have to fill every day? My water freezes so I use a pond deicer. The nipples with the cups won’t work for us in winter.

Sometimes we go out of town, so I’d like to have a way to sustain chickens without calling a pet sitter.

Here a picture of Chip. Named for his chipped beak. Poor little guy.

 

[kattabelly]

Are you using horizontal or vertical nipples?

 

[debid]

I had a hen lose most of her lower beak in a predator attack. I switched from varying feed formats to only pellets and then I found that the co-op had a higher protein mini pellet which was what I settled on for the whole flock. I'm still feeding that, it's a good product. We have vertical style nipples and she never struggled with using those. She lived to a ripe old age.

All chickens are hardwired to chug what I call "novelty water". A new water source triggers them to take full advantage because instinct tells them that it might be a long time before they find water again. I've seen chicks do this when they find the water nipple even though they had a dish. It doesn't matter that water is always available, they will act like they were THIRSTY when new water is discovered. Even when it is a gross mid puddle.

 

[Bawkbok]

You could set out water in a ceramic bowl or other open source, dog bowl, etc if concerned he is not getting enough. Elevate it on a brick or something so dirt doesn't get scratched into it. Without a water heater source this might not be feasible where you live if it will freeze.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Heated dog bowl is an option. Keep in mind, that could make him more susceptible to frostbite on the wattles.

All chickens are hardwired to chug what I call "novelty water".

YES! Even something simple, like changing out their waterer for a new one. They all need to get in "one last drink" as I'm taking the old one away, then they all rush to try the fresh water I replaced it with.

The biggest tell I've seen for true dehydration is a shriveled comb.