We have free ranging chickens and with winter approaching we switched from a waterer with a bottom nipple to a larger bucket with horizontal nipples to accommodate a deicer. Since switching over a month ago, the chickens have not touched it at all. I've marked the water level each time I changed it out, it never goes down. They had a brook in the yard in which they always preferred to use, however we just got a foot of snow and it's no longer acceptable. It's been 4 days without access to the brook and they still haven't touched the waterer. I think they are eating the snow, any ideas how I can get them to use the waterer? They had access to the waterer when we let them out of the coop and into the run, where they stay for an hour or two before being let loose. It concerns us because we may not always be able to let them out in the morning. We've tried showing it to them, loading the nipples so they can see the water..they had no issue using the bottom nipples before but seem to protest against the bucket with the side nipples!
