odd chicken behaviour

[spmcrob33]

my mum's chooks have been pecking on the water container and they spill the water everywhere. Why do they do this.

there's nothing on the outside of the container that i can see.

 

[bigredshaverhen]

Is there light reflecting off the side of the container? Some chickens are attracted to shiny things.

 

[aart]

Not odd, chickens peck to check things out...or they might see something that you can't see.
How old are they?
What kind of waterer?
Sounds like you need to secure their waterer so it doesn't move enough to spill if they peck at it.

 

[azygous]

There may be things floating in the water inside the container. Chickens see things that aren't readily apparent to us humans. My guess is your water container has been sitting in the sunlight and has a nice colony of algae in it. It may be time to empty the water, scrub it out with bleach, rinse well, and refill with fresh water, placing it in a shady spot.

Of course, I may be wrong, but it would provide a logical explanation for the "strange" behavior.