water mess!

[flying_babyb]

So how do you keep your baby chicks from flicking bedding into the water? Im mucking the water bowl three to four times a day just to keep it clean. I bought the one with the bucket to hold the water and the little round trough on the bottom. HELP!

 

[domino7]

Set the waterer up a little higher. like on a brick, or something.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Elevating the water helps keep it clean. Aim to have the level of the water/top edge of the tray at the level of the shortest chick's back. That way they can still reach in to drink.

I use an assortment of things to put under it. Overturned flower pot saucers, blocks of wood, bricks or any combination that gets it to the right height. If you have to choose between a little too high or a little too low, go lower.

I always have the brick or whatever it is resting on the actual floor of the brooder, with litter around it. That makes it much more stable. Having it resting on top of a thick layer of shavings makes it much more wobbly and easier to tip over.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

Like they said, keep raising it as they grow, make sure it cannot be knocked over.

They are "flickers" by nature scavengering the ground for food so you will always get a mess in the water witht that type of waterer so just clean it out often.

 

[Secretchicken]

I am mucking out two to three times a day even though the waterer is above their backs. I'm going to invent a better chicken waterer if someone else doesn't!

 

[flying_babyb]

well darn it, those ladys at TSC never told me that it should be that high! GRR. have to go to menards tommrow anyways, Ill get me a brick. Hey what do you do about the food? Same thing? My chicks keep flick covering it too. I throw some of there food in the coop bottom daily so they can peck for it. There also getting any stray bug that wanders through (they live in a half fisnished basement, so bugs are plentyful)

 

[bietsch624]

I use the waters that folks put in their hamster and rabbit cages. This also works great for my quail. I put it in the brooder and touched each of their beaks to it and they were hooked. You will hear them tagging the little ball bearing in the end of it a lot...but it beats cleaning out the other waterer..

 

[trilyn]

Nipple waterers...rock! Check out my byc page and do a byc search...tons of info...no more mess!

 

[kittycooks]

My favorite chicken waterer is from http://avianaquamiser.com/ . I can only use it during the summer in MN, but it really works well. They have a picture of a chick using it on their web site. It works a little different from the roller ball on the rodent ones, as it flows as long as the bird holds up the ball. That said, I agree with everyone in placing your waterer on a brick. I also put it in a cake pan to reduce the wet from fouling the brooder litter. Those chicks grow fast and do make a mess, it goes with the territory!

For the food I use a standard chick feeder. I put fine grit on one end, a stone in the middle to keep it from tipping and chick feed on the other end. For the first couple of days the chicks are small enough to get through the holes but soon are safe from getting stuck.

 

[whiteflare]

I used bowls. Old bowls, that we used to use for meals but are now chipped or cracked somewhere - there's no way those are going to be knocked over or have anything kicked into them - the rim is so high they have enough trouble just getting their little necks over!
And another thing, I used to put the water bowl in a different part of the brooder, one half for food and bedding with the lamp, and the other half I kept clean so nothing got into the water. They don't usually spend much time over that side, but it keeps stuff out of the water.