Feeding advice for bantams (one broody, one moulting)

[Cinnamon]

One of my big hens has decided that pecking the water from the nipples of the Super Glug is FAR too much like hard work,& has taken to flying up & almost getting inside it to drink

Naturally the others have seen Pansy do this & think its a splendid idea, so I now have all my hens drinking from the top of the Super Glug & making the water nice & muddy in the process

 

I am going to get some chicken wire & mould it around the top so they can't get in any more, but I wondered if anyone else has had this trouble?

[The Dogmother]

I've seen one where someone had given up and just mounted the new glug lower so that the chooks could drink from the top. I don't think that the nipples dispense enough water.

[bronze]

I have a samll lakenvelder who stretches herself up to drink from the top. Shes the only one who can reach though

[Aunty e]

A lot of mine drink from the top, but perch on a branch nearby. Doesn't seem to make it too dirty, so I kind of leave them to it. One of them occasionally perches on the edge, but I think it's ok so far. Might have to change my mind if the water gets yucky.

[Janty]

I have built a perch that I placed in front of the superglugs so tat the hens who like using the nipples can continue to do so but the hens who prefer to have a good gulp of water can perch and dp their heads in as they wish.

 

I only had to lift one hen up and put her on the perch ... the others all followed suit and seem to like the arrangement, especially the two brahmas.

[CatsCube]

You know when I got the glug I wondered what those bits in the bottom were for, I didnt realise they were ment to drink from them, I thought they were ment to drink from the top, so I have mine mounted at floor level

 

Me bit thicky!

[MaggieMcHen]

I've now lowered mine right down as they really don't like the nipples as much as a good guzzle, and in this cold weather it is being emptied more often because of the ice so it isn't getting particularly dirty. The main problem now is that they sometimes look like they're going to fall in as it's so deep

Maggie

[Bondinho]

Has anyone successfully fitted a super glug to an eglu at a height the chickens can actually drink from?

 

I tried it this morning before I had to set off to work, and even the two bantams have to crouch down to get under the glug! Rogue (the bluebelle) can't be bothered to stoop so low and stretches as high as possible to drink from the top.

[xsoggyx]

Shhhhhhhhhhh I bought them one for Xmas for their Eglu. But was this now a bad idea?

[Helly Welly]

I love the Superglug. All my girls use it no problem and have never bothered trying to jump on top. I liked it so much i bought another one, which i need to get OH to put up. We have a walk-in run so it was easy to get it at the right height.

 

I guess it just depends on your circumstances.

[Cinnamon]

I really like it too Helen,but I have swapped back to a normal Glug while its so cold as I can't be doing with all the defrosting of the nipples every morning

 

I will put the SG back up when its a bit milder, & put some chicken wire over the top to stop the lazy mares from taking that shortcut!

 

The Bants have to have the SG all year round & especially when its freezing otherwise the Polands get their feathery hair dos all wet & they get icicles on them

[Snowy]

Mine have used the superglug with no problem, but I have noticed that they still like to drink the 'normal' way if they get the opportunity! Also, no frozen nipples so far - even when the top of the glug has been frozen, the nipples haven't I've found it brilliant so far

[Cinnamon]

Crikey,it must have been a lot colder here than it has with you then.

I have had it frozen solid about a dozen times so far ,& mine are both in pens with covered roofs!

The nipples sort of jam frozen shut,so are a right pain to defrost again.....

[sparkleeeeee]

i have two superglugs and i love them (so do the hens) my old norfolk greys (the ones that were cockerels) used to drink from the top and get it very dirty. now the replacement norfolk greys do it as well. the others are happy to drink from the bottom. having said that i did have a very wet silkie this morning, i did wonder if she fell in the top. i mount it on a metal bar in my homemade run and its at a good height for all my girls. i have had it frozen on the top a few times but the nippes still worked.

i think it is much better than the small glug.

[Los Tres Pollos]

My came with its SG and while the girls used it the amount of water drunk was never anywhere near what, according to everything I'd read, they should be drinking. They also would eagerly drink water from any other source when available, like the hosepipe when I was splattering the poos on the lawn.

 

I've now replaced the SG with a fountain which uses 1.5litre soft drink bottles fixed on the outside. Which makes for easy changing of water, none of that lifting a heavy SG full of water in or out of the run. They did require a slight mod because the tray part is fractionally smaller than the run mesh and tended to tilt backwards slightly. That fixed the girls are driinking a lot more water and keeping it supplied fresh is a lot easier.

 

This is the one I bought http://www.solwayfeeders.com/productsdetail1.asp?STOCK_CODE=6213 £1.99 each. SG now redundant in the garage.

[Egluntyne]

I like the look of that!

 

They can't wash their feet in it!

[The Dogmother]

Our regular glug now tends to get ignored in favour of the bunny bottle. I have a massive 1.5 litre one so it doesn't need refilling too often and has only frozen once.

[CockADoodleDoo]

my girls have yet to realise how to use their super glug i have tried pushing the nipples to show them water comes out but they just peck the niples and dont get anything out so i have put their old glug in aswell!

 

i am starting to think it was a waste of money

hope they pick it up soon!

Any tips on helping them?

 

Thanks

[The Dogmother]

When I was getting mine to drink out of the bunny bottle, I grabbed Sadie, who is the most biddable chook of my lot, and held her head so that her beak touched the nipple and she could see that water came out, I did that a couple of times and she got the hang of it - the others soon followed her example.

[chocchick]

having said that i did have a very wet silkie this morning, i did wonder if she fell in the top.

Bless her

Nothing useful to add except my glug is often full of mud and feathers now so they're somehow getting their feet near it. I'm off to look at that drinker now.

[Helly Welly]

When I was getting mine to drink out of the bunny bottle, I grabbed Sadie, who is the most biddable chook of my lot, and held her head so that her beak touched the nipple and she could see that water came out, I did that a couple of times and she got the hang of it - the others soon followed her example.

 

This is how i taught my girls to use the Superglug too. They'll never use it with the old glugs in the run at the same time. Grab a couple and literally shove them under it. They soon get the idea.

[UkButton]

Has anyone successfully fitted a super glug to an eglu at a height the chickens can actually drink from?

 

.

I have put mine above the front door of the run near the top... now they can only drink from the nipples.

[Cinnamon]

I have now propped a spare set of small roosting bars above the Super Glug,so they can't fly up & land on it

Devious,eh???

[gooner.girl]

Anyone know whether ducks could drink from a super glug thing? - they dirty theres and the chooks drinking water every day (til there is just mud at the bottom ) cos they like to stick their whole heads in - now i know they have to clean their eyes (they have a pond for that) but i worry they aren't all having access to clean drinking water - despite me changing both glugs every day...

 

Anyone any thoughts?

[ubereglu]

Chickens are very good at doing what they're not supposed to. Even when I give them clean water to drink from they go and find a puddle from me washing the path down!

 

BTW when did you get your orange cube Cinnamon?