Chickens using the water bucket for a bathroom

I cut the top off a barrel, using the bottom for horse and the top for chickens. Every day they use that for a bathroom. I have added a black pan next to it that I put water in as well so they have 2 water's but is it normal for them to poo in one water? Go figure it is the bigger one of the two, and gets really nasty.

Ms J, thats been my problem.. and yep, it is the one smelly nasty thing going on here. I found smaller water bowls.. that they can only drink from.. and not poop into stay fresh and no chicken smell in my pens.

I'm a thinkin of a new design.. I will beat this poop problem!

MissJ more than likely it being a barrel they are sitting on the edge pooping in it i can't put a bowl or anything in with my chickens or they sit on the edge and poop in it.
I use the plastic waters but i put a piece of wire around the top with the side up left with cut ends and they won't sit on the top of it "OUCH"
This way they can still drink from the bottom but can't sit on top and poop in the water.

Those plastic & metal waterers... mine still poop in those. I've tried everything. If it has water & is anywhere near their pen they are determined to poo in it. The two waterers farthest from the house they don't, those stay clean. Its quite aggravating.

I hope when ya'll are emptying those buckets you are pouring it on your flower or vegetable gardens......


Janet

I was thinking of making a tall waterer, kind of like a mineral feeder for goats.
http://www.boergoats.com/clean/articleads.php?art=29

that way they can get their beaks in but not their butts.

LOL did not think about recycleing the water....
In the other pen I have a drawer from an old fridge and they never poop in that, I am looking for another one like that to use in thier pen.

And here I thought this thread was about potty trained chickens and how I could accomplish the same.....

now thats funny!

There is a yahoo house chicken forum.. I bet someone over there has housebroken their chicken.

I read somewhere that someone had a chicken that was trained to use a litter box. Wouldn't that be nice! I guess you can train a chicken as well as any animals. I bet there are trained chickens in movies and such.

I do pour the water on my Lilacs that are planted around the coop for shade. :) they are nearly 10 ft tall! biggest lilac bushes I've ever seen. The bush i got these starts off of was near 30 yrs old & it was only about 5 ft tall at the tallest part. Its amazing what chicken poo does for flowers & bushes. I guess i should have make clear that I'm using the waterers you fill, snap in the bottoms & then flip over.. they have like a 1 inch rim with water for the chickens to drink from. I found one of my welsummer roos siting with his rear end hanging over the part that holds water.. facing in on the watered.. & randomly pooing in it.. so I'm thinking he's my culprit. I tried hanging the feed & water.. they just use them like lil chicken swings & sit on them. Still gets the feed icky so I went back to feeding them outside the coop on teh concrete slab... Don't know what I"ll do this winter but for now its the only way to keep the feed clean. Now to get clean clear water...

o.. i was in an antique store in yesterday & ran into an late 1800's early 1900's chicken coop. I should have taken a pic with my phone, doubt it will sell very quick so i'll take my camera next time. It was a kitchen hutch with a chicken coop under the bottom of the wide shelf part. It seems that in the 1800's & early 1900"s they kept thier chickens in coops in the kitchens, in the house for lack of a better way to keep them safe. Had great lil doors on it that still work even. So they must have had a way to keep the chickens from being smelly. If i had my house i would have bought it. Would work great for broody hens.

frans they will just fly up there and poop in it as well....
Missj check any old appliance place you might be able to get some more of those pans. Too bad you aren't closer as we are getting rid of an old no working frig and I have two going to waste....LOL

with a clicker you can train any animal. My girlfriend trained her horse, another friend her goat is house trained, Nubian. Funniest thing I ever saw, when the goat has to go out she rings the bell at the door my friend goes and lets her out.....

Don't tell me animals aren't smart....

thank is why we love them so.

Janet

That sounds so cool. I'd love to see a photo if you get back there!

I wonder if back then it was kept in the 'summer kitchen' which often was not part of the house where people slept/lived.

How much were they asking for it? It sounds like a fabulous antique.

They warn you not to train parrots to "go" on command--because the poor things are so easy to condition that if their owner isn't there to tell them to go--they won't. With dire consequences.

I think it was like $3800 but i could be very wrong.. i wasn't really looking at the price too much since i have no where to put it. I'd probably put it in a summer porch/sunroom area that has lots of ventilation. It was very heavy wood, very well made, still in very good condition. I should be going back sometime in the next couple months. I'll take my camera. Its about a 300 mile drive up there to it but its got beautiful antiques.

The cat next door will go into the bathroom, get on the toilet & go.. then flushes it. Honest truth! I've seen her do it. I wish i'd known of this practice before.. I'd have trained all my cats to do this.

I wonder if we could build something like that.... Haystack, were are you??

It was a very simple yet beautiful design. You could build one very easily.

Yeah, but part of the cool factor is that it's an old antique. I love the old stuff! A few years ago I bought one of those 'kitchen queens,' also sometimes known as a 'hoosier.' It has the bins that open where you put flour, sugar, etc. I love it! It's so fun to use.

I had a cat that used the toilet--but he didn't flush. At first I accused my 6 year old son...then one night I heard someone using it...opened the door and saw my blue Javanese cat, Ned, perched on the seat.

