Chickens poop in their water :(

[big mami]

Hi,
I'm a new backyard chicken keeper and my two hens seem happy and healthy but I can't keep their automatic waterer clean. They always wind up pooping in their water before the water is halfway gone! (I have it on the floor, raised only a little on a brick) Do I need to change it every time it's dirty, or will they be okay?
Thanks!

 

[canada-goose]

You should raise it to back level. Poopy water is NOT good for them!

 

[LynneP]

I agree, and some folks get very creative about shielding the waterer...a little search on the topic here might give you some entertainment.

 

[granmahen]

We used to have same problem, that or they'd kick stuff into water dish (nasty smelling and bad for hens), so we switched to using soda bottles and large screw-on ball waterers (like giant hamster waterers) which worked better but now we use the pecking system the feed store uses with chicks. We got our design from a picture on the quail thread right here on BYC. As soon as our pics are ready, will post. You just need a 5 gal. bucket with lid, some pvc pipe and what the feed store calls water peckers.

 

[klevesque]

I didn't know it was bad for them! Mine is constantly poopy! I'll get something to raise it up. Maybe on a block of wood?

 

[mandelyn]

For the bowl I used bricks, there's a ledge for them to stand on, to make sure the one baby can reach it. Coincidentally this also keeps bedding from getting scratched into it too. For the larger outside waterer where the baby was roosting on top of it and pooping into it, I stuck a funnel on the top of it to make it "pointy" and it keeps her off it.

 

[captainmoose]

I have my waterer on a cement block, they don't poo in it but they still get wood chips in it.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I will be watching for the pecking system pics thank you!