When the water is at this height, birds drink more and spill less. Chicken Feeder Rainproof Outdoor -Metallic (25 LBS) Rain proof and can hold up to 25 pounds of feed. A well-priced budget feeder that makes grain easy accessible. LITTLE GIANT Little Giant 17 inch Galvanized Hanging Poultry Feeder. The water level should be between a chick’s eye and the top of its back. Can hold 20lbs of feed & can approximately feed 6 chickens for 10 days. Whenever you change to a different waterer, leave the old one in place until all the chicks get used to drinking from the new one.Īs your chicks grow, adjust the waterer to keep the water level at the correct height. A one-gallon waterer may be used until the chicks are about a month old, at which time you’ll need to explore other options, such as a larger capacity waterer, or a Brite Tap nipple system. The time for changing to a larger waterer has long since passed if you find the quart jar overturned and spilled due to the boisterous play of growing chicks.Ī one-gallon waterer not only furnishes more water, but also has a wider base and therefore is less easily knocked over. You’ll know the time has come when you find yourself filling the waterer increasingly more often to make sure your chicks always have water. Within a week or two, the chicks will outgrow the one-quart waterer. A platform also helps keep brooder litter out of the drinking water.

The purpose of this platform is to steady the base to reduce the chance that the waterer will tip and leak. Or you could opt to use a drown-proof game chick waterer base.ĭuring the first days of brooding, place the waterer on a sturdy flat surface, such as a small square of plywood or a large ceramic tile. For smaller birds - such as tiny bantams, guinea keets, quail, and pheasants - you might put marbles or clean gravel in the base for the first few days until the birds grow big enough not to fall into the water. And some chicks may drown.ĭrowning is generally not an issue when chicks have a properly designed waterer, unless they are so tight for brooder space that they can’t spread out to sleep without some chicks being crowded into the water. They’ll be more likely to get wet and chilled. Chicks will walk in it, filling the dish with bedding and droppings that spread disease. Another option is an all-plastic one-quarter waterer that comes with a screw-on base.ĭon’t be tempted to cut corners by furnishing water in an open dish or saucer. During the first few days after they hatch, a one-quart waterer will furnish enough water for up to 25 chicks raised in a brooder.Īn inexpensive watering option is a screw-on plastic base that fits a one-quart narrow mouth jar. Baby chicks must have access to clean, fresh water at all times.

Baby chicken water feeder