Water at night?

[Animalian]

I always have water on offer at night just in case something happens to me and I can't let them out the next day. That way they at least have access to water until someone "rescues" them.

 

[Newwell]

I feel your frustration. You spend all this time building a sweet coop & then you have to crawl under the coop to the farthest corner when it's dark. I found out from postings here that chickens can't see in the dark. I got a cheapie, battery powered closet push light from a DIY store & hung it in the coop (I didn't know that chickens were afraid of the dark.) I turned it on before dusk set in. When it started getting real dark, the light "attracted" them into the coop. About an hour after they got settled in I'd turn out the light.

My chickens have successfully been going into the coop every night for over a week now. Last night I purposely did NOT turn on the light to see what would happen. They went in anyway.

I have a nipple waterer in the coop so they have water at all times. Their feed is also in the coop, so if they want to eat (other than free ranging time) they have to go into the coop. I think they feel safe & happy in there now.

 

[roxysly]

kjfrogster41
Yesterday 8:04 pm

Aren't chickens fascinating? Every one a bit different. My girls have been roosting in their secure hen house putting themselves in at sun down/early twilight since they were about 6 weeks. However, even though they LOVE eating meal worms, they will not touch earth worms, go figure. They love being out in their chicken tractor (play pen) during the day. They can not free range, as we have way too many potential dangers here in town. But, they do get around the property in their tractor, which means one of us has to move them around. They turn 14 weeks this Monday, their combs are still pretty small. I guess this is normal? They are clucking now, with real hen voices, rather than their baby peeps. This is my first time as a mother hen. I love it! Producing eggs come Spring will just be an extra bonus.

I love this...It's so true I'm a first time mama and i am so fascinated with them I can clean their house and sit with them for hours with my coffee. I have a little baby red plastic chair that I sit in and they all come and hang with me. They seem to be very attracted to the color red. They love nail colors...

I have spent so much time with them that my son's are always annoyed with me.

I hate to admit that out of my 10 pullets I have a few favorites. Ronnie is my first, and the possible rooster, I still can't tell. He seems to be the herder and is always humiliated when I pick him up and give him kisses and hugs.. but then when i sit with him in my lap he is all proud and doesn't jump off right away. He truly knows his name and comes like a doggie every time. They can be clear down by our renter houses and they come running like they are gonna break their legs if they trip. It is a crack up for sure. I love it when for no reason they feel it's time to take flight with excitement cause someone else is and then they are all running and trying to take flight. Wish I had a camera at that moment.

I have a small light weight plym rck (my sally-jean) and she holds her own with the other girls but she is so sweet and like a rag doll cat, she goes all limp when you pick her up. She never hunches when you get near her and she is never nervous, very calm and not jiggy. My Rhode Island Reds are jiggy ...but after you hold them for a few minutes and pet them or rub their heads they don't want you to stop and will peck my hand if I lay it on my leg and stop petting them

I know why we have the cartoon foghorn leghorn, my skinny white hyper leghorns are so crazy smart and sassy. You would never expect that they would be completely docile when they sit in your laps. Great personalities all of them. The funniest thing thus far is when Ronnie got hold of a 2 foot snake and ran around the yard with his prize and all the girls chasing him down trying to get a piece of it. It was swinging side to side and Ronnie was running with an extra tall statue to ensure he didn't trip on the snake dangling from his beak....:lol​

 

[greenkjb]

I had the same problem when I was training my little ones to sleep in their coop. I bought a gallon size plastic waterer and propped it on bricks inside the coop until I did not have to lock them up at night. I was just too worried about them not having 24 hour access to water. Ironically, 4 out of 6 of my chickens sleep on the 14 ft high roof of teh coop now

Go figure!

 

[kjfrogster41]

Quote:
Do your hens eat the shavings? Mine do and I wonder will this be bad for them or will it just pass through? No nutritional value. I put dry leaves on top of the shavings but they still dig under and find the shavings. Perhaps I should just switch to dry leaves? I also have their water up on a block. They must always have water available.

 

[cmom]

I wouldn't worry about water in the coop at night as they are on their roost at night anyway. I had my auto waterers in my coops but had a couple of malfunctions and flooded coops so I moved them to the outside of the coops but I don't shut my pop doors at night so they can go out if they want but I do have an electric fence around their yards and I can guarantee that anything that touches the fence won't be back to test it again.

 

[gale65]

We don't have water in ours right now. But when it's so cold the water is freezing we'll put one in there (a heated one) and in the summer we keep one in there in case they don't get out early enough.

 

[FiFiFeather]

I never had any problems with my little critters going back into their coop at dusk. They still roost where they started on top of the plastic tote that holds the wood chips), even though we have put in 'real' roosts' (branches). I have ALWAYS had water with them, whether they scratch litter into it or not. I just adjust the height and litter so it's not so likely to get knocked into the waterer. Too many times my kids forget or something happens and I don't get to them before they are awake & moving around in the coop. I think they should have food & water when they want it and not have to depend on my remembering!

Also, I've noticed that my girls lay early in the day mostly by 10 am. I notice I collect more eggs earlier. It's like if that's all they have to do, they lay the eggs. If I let them out early, they run around free-ranging in the yard and I get eggs at different times of the day...