Tips for keeping chicks from sitting on top of waterer??

[clemston]

My chicks have taken to sitting on top of the waterer... and pooping all day. I elevated it by sitting it up on a brick which is apparently no match for their keen hopping/flying skills. They have several perches- but alas, none are as good as the waterer. Tonight I tried to make a foil cone on top of it, but they quickly tore a piece off and started a rousing game of chick football. I quickly ended the game and confiscated all of their foil.

Any suggestions??

 

[Barrdwing]

What kind of waterer do you have? If it's a flat-topped tank style, I know how frustrating that can be--I've got those myself. I saw one where the owner had fastened a large funnel to the top, upside-down. The birds couldn't balance on it and it prevented perching quite handily. For our knuckleheads, I've tried building a little shelter for the waterer--just a flat piece of wood on legs--which kept the water clean but didn't exactly stop the perching problem, plus they'd knock it over sometimes. Half of our waterers are the automatic, hanging type--the red bowls with the brass valve that can be attached to the end of a garden hose. I really like those things. Nobody can perch on those . . . the challenge is making sure nobody can perch over them, either.

I should mention that the hanging waterers are only for the adult birds and chicks older than three weeks. They're not safe with the younger birds, who can fall in and drown. For the little 'uns, we just use Mason jar waterers and clean the things out twice a day.

 

[jason_mazzy]

you could build a teepee or a use an inverted funnel?

 

[clemston]

It's one of the upside-down plastic quart bottles so yes, it has a flat top. There's really only room for one chick on top so it is kind of a 'king of the mountain' game for them too! A plastic funnel is a good idea-- maybe I'll take a look around the Dollar Store!

 

[love-my-wolves]

LOL! My 4 week old babies are notorious for perching on their food dish! It's so frustrating, cuz I hate throwing out pooped in food.

No matter what I do, they still get up there. I've put rocks on it, bricks on it, raised it, lowered it, you name it!!! They are still in the brooder, so too small for the hanging kind (actually, it would take up 1/3 of the brooder), but I've kind of given in gracefully. Let them play king of the food dish.

All too soon they will be in the coop, and I can hang the dishes. That is the only thing that works for mine, hang them, and have piece of wood over the top. Good luck!!!!

 

[CapricornFarm]

What if you cut the top off a plastic milk jug, that has a pointy surface, or a empty bleach bottle might fit on top if you cut it in half. Recycle is better than buying new Deb

 

[TouchO'Lass]

If the funnel on top doesn't work, maybe you could fashion a type of collar out of a large plastic jug (bleach jug maybe?) to fit around the jar part of the waterer (kind of like what they use on dogs to keep them from bothering stitches?).

Or maybe a plastic bowl (whipped cream size or a little bigger?) and tape it upside down over the jar top.

Then they could still play chick of the hill but the poo wouldn't drop in the water below.

Jus' thinkin...

And seeing this in my very near future

 

[MeowCluckBark]

I took some heavy construction paper and made a party hat like cone and taped it on top.