OMG, I want a cat that does that........LOL
I have heard of it, but never seen it.

We've had a hoosier cabinet since i was.. 8 or 9. Mom has it in the laundry room. Ours has drawers instead of bins & a large ice cabinet section in it.

We 3 cats in the house sometimes more.. no litter boxes would be a blessing, so i would be very happy to find them using the toilet.

Any one come up with any ideas on convincing the chickens that poo in their water is a bad idea? I thought maybe it was bc mine were trying to find a place to roost in the coop but they do it on the outside water bowl too.. & I think its pretty much the one roo.. maybe his brother too.. bc they are the ones I see sitting the wrong way on the water bowl.

I can never catch who does it, but it is always the bucket that is empty, just like today. So I make sure they both are clean and full

We raise our waterers up on concrete blocks so the chickens have to reach up a little to get to the water. No one ever uses it for a bathroom, but the geese do dirty it a bit because they dabble in mud or sand and then drink from it. I rinse out the rim every time I fill it.

I change the water several times a day but it never fails.. an hour later its dirty again. I only found these boys doing this bc i snuck down to check & see how they liked the new roost one afternoon. found them roosting on the waterer, water bowl & the brooder lamp that swings from the ceiling instead of the new roost.

i set mine all up on bricks & concrete blocks.. didn't help. They just jumped up & used the tiny edge as a roost to drink from.

hummm blocks. that would get rid of the bugs that are underneath them... OHHH I hate bugs.

Maybe if you used something else for a few days to get the chickens out of the habit of roosting on the edge, and then raised the waterer up on blocks...? We have never had that problem; weird, huh? My husband didn't think that a full-sized chicken could even do what you're describing!

Our waterer is a seven-gallon plastic model that fills from the top, and I can't imagine our critters perching on the edge of that tray.

Tomorrow I will go out and get pitures, I left my camera at work..(Down loading pix from vacation) But I will take some pictures of how yuckey it gets...

These are only 2 months old. My RIR's never did that before. Once they get bigger they won't.. they'll be too fat.. but that's a long time to wait.

We use laundry soap bottles that have been washed out very well for water dishes for them. BF cuts out a section of the bottle for them, leaves the caps on them and they don't sit on them or poop in them

But Buddy tries to tip them over all the time so the girls have wet ground to scratch in for bugs........Sheesh. We have seen him do it. Then a rock in it to help weight it down comes in handy.

See the yellow jug next to the EE? It works for us, no poop in the water.

I've got a few of those. I'll have to try that. Thanks!

Your welcome. :)

I am not sure that would work, we are pushing 100 degrees and I am not home during the day.... It would take a but load for me to feel comfortable that they have enough water during the day... But now if I could find big Really big ones, I might try it.

We have 8 chickens in one run and and about the same amount in the other run. Both runs get 2 jugs of water, provided Buddy isn't tipping the one jug over. But then we have cooler weather too here.
I don't want it pushing 100 degrees here. :)
BF use to not be home all the time either, and they always had water left. Now he his layed off, so has more time for them.

in one day, they can clean out the one used for a bathroom, and half of the other one....

I've got 2 of those large rubber bowl waterers.. 2 small rubber bowl waterers, 1 extra large rubber bowl waterer & 2 bird baths they drink out of. IF I'm gone & do not fill them but in the morning, when i get home in the late afternoon they are all bone dry. That's why i got in the habit of filling them several times a day. besides.. a break from work to go play with the water hose when its well water & 100+ degrees.. is a welcome distraction at times since we do not have A/C. We have 28 chickens, ages range from 8 months to 1.5 months plus Nutmegs new babies.. but they are in the house still. I do know the buff orpingtons & bantams like to "bathe" in the cold well water.. so they may be tossing water out over the side & not drinking all that.. but either way.. I lose water quickly out of them. (& yes i do sometimes think my chickens are really ducks since they like to play in the water.)

Boy, I'm sure glad we have the cooler days. I don't think I could handle that hot weather all the time.
OK, I have a Question for you?
Do you feed them in the morning, and what do you feed them?
I have a feeling I know why our chickens don't go through as much water. It just dawned on me.

OK, I guess my BF really spoils ours. At night, before he goes to bed, he soaks a pail full of corn and their scratch food in water. So they receive a wet breakfast.
The moisture in the food probably is part of the reason ours don't go though as much water I have a feeling.

Yes, he spoils them :)

i never let any of thier feed get wet bc mom's always worried about mold & it grows super fast here. If i did that it would have to go into the fridge & mom would never allow that i know. everything molds here in the summer. we store everything in the fridge that will fit & the rest of the food is only bought 2 days in advance. they eat a mix of crumble/starter/corn, mostly the first too with about 1/4 of it corn chops. they get a treat of white bread in the late afternoon as I have it. When my mom was little chickens died of moldy feed all the time so she's a bit paranoid about it.

Shucks I don't quite understand the water problem, I have fifty eight week olds, and forty one year old and up, I have never had a problem with them fouling the water. I use two five gal waterers that I hang, one three gal that I hang and four one gal that set in elevated concrete blocks, The one gal waterers even have flat tops and still no fouling???

Maybe they just need a good scolding? LOL... Hay