How can I get my chickens to drink out of a dog igloo water bowl?

[Zoomom]

If you call your girls for treats with a certain sound, you can try doing that "Chook, chook, chook" and splashing your fingers in the water to create curiosity in them. Show them it is a good thing.

 

[galanie]

Quote:
I agree...and I don't find it harsh. The OP calls these chicken "girls"(I'm assuming HENS) and has had the waterer for "months" so I fail to see where "chicks" and their potential for drowning would even be an issue. Chicks are usually kept to an area that has their own chick proof waterer until they are big enough to partake of a flock waterer...at which time there should be no issues of drowning unless the bird is extremely dense~and I call that natural selection.

Remove all other watering sources and they will partake.

Thank you. Agreed. No one said "chicks", it sounded like big ones.

 

[ThinkingChickens]

Thank you for the ideas to try. All of my girls are 25 weeks and up. My smallest, a Delaware, is 6 pounds and can't fit in the water dish so no potential for drowning. I'll try rocks today and see how that goes.

 

[debs_flock]

Quote:
Yes! I call that cleaning up the gene pool.

My favorite line on a reality TV show was a couple that made a HUGE bone-headed mistake on The Amazing Race. They looked at each other and said, "We should NOT have children!" I laughed until I had tears in my eyes.

Deb

 

[tommboy1973]

Quote:
I had to laugh at this! I had the same experience when trying to switch mine to pellets last year. I also decided crumbles were "great" and never looked back.

However, I do agree on the water, I think they will drink it if it is the only water available. Tho being stubborn creatures that they are, I agree it's better to do it now so no one gets heat stroke until they figure it out!

 

[BellevueOmlet]

I had the opposite experience. They knock the crumbles out just as much and it just gets mixed in with the dirt. They knock the pellets out and eat them off of the ground. They always have a full supply of food and seem to prefer the feeder but still eat what they spill.

 

[kcwazzu]

I'm not sure what a dog igloo water bowl is but I'm guessing you are referring to one that has a 5 gallon jug that auto fills the bowl. While you may have success getting your girls to drink from it I never could get my dogs to drink from one. The gurgling sound it made when it filled the bowk scared them and they refused to drink from it. They would wait until they went oustide and would drink from whatever puddle they could find.
I found it in the garage this past weekend and was considering seeing if my flock of 6 would go for it. I currently use watering cups in and out of the coop and they are working fine. If the deep freeze comes to the Seattle area this winter I may consider giving it a go.

Keith