My Chickens Drink Foul Water

[Chixin Farmer]

So, I have now been raising chickens again. I spent my childhood helping my grandmother who raised hens for the commercial egg market but in the "old farmer" way - that is no fancy equipment or caged birds. Big hen houses and some free ranging.

Anyway, I have 8 hens now, Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orphingtons, Barred Rocks, and one "black sheep" of the family who was supposed to be a Barred Rock but is actually pitch black with blue/green irridescent feathers on her breast. She is a beautiful bird, but is a mean old b--tch.

My reason for writing is to ask how to address a problem I have with keeping them in fresh water. I have the nice covered 5 gallon waterers. They keep the water clean until it empties into the tray where the chickens drink. It is raised high enough they can't kick bedding material into it and they can't roost above it to poop in the water. What happens though is that as they drink the crumble from their food that is apparently stuck in the beaks drops into the water. Literally within an hour of washing out the water tray, it will be full of feed from their beaks again. It only takes a few hours of it sitting there before the water turns cloudy and smells. I am not sure how useful a big waterer is if it still has to be washed out several times a day.

Is there anything that can be done about this? I am wondering if the formulation of feed I use has anything to do with it. I use a layer crumble. Would pellets be better? I get scolded by the ladies when its hot and their water tastes so bad. There has to be a better solution.

 

[rosemarythyme]

What type of waterer are you using specifically? Like this type? https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41s6TRNPteL.jpg

Have you considered a nipple waterer? There's vertical (a little easier for chickens to use but may be more prone to leaking) and horizontal (better for freezing winters) options.

 

[Ghosty]

I use a 7 gallon tray waterer like yours. It does get dirty. I dump the water out of the tray and swish it around and dump it again a couple times a day. I have two nipple waterers I use too, but I like to give them a source of water to really get a good drink and bathe their beaks and wattles. There is a downfall to both types, so I keep a tray waterer and nipple waterer outside and a nipple waterer in the coop with a tray under it for nights and mornings. You could try a cup system. I thought about cups but wondered if they would need to be cleaned on a regular basis like trays.

 

[Chixin Farmer]

I use a 7 gallon tray waterer like yours. It does get dirty. I dump the water out of the tray and swish it around and dump it again a couple times a day. I have two nipple waterers I use too, but I like to give them a source of water to really get a good drink and bathe their beaks and wattles. There is a downfall to both types, so I keep a tray waterer and nipple waterer outside and a nipple waterer in the coop with a tray under it for nights and mornings. You could try a cup system. I thought about cups but wondered if they would need to be cleaned on a regular basis like trays.

That was my concern about the nipples. The small amount of water in them might even be worse and the feed may clog up the valve to let water enter them. I have times I need to leave the chickens for a day or two at a time which is the biggest problem.

 

[Ghosty]

That was my concern about the nipples. The small amount of water in them might even be worse and the feed may clog up the valve to let water enter them. I have times I need to leave the chickens for a day or two at a time which is the biggest problem.

A lot of people get by with just nipples, but I have a few birds that were raised without them. I also thought about them not ever having access to open water, which birds seem to enjoy. As chicks the nipple waterer helps clean their beak more because of their smaller size. Check into cup waterers. They are like nipples, but they fill a cup by triggering a lever.

 

[Willowspirit]

A lot of people get by with just nipples, but I have a few birds that were raised without them. I also thought about them not ever having access to open water, which birds seem to enjoy. As chicks the nipple waterer helps clean their beak more because of their smaller size. Check into cup waterers. They are like nipples, but they fill a cup by triggering a lever.

I'm thinking about cup waterer s too but also wondered how dirty the cups get. I don't mind cleaning, but...

 

[ShrekDawg]

I use a horizontal nipple waterer on a 5 gallon food grade bucket in spring, summer, and fall (non freezing temperatures) and then for winter I use a gallon and a half heated pet bowl I got on Chewy.com which works great but it gets SO. DIRTY. So fast. I haven’t had a chance to change the dish out yet (my last watering bucket broke a while ago and I haven’t had a chance to make a new bucket yet plus it was winter so I didn’t need it) and so now that it’s spring and everything is thawed, they kick so much dirt into it from digging around. I have it up on cinder blocks but they still manage to kick dirt in it when they’re scratching around in there. So I have to clean it daily too. I don’t always get around to it every day but I try to cause otherwise the sediment just builds up on the bottom and that’s nasty and I don’t wanna eat those eggs. Plus idk about yours but mine drink a ton of water and within just a few days it’s really low again. So I much prefer the 5 gallon bucket and I haven’t had any problems with the nipples clogging up or anything. Sometimes they get a little bit grimey or some algae and in the bucket but I just wipe it down. I do find that algae is the biggest issue I have though with mine plus in the summer the water gets hot and stale so I do try to check it and clean the algae regularly as well as occasionally top it off with some ice cubes or fresh water but it is nowhere near as frequent as the open waterer and I have left them for a few days before or gone without checking them every day and they have been with it. Haven’t had issues with clogging but I also feed pellets but have done crumbles before as well as treats like seeds, veggies, fruits, etc. which sometimes get stuck on their beaks and they scratch around in the dirt too and get dirty beaks but it hasn’t been an issue with clogging the watering nipples. Although now that you mention the food making the water dirty, I wonder if the dirty beaks aren’t somewhat contributing to my dirty water rather than just kicking dirt in. I have 7. But that has not been a problem with the water nippler. I would highly recommend trying it. If it doesn’t work you can always go back or try the one of each idea. I like that idea. Mine do seem to love and prefer the open waterers but for me it is just much easier and simpler to have the buckets so I kind of go with too bad haha but I do usually have a bowl or something in the yard or they find puddles. Mine sometimes free range so that’s where I have the bowls or puddles. They actually love when I lay a hose down and let it make a stream and some small puddles and/or flood the grass and run over and drink it. More natural I guess lol but only do this if you don’t use chemicals in your lawn. We don’t use chemicals in ours.

 

[Ghosty]

I'm thinking about cup waterer s too but also wondered how dirty the cups get. I don't mind cleaning, but...

4 cups for 8 birds, maybe. Might just take giving them a good wipe, most times, idk. I'd be interested to hear from someone who has tried them.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I use Galvanized waterers for my coops and I just lift by the handle and tilt to clean trough as needed. I do empty and clean weekly. . GC

 

[Fairview01]

Chickens dont like clean water. Seriously. Mine qouks rather drink out of a shrinking warm stagnant rain puddle at the end of the driveway than drink out of a clean fountain.