I learned a valuable lesson this afternoon. Awhile back I bought a 2-quart jug with lid from the dollar store, and installed 3 horizontal nipples on it for my older chicks. Keeps the water clean, and the brooder dry... perfect. It's worked great for the last week, and I filled it up last night. This evening when I went down to the basement, I noticed the older chicks were a little noisier than normal. They normally run to the front of the brooder, waiting to be hand-fed clover... but this seemed different. I finished installing the de-icer in the water bucket in the run outside, and came back to look at the chicks one more time. I noticed they were pecking at the water nipples, but I didn't see any water in the little troughs, and none were raising their heads to swallow. The container was still completely full. Hmmm. I opened the brooder and poked some of the nipples, and could see the valve going in the container, but no water was coming out. I popped the little cover over the spout up, and tried again. This time water started coming out. It only took a second before the chicks realized there was water, and I've seen videos of feeding piranhas that paled in comparison to the frenzy those chicks displayed. I felt horrible! Those poor babies haven't had water since last night, and it was 5 pm when I realized there was a problem. The lesson I learned is if you have a water container with nipples, MAKE SURE IT'S VENTED!!!
15 chicks drank about a pint of water in less than 30 minutes, and have settled down. It's a good thing I check on them several times daily, or I might have missed spotting the problem... which could have ended in disaster. That was too close for comfort!!!
15 chicks drank about a pint of water in less than 30 minutes, and have settled down. It's a good thing I check on them several times daily, or I might have missed spotting the problem... which could have ended in disaster. That was too close for comfort!!!
