Dirt in water

3KillerBs · Monday at 8:23 AM

How high off the ground are the cups?

When I have open waterers for chicks who haven't learned to use the nipples yet, I put it up at the level of their backs then put a paver or some such thing down to reduce the amount of dirt and bedding they can get into it.

FunClucks · Monday at 8:30 AM

Horizontal nipples might be a good alternative. Avoid standing water and dirt in it.

ChickensComeHome2Roost · Monday at 10:49 AM

Chickens prefer taking a big drink of water so I use a regular chicken waterer on a block.The cups are great if you can keep them clean. Mine used to fight over the cups when they came out of the coop in the morning. Drip waterers (nipples) are like soaker hoses.They only put out a dribble at a time so they were the least desirable option (for me).

gtaus · Monday at 10:51 AM

raingarden said:
Not to be argumentative, but house fly maggots just need moist chicken poop to develop. Mosquitoes need standing water to hatch.

Sounds like a good reason to use dry deep bedding in the coop. The chicken poo will drop on the bedding, dry up, and automagically disappear into the litter. No moist chicken poop for the fly maggots to develop. I don't use poop boards under the roost, probably another good reason not to use a poop board given your example.

Flushing out the chicken water cup would have the water spilling over onto the ground, where it would be soaked up by the soil, and dry out. No standing water for mosquitoes to hatch.

I just don't see where your concern lies with cleaning out these drinking cups. But I see you live in Hawaii and I live in northern Minnesota, so our experiences may be totally different. I suppose OP living in Utah can figure out what works best for that location. I think we both agree that standing water and/or moist chicken poo sitting around the coop/run is not a good thing.

Dirt in water

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3KillerBs

Enabler

FunClucks

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ChickensComeHome2Roost

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gtaus

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