How can I provide clean water in such a small space? The cup waterer doesn't seem to work properly.
Is it necessary to provide water and food in the coop once they are in the backyard and have access to the covered run where we plan to have water and food? We may keep the pop door open all the time since the coop is turning out to be so crowded. We thought we were providing plenty of space with 2 square feet per bird (21"' W x 3'L x 3'' H) since that's what we read was necessary in some library books.
These are my first chicks. I have 4 eleven week old birds still living in the garage in their coop while the run is being built in the backyard. They are very crowded and are constantly dirtying up their waterers. Yesterday I took out the raised chick waterer for half a day to encourage them to learn to use the cup waterer we added. When I checked on them after a few hours, a couple went after the cup water vigorously, but didn't seem to be getting much. Also, only one of them could drink at a time. I decided to let them out to range in the garage, as I've been doing daily. This time when I put the chick waterer on the floor, all 4 of them flocked to the water and drank for over 5 minutes straight.
I don't think any of them had had much to drink the whole day. The first photo is how we've had it set up for a week. The following photos show yesterday's change with the waterer hung higher and the chick waterer in the back, duck taped to the wall.
Is it necessary to provide water and food in the coop once they are in the backyard and have access to the covered run where we plan to have water and food? We may keep the pop door open all the time since the coop is turning out to be so crowded. We thought we were providing plenty of space with 2 square feet per bird (21"' W x 3'L x 3'' H) since that's what we read was necessary in some library books.
These are my first chicks. I have 4 eleven week old birds still living in the garage in their coop while the run is being built in the backyard. They are very crowded and are constantly dirtying up their waterers. Yesterday I took out the raised chick waterer for half a day to encourage them to learn to use the cup waterer we added. When I checked on them after a few hours, a couple went after the cup water vigorously, but didn't seem to be getting much. Also, only one of them could drink at a time. I decided to let them out to range in the garage, as I've been doing daily. This time when I put the chick waterer on the floor, all 4 of them flocked to the water and drank for over 5 minutes straight.
I don't think any of them had had much to drink the whole day. The first photo is how we've had it set up for a week. The following photos show yesterday's change with the waterer hung higher and the chick waterer in the back, duck taped to the wall.
