questions regarding newly adopted birds and watering systems

[jsmith2952]

Hi all,

I have recently adopted three 2 month old chickens. The girls had been raised on a farm and had only been exposed to big hanging waterers, not nipples. Based on some other info I read, I got a small pet waterer (the kind that hangs on the wall, and has a spout with metal ball) for the inside of my coop because it's pretty snug in there and I was trying to be conscious of giving the girls as much room as possible. The thing is, they peck at it, but don't really drink from it. I've only had them a few days, and I have put a bowl of water in the coop as well, which I replenish a few times a day, until they adjust to the coop. My question is: can I teach them to use the ball waterer? I will always have a second source of water out in the run, but I thought I'd also make one available in the coop.

Also, with regards to food: I want to feed them scraps along with their regular feed, but so far, they don't seem at all interested. Will they be more into eating the compostable foods as they get more comfy in their new home, or does it come with chicken maturity? I've tried various treats, but so far, only the ants seem to enjoy them.

I'm sure I'm just overthinking this, but I really want to do a good job, and even though I've raised many pets over the years, I don't think I've ever felt like such a fish out of water.

thanks for any advice!

Jen

 

[jimmywalt]

My girls are 10 wks old and this is how I water them. You can get these red nipples for about $3 for 5 on EBay shipped from China. My girls love them!

 

[jsmith2952]

that looks great! (and thanks so much for the response, by the way!) How did you get them to use it? I've been trying with my rabbit waterer, and the chickens will peck at it, but are otherwise uninterested. Are there any tricks that might help?

 

[jimmywalt]

I "think" it's because the nipples are red/orange and that attracts them. Also a rabbit waterer might be too hard to use because the ball is bigger and maybe harder to move because of the water pressure.

The easiest thing is to get some of these from Ebay, drill a hole in the top of a bottle for the screw-in nipple and then poke a small hole near the other end to allow air flow to allow the nipple to work. I wrapped the bottle with a old coat hanger and then hung it so they could drink from it.

Once I moved them outside I made the 5 gallon bucket/pvc watering system, but I still have the 2 water bottles in their coop for at night.

 

[trsturself]

We also use the nipples with a pvc/bucket setup. I love it. We use a large one in the run and a small one in the brooder.
To teach the new chicks I use my finger to activate it. They see the water drip and hear the clicking noise and come see what's going on. Once one of them use it the others catch on quick. A friend of mine uses the rabbit bottles with all of her chickens. They use them with no problem.

I have noticed that even though the chickens don't look like they are drinking much as they peck at the nipples, they really are getting something to drink.

Do your chickens still use the other water bowl? If not so much then you know they are getting plenty of water from the bottle. Did you say the bottle was in the coop and the bowl outside? I've noticed my chicks drink a lot less when the water is in the coop rather than the run. Maybe try putting the bottle outside?

 

[jsmith2952]

Thanks so much for the tips. Ill give them a try--today was their first venture outside the coop, so over the next few days Ill see where they prefer the water. It's all such a learning process--for them AND for me!!