They Poop in their Water?

[_Randall_]

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I have the 1 gallon waterers as well, and when they freeze (like they have religiously in the past 2 months), it gets pretty old gathering up 10 - 12 of them, bring them up to the house to hot-water-thaw them out, refill, and re-place them. Last year wasn't too bad, but DEDGUMMIT, this winter has been a booger. I'm gonna hook up the drink cups come spring time. My only fret is our community water system is not the most reliable on the planet, and when it gets 1000 degrees this summer, I don't want to contend with water-starved birds......especially when I'm gone for a couple of days. Those suckas know they can put down some water in the summer........especially with the hi-protein feed. And as far as getting them up beyond the pooper-plane, I borrowed a whole set of my wife's big soup bowl / saucers (turned upside-down). The bottom void of the waterer rings centers itself, and seats nicely on the bowl bottom.

 

[Robo]

I use a cookie tin heater, and sometimes a small lamp to keep them unfroze. When they do freeze I can add boiling water from the top.

 

[JJMR794]

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Do the drink cups ever get to the point where they need "cleaned out" for any and all crud that would eventually collect in them?

YES THEY WILL SLING FOOD INTO THEM... ITS AN EASY CLEAN UP THO... I JUST YELL "FIRE IN THE HOLE" AND BLAST THE STUFF OUTTA THEM WITH A GARDEN HOSE AS I WALK BY....

 

[prochicken]

I use a hanging five gallon bucket with niples at the bottom. Havent had dirty water problems ever since.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Put the waterer on a block of some sort so that it's higher than their butts...or use rabbit or pop bottle waterers.


ETA: To unfreeze waterers I bring a 5-gal. bucket in the house and fill it with hot water. Then the waterers get floated long enough to get them open. The ice inside the waterers cools the hot off pretty quick.

 

[Robo]

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Yes, I hang mine so they can't perch on them.

 

[_Randall_]

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Do the drink cups ever get to the point where they need "cleaned out" for any and all crud that would eventually collect in them?

YES THEY WILL SLING FOOD INTO THEM... ITS AN EASY CLEAN UP THO... I JUST YELL "FIRE IN THE HOLE" AND BLAST THE STUFF OUTTA THEM WITH A GARDEN HOSE AS I WALK BY....

Gotcha..........that's kinda what I pictured me doin' here. You gravity-feed water to them from a container, or use a pressure reducing valve off of the main line?

 

[laughingull]

Do regular small mammal water bottles work for quail? Or is there some sort of special bird nipple that you need?

 

[shelleyd2008]

Those work, but they don't hold much water. Coturnix drink A LOT!

I have rabbit bottle spouts with 2 liter bottles for my birds, they have 2 of these...in the summer I still have to refill them in the afternoon.

 

[krstms]

Quote:
Do the drink cups ever get to the point where they need "cleaned out" for any and all crud that would eventually collect in them?

YES THEY WILL SLING FOOD INTO THEM... ITS AN EASY CLEAN UP THO... I JUST YELL "FIRE IN THE HOLE" AND BLAST THE STUFF OUTTA THEM WITH A GARDEN HOSE AS I WALK BY....

JJ, youre a mess.