Oregon

My chickens won't touch the watering system we put in. Any suggestions? I put food on or by them. Nope. I put shinty red material to attract them. Nope. I left one in the open position to show them it was water. Nope. I'm tired of poop covered waters I have to clean every day. I was so excited about this system. :(
 
My chickens won't touch the watering system we put in. Any suggestions? I put food on or by them. Nope. I put shinty red material to attract them. Nope. I left one in the open position to show them it was water. Nope. I'm tired of poop covered waters I have to clean every day. I was so excited about this system. :(

How old are your babies? And what kind of system did you put in? Chickens won't go without water. When they get thirsty enough they will drink... I guess my question is, if they aren't using your new system, how are they getting water? Do you have another option in there? If so, maybe you should take it out...
 
How old are your babies? And what kind of system did you put in? Chickens won't go without water. When they get thirsty enough they will drink... I guess my question is, if they aren't using your new system, how are they getting water? Do you have another option in there? If so, maybe you should take it out...
hmmm remove the extra. I guess maybe that is it. I have a few bowls in there because I read that in the heat the chickens would want to stand in it to cool down. And without them having interest in the system I keep refilling those bowls. Today is supposed to be 90 here in the portland area. I have a coop queen wand type of PVC pipe with three nipples. I attached that to a hose and bucket situation.

I think I will wait until this weekend when its cooler and see what they do.
 
hmmm remove the extra. I guess maybe that is it. I have a few bowls in there because I read that in the heat the chickens would want to stand in it to cool down. And without them having interest in the system I keep refilling those bowls. Today is supposed to be 90 here in the portland area. I have a coop queen wand type of PVC pipe with three nipples. I attached that to a hose and bucket situation.

I think I will wait until this weekend when its cooler and  see what they do.

If you feel better about waiting til this weekend when it's cooler then go for it. (I'm in Salem, and in the same boat weather wise). But I'm pretty sure when your ready to take the bowls out, all you will need to do is show one of them where the water is. Bring one of their beaks close to the nipple, flick the nipple with your finger and let the water drip at the tip of the beak. You will only need to show one. The others will learn from her.
Also, are you using apple cider vinegar in their water? It's great for them! And mine seem to love it. In fact they won't drink plain water anymore. If you aren't, read up on it. There are a few discussions on here about it. Good luck! :)
 
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If you feel better about waiting til this weekend when it's cooler then go for it. (I'm in Salem, and in the same boat weather wise). But I'm pretty sure when your ready to take the bowls out, all you will need to do is show one of them where the water is. Bring one of their beaks close to the nipple, flick the nipple with your finger and let the water drip at the tip of the beak. You will only need to show one. The others will learn from her.
Also, are you using apple cider vinegar in their water? It's great for them! And mine seem to love it. In fact they won't drink plain water anymore. If you aren't, read up on it. There are a few discussions on here about it. Good luck!
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Mine made the transition fairly easy to chicken nipples when I took the water bowl away. Didn't take them more than a day to figure it out.
 
Mine made the transition fairly easy to chicken nipples when I took the water bowl away.  Didn't take them more than a day to figure it out. 
Took the bowl away. Filled up the bucket. Closed myself in the run with them....TADA!!! The silly old things figured it out. What a bunch of city chickens. Spoiled by the water bowl.

Thank you guys!!!
 
Took the bowl away. Filled up the bucket. Closed myself in the run with them....TADA!!! The silly old things figured it out. What a bunch of city chickens. Spoiled by the water bowl.

Thank you guys!!!

I guess I am next to switch over. I wanted to see how yours did first, lol. So, I have read that you just take a 5 gallon bucket? Anyone have pics of their systems are good websites to go to? Oh and here is a picture of Jelly today. Out of Peanut butter and him, Jelly is by far the friendliest, as you can tell. lol.
 
I guess I am next to switch over. I wanted to see how yours did first, lol. So, I have read that you just take a 5 gallon bucket? Anyone have pics of their systems are good websites to go to? Oh and here is a picture of Jelly today. Out of Peanut butter and him, Jelly is by far the friendliest, as you can tell. lol.
There are several goid discusions on here about it. Search, water systems, ir chicken nipples. I will post pics of mine tomorrow. But ya I'm loving the chicken nipples! It saves me from having to constantly wash out the water dish. So cleaner water and no wasted water. Inside the coop I used a gallin milk jug, upside down with the nipple in the lid. In the run I used a 5gallin bucket with a nipple in the bottom. Eventually I will use PVC pipe coming out of the bucket and the nipples in the pipe. That way I can have the bucket on the outside of the coop for more convenient refilling. P.s. it's best to used "food grade" buckets. I have found winco grocery store has the best prices on them.
 
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There are several goid discusions on here about it. Search, water systems, ir chicken nipples.
I will post pics of mine tomorrow. But ya I'm loving the chicken nipples! It saves me from having to constantly wash out the water dish. So cleaner water and no wasted water. Inside the coop I used a gallin milk jug, upside down with the nipple in the lid. In the run I used a 5gallin bucket with a nipple in the bottom. Eventually I will use PVC pipe coming out of the bucket and the nipples in the pipe. That way I can have the bucket on the outside of the coop for more convenient refilling.
P.s. it's best to used "food grade" buckets. I have found winco grocery store has the best prices on them.

I have been contemplating putting used gutters on one of the coops to catch rain water etc. And I hear you about the clean water dish! I end up gathering them all up and putting them in the kiddie pool with a bit of bleach. Unfun!
 

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