Tips for keeping the brooder dry?

[grandwake]

We've only got two little chicks in there and they already have wet the entire brooder! We have a little chick size waterer thats sitting raised on a plastic lid but somehow when I woke up this morning all of the water had soaked the pine shavings. No leaks from the waterer. This happened all the time with our last batch of chicks too and I was constantly having to change their shavings.

Any tips on how to keep the water in the waterer dish?

 

[JenifferHartman]

I got a cheap plastic shower curtain and cut that to line the bottom of my brooder. We get around 10 chicks at a time and they are messy little buggers. Make it a little over sized so if there is a spill, its held in a little bit. It makes it much easier to pull out and clean the brooder. You can just rinse and reuse

 

[Kelsie2290]

What kind of waterer are you using? One of those red/white plastic bottle ones or an actual dish? Once I add shavings I usually put the waterer up on bricks (make sure it is level, or if the brooder slopes a little that the place the water comes out is pointed down hill). If you are using a dish I would put more marbles or pebbles in to keep them out of most of the water, or cover part of the dish.

 

[JenifferHartman]

What kind of waterer are you using?

 

[grandwake]

Its a red and white standard plastic waterer. I guess I will have to go hunting for a brick! and good tip with the curtain. It would be so much easier to be able to pull out the bottom rather than emptying the whole bin.

 

[Kelsie2290]

I use those plastic red/white waterers, for the quart ones I use three regular bricks and put them up against a wall, the waterer sits on the back two and the chicks stand on the front one (they can stand on the other two but it is narrow so I like to use a third), have to clean the bricks occasionally, but there should not be much water getting in to the bedding. Do check that the waterer is level or at least leaning the right way, if it is off a little it can drain itself.