Chick drowned, waterer suggestions?

Jul 15, 2025
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Dangit. Our firstborn perished overnight. I have a very flat dish with not even a tablespoon of water in it. The little guy must’ve slipped and gotten too cold and died 😭 We had one sickly chick that also passed last night, but we got to say goodbye to it first. My kid is gonna be soooo upset when she finds out the first born (the only one with black feet) is gone, too (I haven’t told her yet because she wouldn’t eat breakfast if she knew).

What do you do for watering the newly hatched? I thought I was being safe by putting almost no water in there and adding literal drops to it many many times a day. Is it just Darwinism?
 
Dangit. Our firstborn perished overnight. I have a very flat dish with not even a tablespoon of water in it. The little guy must’ve slipped and gotten too cold and died 😭 We had one sickly chick that also passed last night, but we got to say goodbye to it first. My kid is gonna be soooo upset when she finds out the first born (the only one with black feet) is gone, too (I haven’t told her yet because she wouldn’t eat breakfast if she knew).

What do you do for watering the newly hatched? I thought I was being safe by putting almost no water in there and adding literal drops to it many many times a day. Is it just Darwinism?
You need a water feeder made for chicks that they can't get in, slotted. Very young chicks need a heat lamp regardless.
 
For the first few days, I use a 4 oz ceramic bowl filled with marbles. Then we put up the nipple waterer and leave both for a couple of days, then pull the bowl out. I don't use any traditional feeders/waterers. Mostly peanut butter lids for mash and feed.

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That block is under it for smaller ones to reach as there are 2-4 week old chicks in this brooder.
 

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Baby chicks can learn to use a nipple drinker right away, or you can try adding rocks to the water to try and prevent it. But you also said there was not much water so could it be something else and just passed getting water?

Do you use nipple waterers right away? I've found that I have to wait a few weeks to use my cup nipple waterer since they aren't strong enough at first to peck it hard enough to get water out. I also wonder if it is nipple type dependent.
 
I use a 500ml plastic bottle and dish as a gravity waterer. Make a hole in the side of the bottle at the level you want the water to come up to, then stand the bottle in a dish. The dish should be just deep enough for them to drink from comfortably, wide enough that they can just fit their heads in to drink from the gap between the bottle and the side of the dish but there isn't enough space to fall in, and heavy enough not to be easy tipped over.
 

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