Stop chicks from getting bedding in their water

[Roslyn]

Edit: I may be stupid since this is probably something everyone does; but wow! The water is still PRISTINE! I used to have to change it literally every ten minutes. Also, I know it's inevitable. It's going to happen anyway and they're going to pollute their water one way or another, but it really does cut back the amount of water they waste and the time it takes to clean it.

I'm not sure if this works with the poo, since that's sort of a given. But I got really tired of getting up every fifteen minutes to change the water in their waterers because it had waste and large amounts of bedding clogging it up. I'm sure this doesn't happen with more experienced people, but I'm a newbie and it was grating on my nerves, since our brooder is just softwood shavings for bedding and a large tub as the main event.

Anyway, to the point, I don't know if I've heard of anyone doing this before (it's probably already been done) but I just wanted to share my way with dealing with it, incase anyone else is having this problem.

All I did was place a small, flat, thin, and most importantly sanitary cutting board over the bedding in the corner of my brooder, and placed the two waterers on top about five or six inches from eachother. The rough surface of the cutting board where the knife has scratched it a little offers some traction so that they don't get spraddle legs if the water spills and creates a slick surface (I think this is only for newly hatched chicks, but I may be wrong. Mine are a week old, but it still might be helpful for the new ones.)

And it's working great so far! We're having minimal clogging with the bedding and it makes it much more manageable, even if they still drag a bit of poop and bedding onto the cutting board, it cuts down the frequency of times we have to change the water; which means if I'm sleeping they don't go through the night without liquid.

As I said, I am a newbie, so if anyone can tell me if this poses any hazards, I'd like to know. The edges of the board are smooth and its real lightweight so they cant get their toes smooshed underneath it and/or rough themselves up on the sides.

Roslyn

 

[Dewsetter]

Sounds good to me but I am a newbie too and have found we seem to find these good ideas by trial and error.

I have only got 2 babies and use a gravity fed small bird drinker designed for small cage birds and raise it up a little (about half an inch). The bowl part at the bottom is about 2 inches wide and there is a clear bottle part at the top that fills the bowl as it empties. I secure it to the side of the brooder with a bit of wire so it can't tip over.

It gets a very small amount of bedding in it, only a flake or two of shavings and I fill the bottle part to full so all as I have to do to clean it is lift it out of the brooder and tip a small quantity of it down the sink or the loo. I then clean the whole thing out once a day and change the water.

It works really well but it is only suitable for a small quantity of chicks although it would serve more than 2. I suppose more than one could be used for more chicks.

Happy hatching x

 

[Booswalia]

I'm afraid I don't understand your setup, Roslyn. I have my waterer sitting on a 1 inch high block of wood and the chicks just kick the the shavings onto it and then into the water. Maybe I need to see a photo.

 

[Roslyn]

Quote:
Sure thing! This is my brooder: (Just took it with the phone).

It's probably not any better than what you've got going on

This is after maybe seven/eight hours without having to change their water.

 

[lizage]

You can put some wood block or other such device under the waterer to raise it up at least an inch. Your chicks look big enough to reach the water if it was higher off the floor of the brooder. I've had to raise mine up about once a week to accomodate the quickly growing babies. I currently have the food and water up about 3-4 inches on patio pavers. Once it gets to a point where I'm noticing more bedding in the water, I raise it up again. You can also try hanging it if you have something overhead to hang them from.

 

[fifenashia]

Thanks for posting this, I dont know why but I guess I kind of accepted the fact that I need to change the water constantly. Never even occurred to me to raise it up!!! I sure feel silly

Our bin is way too small to use patio pavers, and I love my cutting boards so that's not going to work. I guess it's time to go digging and see what I can find that would be helpful.

 

[Quirky]

I have my waterers up on blocks, but my little Jaerhon chicks kick the bedding up so high it hits the ceiling of the brooder, so I change the water often. But my Buckeye chicks are neat little ladies, so I think the blocks would work fine if I just had Buckeyes.

Thanks for sharing a tip; every bit helps.

 

[Yvonne37894]

The water should be a little higher then their butts.
I have a large block of wood that they step up on then another that the water is on.
As they get bigger I use a 3rd block of wood.
its like they walk up the stairs to get to the water


with the cutting board you are using, I would put the water on a block of wood 1" thick or more to raise it up high enough so they don't poop in it.

 

[chickensbythesea]

I did the same thing with a spare screen I had (it was about 1'x3'), I think this (and the cutting board) method works a little better than the blocks, because it created a bigger end zone for them to have to get shavings across, instead of only about a vertical inch. It also worked as a poop board, in that I could just wipe it once a day, and have a nice big super clean area.

 

[fifenashia]

YAY! I took a tupperware container and turned it upside down and VOILA! I'm so proud of myself. (I know it sounds silly, but I feel so challenged when it comes to building and or creating things).