Wattles in waterer

[hagoesch]

Thank you, @Solanacae. Now that you mention it I recall seeing the heated nipple waterers in a catalog once. The other issue I'd have there is no place to hang it outside, and I will not put any water in the coop. Great option to think about a solution for next season though!

We also have a hen with a scissor beak. Such a sweet girl. I named her Cisi, short for Ciseaux which is French for 'scissors.' Anyway, that's a good point about the difficulty drinking from a nipple style. We use this heated base for our big metal water and it's been a tremendous help. Maybe something that could be of use to you as well?

 

[hagoesch]

You could try raising it up so he does not lean over as far to drink. This way his wattles are closer to his body instead of toward his beak. Make sure your other birds can still reach.

Smart you are, @NanaK! The only problem for us is that the drinker is under the only shelter in the run, which is only about 2" taller than the drinker top when I slide it onto its base. Doh! You are absolutely right though -- might have to enlist my engineering husband to create something else for that spot next year! Thanks.

 

[Solanacae]

Thank you, @Solanacae. Now that you mention it I recall seeing the heated nipple waterers in a catalog once. The other issue I'd have there is no place to hang it outside, and I will not put any water in the coop. Great option to think about a solution for next season though!

We also have a hen with a scissor beak. Such a sweet girl. I named her Cisi, short for Ciseaux which is French for 'scissors.' Anyway, that's a good point about the difficulty drinking from a nipple style. We use this heated base for our big metal water and it's been a tremendous help. Maybe something that could be of use to you as well?

I’ve thought about getting something like that, I just haven’t sprung for it. I’ve got a large plastic 5 gallon one that I use for non-freezing temperatures that Zelda (my hook beak chick) can use easily but it’s a pain to defrost because of the float mechanism. With my current temperatures, I only need to defrost the 5 quart one I’m providing for her in the morning, so it’s not terrible amounts of work for me.

I do keep the nipple waterer by my deck where the big 5 gallon one usually is, that’s the best place for the extension cord. It’s on a milk crate, so not hanging from anything and a good height for the chickens.

The 5 quart one I keep in the coop as it stays a little warmer in there. I’ve been carefully monitoring humidity in the coop, but when I moved here, I built a nice Woods open air style coop and I haven’t had any problems. Obviously your situation and setup will be different.

 

[McChooky]

My Marans rooster does the same thing! It is really cold here I have been using heated water buckets for all of my chickens and whenever he drings his wattles dip down in the water. I really doesn't seem to effect him though so I dont plan to change it unless he gets frostbite or something but for now it has been fine.

My waterer wasn't heated so it would have to make a huge difference sorry.

 

[McChooky]

You could try raising it up so he does not lean over as far to drink. This way his wattles are closer to his body instead of toward his beak. Make sure your other birds can still reach.

Excellent suggestion!

 

[hagoesch]

I’ve thought about getting something like that, I just haven’t sprung for it. I’ve got a large plastic 5 gallon one that I use for non-freezing temperatures that Zelda (my hook beak chick) can use easily but it’s a pain to defrost because of the float mechanism. With my current temperatures, I only need to defrost the 5 quart one I’m providing for her in the morning, so it’s not terrible amounts of work for me.

I do keep the nipple waterer by my deck where the big 5 gallon one usually is, that’s the best place for the extension cord. It’s on a milk crate, so not hanging from anything and a good height for the chickens.

The 5 quart one I keep in the coop as it stays a little warmer in there. I’ve been carefully monitoring humidity in the coop, but when I moved here, I built a nice Woods open air style coop and I haven’t had any problems. Obviously your situation and setup will be different.

Sounds like a great system you have. I forgot that there are standing nipple waterers with the drinking face on the side as opposed to the bottom. Need to look more into that. Warm, healthy wishes to you and your flock!

 

[imacowgirl2]

I was wondering the same thing! I see so many mentions of people using open waterers in the winter, with no mention of frostbite. We have heated nipple waterers in our coops but we just had to bring the Roos into the semi-heated garage in dog crates because of this crazy weather, and our only watering option was open container. I had hoped frostbite wouldn’t be a concern since the garage is 37*, but the Roos were only in there for about 2 hours before one of the leghorns had a completely purple/black wattle. All wattles were fine before they came in, because I specifically checked and was happy to note we only had a bit of frostbite on combs.

 

[hagoesch]

I was wondering the same thing! I see so many mentions of people using open waterers in the winter, with no mention of frostbite. We have heated nipple waterers in our coops but we just had to bring the Roos into the semi-heated garage in dog crates because of this crazy weather, and our only watering option was open container. I had hoped frostbite wouldn’t be a concern since the garage is 37*, but the Roos were only in there for about 2 hours before one of the leghorns had a completely purple/black wattle. All wattles were fine before they came in, because I specifically checked and was happy to note we only had a bit of frostbite on combs.

Oh no! I'm sorry that happened to your poor chaps. The wicked storm came into our part of Wisconsin today and will persist with these 40-50+ mph wind gusts and -40 to -50 F windchills through until Sunday it looks like. That being the case, I made the call to not let the flock out of the coop at all today, probably the same tomorrow. I never have water inside to ensure humidity is lower in there, but obviously had to break my rule for the extenuating circumstances. We have sixteen chickens in a 6 ft x 16 ft coop, so the risk of them knocking over a pan (or walking through it, pooping in it) is high... not to mention it barely stayed at 5 F in there today.

My brainwave this morning that actually ended up working quite well was this: flattened cardboard on the ground, wide rubber feed pan on top (walls about 4" high x maybe 15-18" diameter), then a 5-gal bucket from the farm store with a bunch of wood scraps and a paver inside to keep them knocking it over and then the lid on that. There ended up being about 1-2" of gap between the wall of the feed pan and the bucket, into which I poured warm/hot water. They all could just fit their beaks in to drink. The two roos from the looks of it had some dipping but nothing extreme and they are doing fine thus far. I did have to periodically come out and top of with hot water because it had frozen over but seems a success, at least in this instance. Maybe something like that might help you?