how to train to use cup waterers

[joannefiddler]

I had the cup waterers ready and waiting for the arrival of my flock a few weeks ago. It was a very hot day in Florida when I got the crew, and they were stressed from their transport and new surroundings, so I put a couple of bowls of water out for them. Well, two weeks have gone by and I'm still filling the bowls and no one is using the cups. I have stuck a few beaks in the cups to show them the water, but still no takers. I'm reluctant to take the bowls away because it's still in the 90's every day. Any suggestions?

 

[LoneOak]

You have to complete remove any other water for them to begin using the cups or nipples. There are lots of threads in this forum about the subject so search this sub forum back a few pages and you will always see that the #1 training aid is removing all other sources of water.

2 weeks is kind of young for the cups so you might want to wait till they are about a month old to try again. Don't forget, remove all other sources of water!!!!

 

[LoneOak]

Here's a pic of some of my chicks checking out the water cups when they were about a month old. I think this was their first day in this particular coop



If you don't see them drinking don't worry about it a whole lot. Check the level in your reservoir to verify that the birds are drinking. If you have a 5 gal bucket for instance and it needs refilling once a week the birds are getting plenty of water. It does depend on how many birds you have on the system.

I forgot to remind you, Remove all other sources of water!!!

 

[joannefiddler]

Thanks LoanOak,
The birds are 14-18 weeks old, I've had them for 2 weeks. So....what was that you said?....Oh, I remember, remove all other sources of water!
We'll give it a shot.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

I like that setup. What type of birds are those?

 

[Bens-Hens]

We converted out hanging drinkers to nipples not long ago.

I left both int here and dunked beaks for two days, then removed the hanging water.

Did not take them long to all start going to the nipples when they got thirsty. I would think the cups would be a similar process.

They will drink from what ever is easiest, so take away the easier options. I still watched mine very closely but they picked it up very quickly.

 

[LoneOak]

Quote:
The white birds in my post are Rhode Island Whites. A rather rare breed that is not easy to find. I plan on breeding these hens with a Rhode Island Red rooster and the offspring will be a gold Hybrid similar to Golden Comets. I plan on calling mine LoneOak Golds. I also have one RIW rooster and hens from two different hatcheries. I am going to let him mate with the hens from the other hatchery and get some more RIW. They are very docile and lay similar to RIRs

 

[BellevueOmlet]

I would call them Rhode Island Pinks