Where is the best place to put our hens’ water drinker? We currently have both the feeder and drinker on the floor of the run, but, each morning our girls have moved it and the water is empty. I know fresh, clean water is important, but our girls are being slightly naughty. What shall we do for the best.
Sarah, Paignton
Jeremy Hobson replies: Unless your birds are to be confined to the house for any length of time, it is best to do as you are and keep the water in the run. When you say your chickens ‘move’ their drinkers, I presume you mean that they knock it over with their scratching – which would suggest that it is a light plastic fountain type. Personally, I would only ever use galvanized fountain drinkers as they are more robust and, being heavier, less likely to get knocked over. I would also stand it on a brick so that it doesn’t become filled with scratched grass and other debris. To answer your immediate question though; if it is a small run attached to the hen-house, I would stand the drinker in the corner (that way they are less likely to knock it over) and help secure it by placing two house bricks tight against the fountain ‘bowl’. Are you sure that the size of the current drinker is big enough for the amount of birds you have – they could be tipping it over when it is empty and therefore of little weight.
