Why are people putting things over the chick's waterer?

[Laurajean]

I was looking at pics that someone had posted of their brooder. They had a birthday hat on top of the waterer. Someone else commented that that was a good idea, they were simply using a coffee can.

It's an old post from 2008, so I'm not sure if anyone will see my question there, so I'm posting it as a new topic.

What is the purpose of putting things on the waterer? Forgive my ignorance, still new to this. Is it so they don't sit on it?

 

[CoopCrazy]

It is so they dont try to sit on it and knock it over, or poo on it.. I have one bantam cochin that tries to roost on hers everday and poops all over and in it .. I will have try this...

 

[ChickenToes]

As the chickens get older, they'll fly up and sit on the waterer, and poop all over it. It gets to be a pain in the butt after awhile, cleaning it all the time. When I had chickens I tied a chunk of wood to a long string, and attached the string to the ceiling of the coop. I adjusted the height so the chunk of wood hung just over the waterer. The chickens would try to fly up on the waterer and would hit the chunk of wood instead. It scared them, and effectively solved the poopy waterer problem.

 

[fastpat]

It's to keep them from roosting on top of their feeder or waterer. My waterer has a rounded top, but I've seen them get on the feeder, when I put a roosting branch in the brooder, that seemed to reduce their desire to roost on the feeder. They also roost on the cardboard brooder fence.