Help!! Our coop is constantly soaked...

[indianachicken]

I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get my 8 girls water... We started with a bell shaped waterer and it got annoying changing it out constantly so we installed a 5 gallon bucket and attached vertical water nipples... The first batch leaked. The second batch didn't leak, but when the chickens would drink 3 drops, 9 would fall on the floor so the floor was always wet. We switched to horizontal waterers that have cups attached, but they freeze very easily and one leaks and won't seem to shut off... So we emptied the water from the bucket and I'm back to the bell waterer... I filled it up today before work, got home and the floor is completely soaked again they were all so thirsty that they drank for 30 minutes after I let them out of the coop and filled it and stood there watching... I've tried hanging the waterer, I've tried putting it on a block, and putting it directly on the floor... They just spill it... Do I have to start only giving them water outside?? We have a pop door that we open every morning and close every night... But leaving it outside is the only solution I can think of to try and dry out the floor... I'm sick of shoveling up sopping wet pine shavings... Any advice???

 

[LakeMomNY]

I use and like horizontal nipples...no cups.

Dry, clean.

 

[RichnSteph]

Wow that's a tough one. I tried the vertical nipples and they drink a little and then much more would dribble out, the birds seemed not to like them so we went with a 5 gallon bell type waterer and it is much cleaner. I hung it so that they have to stretch a little to reach it and there is hardly any water tossed out. To be honest though ours is outside since we don't get much freezing weather down here. You could try hanging on up a little higher and possibly building a small sand box underneath it and fill it with some stable-dry or something like that.

Luck!
RichnSteph

 

[ECBW]

Sorry to hear about your difficulty. Watering should not be that hard. I would offer you my experience, maybe it would give you some ideas.

My flock is about the same size as your. I have unheated water pan outside, but the primary and constant water source is a 1-gal "bell" waterer on a 6" high stand in the coop. The amount of inside water is enough for at least 1 day when the outside pan froze. They do kick stuff into it and drip a few drops, but have never knocked it over. I think there are 2 favorable factors. 1. Weight of the water makes the waterer stable. 2. The waterer is tucked under the poop deck (or nests or any other structure) so they can not try to land on it and knock it down.

 

[mminer13]

I have my bell-shaped waterer on a cinder block with a cone thing on top which seems to deter them from trying to hop up on it. They free range most of the day, so they don't spend much time in the coop which I think helps as well. Between the weight of the water, and the height of the cinder block, rarely is anything in it, and I don't think it would be easy for them to knock off.

 

[Amberjem]

the bucket with the chicken nipples did you have a vent hole in the rim so the air didnt have to get sucked thru the nipple as water was displaced from the bucket? if not the air sucking back in the displaced water allows it to leak during the displacement process...just a thought