spoonywife
In the Brooder
- Aug 7, 2024
- 10
- 4
- 19
Hi fellow chicken lovers!
I live in a place with typically mild winters and recently we've had temps below freezing. I don't have electricity at my coop/run so their water has been freezing overnight. I've been bringing out hot water every morning for my two girls and it stays liquid until night time when they're already in their coop. Since their water has been freezing, I have not seen them drink from their waterer. They usually walk right over once I've brought the hot water but instead of drinking like normal, they drink from the spilled water on the ground. I've tried showing them that the water is fine by splashing around and tapping on the metal (trying to play mama hen) but they have no interest. Today we had our first snow, a very light dusting, and I watched them peck at snowflakes and drink ground water again. They had no trouble drinking from the waterer up until this point. They were born March 2024 and will be 1 year old in a month or so and are happy, healthy, and cute! I know there's nothing wrong with ground water but c'mon ladies, you've got the good stuff!
If you've dealt with this before, what did you do? Is it something I should even be worried about? Will they figure it out again eventually? Any and all input and advice is welcomed and very much appreciated.
Stay warm, folks!
Photo- the pic makes the waterer and feeder look smaller than they are, they're bigger than Olivia there it's just the angle!
I live in a place with typically mild winters and recently we've had temps below freezing. I don't have electricity at my coop/run so their water has been freezing overnight. I've been bringing out hot water every morning for my two girls and it stays liquid until night time when they're already in their coop. Since their water has been freezing, I have not seen them drink from their waterer. They usually walk right over once I've brought the hot water but instead of drinking like normal, they drink from the spilled water on the ground. I've tried showing them that the water is fine by splashing around and tapping on the metal (trying to play mama hen) but they have no interest. Today we had our first snow, a very light dusting, and I watched them peck at snowflakes and drink ground water again. They had no trouble drinking from the waterer up until this point. They were born March 2024 and will be 1 year old in a month or so and are happy, healthy, and cute! I know there's nothing wrong with ground water but c'mon ladies, you've got the good stuff!
If you've dealt with this before, what did you do? Is it something I should even be worried about? Will they figure it out again eventually? Any and all input and advice is welcomed and very much appreciated.
Stay warm, folks!
Photo- the pic makes the waterer and feeder look smaller than they are, they're bigger than Olivia there it's just the angle!
silly girls!
As my avatar shows you can put a cleaned rubber livestock tub out with fresh water, and chickens will rush to drink out of the puddles formed from you dumping the old water on the ground.
