How do u feed/water flock w/out them pooping in it?

[Citychick42]

I havent gotten my chickens yet but im preparing. I dont want the chickens poop to get in there water/food.
My friends chickens poop all the time in their water, and i hope that there is something i can do to keep mine
from doing that.

Thanx!

 

[emys]

Hang the feeder and elevate the water on blocks.

 

[oldchickenlady]

You can either hang your feeder/waterer or set them on concrete blocks...anything to raise them up off the ground. They need to be about the height of the chickens backs.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

and even when you've elevated them, they're gonna poop in them. Keep them out from under roosts, and clean them regularly.

 

[nuttyredhead]

You could use the nipple waterers. I have one in the coop and i would trade it for anything! Thinking i want to add another! I use a 4inch pvc pipe with a Y fitting for a feeder, no problems with poop in there!

Good Luck!

 

[woodmort]

As far as the waterer is concerned I got tired of my chickens roosting on it and dumping in it so I took the cover off a cat litter pail, punched a hole through the center, strung a rope through it and suspended it from the ceiling directly over the watered. If the chickens try to sit on it, it dumps them off--waterer stays relatively clean.

 

[LovinMyHensInNC!]

I use to use traditional chicken waterers and hated them! They are a pain to fill with having to unscrew the bottoms and they always leak when you tip them back over.

I now use a simple (short) bucket and it works GREAT! It keeps clean and very easy to fill with a hose. Sometimes I attach an automatic water vavle to it so it stays full 24/7.

 

[shopchicks]

Hanging feeder and nipple waterer.

I have been very pleased with my feeder and waterer setup, and they were very cheap and easy to make. Feeder is just a 5 gallon bucket with holes cut around the base (the Lowe's buckets are thin enough to score with a box cutter) that I attached to a horse feed pan - so that cost about $12 and 20 minutes of my time. It holds about 35# of feed, and they bill out very, very little feed. I hung it from the underside of my raised coop, and the only time I saw one try to roost on it was when I got home late and the coop door had swung shut, and they were all desperately trying to figure out how to get into the coop for the night. Otherwise, zero problems and zero poops.

The waterer is simply a 5-gallon bucket with 2 nipples in the bottom, hanging about 18" off the ground. No problems with roosting yet, but it should be easy to add a sloped piece of wood to the crossarm that the bucket hangs from if that becomes an issue. Bucket + nipples cost about $6 and about 5 minutes to make. I only have to fill it every 2 weeks for 6 birds, which is great.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
Those nipple waterers are great until the temperature drops to below 32. Wish I could use them but I like living where I do.

 

[TopsyTurvy]

Quote:
That's a great idea! And very creative, too.