Out of town & worried about water

[banjoellen]

Hi everyone,
I’m leaving to go out of town mid-day Friday and coming home Sunday afternoon. My mom is coming to check on my 7 chicks on Saturday. I have multiple small feeders and they’re going through about 1.5 of those per day, so I know I can leave enough food, and that even though they get bedding in their food, I know they can dig for it and find it if they need to. I’m more concerned about water. I change their small waterer about 3x/day now because they throw so much bedding into it and it gets too gunked up for them to drink. Last night I bought a 4 gallon water bucket that has small cups that screw in but overnight they filled the cups up with shavings too. I’ve tried elevating the water but they’re 3-4-ish weeks old so they’re really starting to dig and toss the bedding up really high so that didn’t work. I don’t want the water to get clogged up and them have no access to water!
Some ideas I had were to use newspaper sheets just for those couple days but I’ve heard newspaper is dangerous for them. I also thought of switching to straw, thinking maybe that would be harder to get into the water. I will also try raising the water bucket higher. I can’t hang it because I’m using a large puppy playpen with a fabric cover that zips on so there’s nothing to hang it from.
I know I’m possibly being overly worrisome but this is my first time having chicks and I just love them so much.
Any ideas for me?

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC! Looking at, or rather picturing your set up, I see two possible options:

1. Remove the shavings and replace it with something like straw, or even sand, or shredded newspaper (sheets are slippery underfoot, that's why it's not recommended) or

2. Block off the waterer from the shavings area. I.e. Put the waterer in a corner with no shavings around it and put up some kind of barrier around it to keep them from tossing shaving into it when they scratch. For example, cut out one side of a stage tub, place the waterer inside with the opening of the tub facing away from the shavings covered area and leave the area immediately in front of the opening clear as well. If the chicks want a drink, they can go into the tub to access the waterer.

 

[cmom]

Raising the waterer should help and maybe putting something under it to keep the shavings out like an old rug that you can throw out afterwards. good luck and have fun...

 

[DobieLover]

I made this for less than $10. It stays clean but for 11 chicks, I had to refill it daily. You could use a large bottle. This one holds 16 oz.

 

[debid]

This is (one of many reasons) why I use nipples. You can install one or two on a three gallon frosting bucket from the bakery department at your local grocery, hang the bucket, and no more worry. It only takes them a few minutes to figure out.

 

[blackdog043]

Do all the chicks know how to use the cups? I've read posts on here asking for help with chicks/chickens learning to use them.

 

[banjoellen]

Do all the chicks know how to use the cups? I've read posts on here asking for help with chicks/chickens learning to use them.

I put the new cup waterer in yesterday morning and they haven’t figured out how to use it. The good news is that after I elevated it they stopped clogging up the cups with bedding. Now I just have to teach them how to use the cups!

 

[banjoellen]

This is (one of many reasons) why I use nipples. You can install one or two on a three gallon frosting bucket from the bakery department at your local grocery, hang the bucket, and no more worry. It only takes them a few minutes to figure out.

This was our first plan too, but unfortunately with the setup we have there’s no way to hang a bucket

 

[banjoellen]

Raising the waterer should help and maybe putting something under it to keep the shavings out like an old rug that you can throw out afterwards. good luck and have fun...

Thank you! Yes after I raised the waterer a little higher it helped keep the shavings out. Now I just have to help them learn how to use the little cups!