Can I keep waterer outside?

[derby]

The girls moved into a permanent coop about 6 weeks ago. They are spilling water regularly. I'm thinking of moving the water outside. How long can they be cooped without access to water? It would basically be overnight.

Derby

 

[peeboo]

i put my hens up, well, they put themselves up once the sun goes down. they perch and they dont get off of it until the next morning. so from my experiences my chickens dont get down during the night to drink. so i dont put waterers in there anymore. they seem to be okie dokie.

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

Yea they usually go to bed after the lights go out. You might want to get a new water though if its leaking that much. What type water do you have?

 

[patandchickens]

The two disadvantages of having the water outside are that a) you will never be able to sleep in again, and b) even in MD it will be harder to keep it from freezing.

Is the waterer leaking (in which case, fix or replace), or are the birds bumping into it? (in which case, put somewhere out of main traffic stream and make sure it is up on blocks to the level of their backs -- literally -- they shouldn't be bending down to drink)

Good luck,

Pat

 

[derby]

It hangs from a cross beam so it is the right height for them to drink from. I guess the problem is that it hangs from 1 point, so when they bump into it, the hanger slides on the handle and makes it off balance. Last week, they dumped a lot of water. I guess I need to figure a way to hang it from two points so that it can stay balanced. As usual, I guess I answered my own question

Derby

 

[silkiechicken]

Put it up on blocks instead of hanging it. Much easier to level and keep leveled. I have water outside and in runs/tractors. Use those black rubber buckets and if it freezes solid, just throw it on the ground and out pops the ice! They can go O/N w/o water, but you do gotta let them out pretty early. Mine make a mad dash to mud puddles daily from Sept-June... since it's always raining.

 

[lilchick]

I set my waterers up on a shallow feed pan that is flipped over.

When it gets down past freezing here in Indiana I empty and bring the waterers into basement each night and refill them in the a.m.

They do not freeze in the barn during the day......

 

[Linda in San Diego]

The food and water for the Delightful Dozen are outside the coop, and this morning I was up 15 minutes after sunrise and you would have thought the world had come to an end!
Such squalking!
Yeah, sleeping in by 15 minutes is a kiler - we only got 5 eggs instead of the normal 11 - payback is not easy! I promise to be up earlier tomorrow girls!

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Go to your local feed store and get a small black feed/water bucket. They are pretty cheap and pretty indestructable. Put the waterer on top of the upside down bucket. It is the perfect hieght for the chickies about 5 or so inches.

 

[auracana07]

I put my water outside at all times. You don't want to keep it inside because then your chickens will spill it and make the bedding all moldy. Keep your water outside on a cinder block or something else elevated. (But not to high or they won't be able to reach it.) Also you don't have to bring it into the coop at night, you can just leave it outside and fill it up again in the morning when you let them out. Chickens can last the night without water beacause they don't even really get down from the perch until it becomes light out. Good luck!