Waterer, empties itself in brooder?

[catinthecoop]

Hi everyone, new chicken parents here, with something of a mystery. We have 2 brooders with a total of 5 chicks, around 2-3 weeks old now (another story for another post) over the last 3 days I've had 3 separate incidents of empty waterers. We are using the quart jar gravity fed ones sold at TSC.
(with bonus shot of [COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]Ameraucana[/COLOR] and [COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.870588)]Orpington[/COLOR] chicks begging for mealies)

At first I thought it was the chicks doing it, as they're getting bigger and flapping around etc. Now I'm wondering, if a shaving gets stuck in the little hole, can that make all the water drain out? They are a little tipsy, maybe one edge gets low enough to let it drain out? In either case, I did try to get one brooder with 2 chicks going on a horizontal nipple and it was a very trying failure.

So, do I go get the vertical nipples from TSC? Do I keep trying with the gravity jar ones I have? (getting a bit old cleaning whole brooders again and again, several times a day) If I try with the H-nipples again, any tips? I think they were close to figuring it out, but there was problems with having 2 chicks trying at one time, I can detail that later if necessary.

Here are some more pics of our brooder set up:





The yellow lights were not used as lights but rather as a camera stand, we had some issues early on, so we got our security camera system setup to watch chicks and needed something to temporarily mount the cameras to.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

That tells me the suction is being broken in one way or another. Either its not screwed together tight enough, its tipped, or something is wicking it out. It could be shavings and you can try raising it up on one more piece of board. If there is any tilt, point it so the hole is downhill, not up, so the water level will cover it.

 

[SueT]

Also, since the jars are plastic, they may have a little hole/crack of some kind and air is getting in....take it back for a replacement or find a glass jar that fits it.
We used to have a water cooler at work with the big plastic jug on top, and the boss would refill it with tap water....eventually there was water all over the floor every morning, and it turned out there was a tiny crack in the jug. Replaced it, no more leakage.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

If you fill it and sit it on the counter upright (like a glass of water) that should tell you if there is a crack/hole in it, since it will leak out. Also check the rim of the jar and the base to see if any threads are messed up or there is a chip or crack along there.

 

[catinthecoop]

That tells me the suction is being broken in one way or another. Either its not screwed together tight enough, its tipped, or something is wicking it out. It could be shavings and you can try raising it up on one more piece of board. If there is any tilt, point it so the hole is downhill, not up, so the water level will cover it.

After some experimentation, including checking all the bottles for leaks, I'm thinking there is a slight tilt when the waterer is placed up against the side of the tote, and if the hole is on the up side, it's causing the water to leak out. At least that is my best guess for now. I have moved both waterers to be in the middle of the totes, where they are less tippy. I guess if that doesn't fix it, I will have to do some more investigating.

 

[SueT]

Yes, you are right! The hole has to be on the low side. I forgot about that and yet I have had to deal with it many a time. Now my waterers are outdoors, and I realize I still position the gravity one so that the hole is on the lower side. I also have one of the little Giant bucket ones (pic below), and that has its own set of idiosyncrasies including expansion of water with temperature changes.

 

[aart]

Quote: Yes, hole should be on low side.
Maybe use a brick instead of a piece of wood...might be more stable.
Unless the bottom of the tote is bowed or 'buckling'/moving....the maybe a couple bricks to 'pin' it down.