I had 9 silkies that are almost a week old. Again my waterer malfunctioned, last time was my bantams. This time on my silkies and one of my silkies was dead this morning. All wet, cold and stepped on. I am so tired of these waterers. I now cut a gallon milk jug and stuck the waterer in their and so hopefully if it leaks again it won't be all over my poor babies. I just want them to all grow up so they are past this brooder stage. Now I just may have to get more silkies.
This is a different one from the last one. From what I did see on both, neither had cracks. I am not sure why they are soaking my brooders. I wouldn't think the baby chicks would weigh enough to make it tip enough to empty. IDK, I am just frustrated with worry all the time. My poor babies.
What kind of waterer do you have? I use one of the ones that use the mason jars for when they are really little. Maybe you could put a puppy pad under the waterer. That way if it leaks it will get absorbed by the pad and not all over the brooder.
I put the waterers in a foil pie pan or a flan pan I got at Goodwill...The chicks don't seem to mind, and if the waterer overflows, most of it gets caught by the pan.
I use the quart-size poultry waterer in my smaller brooders, and they have all worked great. As the chicks get bigger I place them on a wood block or cookie tin lid to elevate them. http://www.jefferslivestock.com/ssc...J152DT746WV8HCKSDLB9KMXQA8E97K6&pf_id=0031382 Hope that helps. Good luck!
I don't know what your brooder is made of, but maybe you could put a couple of small holes in the bottom so the water would drain out?? Just a thought... If this keeps happening, I would suggest for you to try a different type of waterer.
I have one of the mason jar types and have wired the base to a brick so that it is not top heavy and cannot get knocked over. As a bonus it keeps it up out of the shavings. I lost a chick to a knock over once. These rotten things happen and you have to take them one by one and plan to not let it happen again. Good luck with the eight you have left. I love the silkies.
I'm using a waterer that's designed for cats, it has a food compartment and a water compartment and fits a 1 liter or 20oz soda bottle in the center for the water. It's wide and stable and easy to refill so I like it. I got it because it holds somewhat less water and is easier to change out since I'm changing it pretty often. Here they are climbing on it without the water bottle on. They can scratch the food out of it easy, so I just put grit in the food compartment. I still feed in the regular mason jar type feeder.
