Problems with a waterer - A real head scratcher

[Happily Retired]

I have the standard chick waterer - 1 qt, red bottom with trough, white container screws on to the bottom. This is the third brood of chicks I have used this for and never had a problem until now. I have 11 4-day old chicks. Three days ago I heard hollering and screaming and come to find out that all of the water has somehow escaped from the waterer and the chicks are soaked. I dried them off with a hair dryer, cleaned out their container and returned them to it. This has happened 4 times in total with 2 times today. The waterer is empty but upright and no water whatsoever in the trough. I have exchanged the container with the feeder container; same results. I have tried replicating this in my sink and the amount of force necessary to tip it enough to spill is far more than the chicks can muster. I have now taped the waterer to the bottom of their container to see if that helps. Any ideas????

Also after they are dried off all off their little feathers are clumped and matted with dissolved food and droppings. I am worried that without their fluffy feathers they may have problems staying warm although the room temp. is 90 degrees and there is a radiant heater over them. Should I give them each a warm bath and dry them off or just let them be??

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[StinkyAcres]

It sounds like the waterer might be damaged somewhere around the area where the base meets the container.

 

[azygous]

Those chick water bottles leak if they are not level. Whether you hang one or place it on a flat surface, the bottle must be level.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Those chick water bottles leak if they are not level. Whether you hang one or place it on a flat surface, the bottle must be level.

I thought about that, but shouldn't there be some water in the trough if the only problem is it's not level?

 

[azygous]

Not if the chicks drank it all.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Not if the chicks drank it all.

Good point.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Here is a hail mary fix, lots of teflon tape. A new base might be needed but I'd replace the jar first.

 

[Liberty-Chicken]

I was having issues with my waters also, and it turned out they weren't level. Make sure that it is level and if it still doesn't help you probably should replace it.