I
love the ingenuity of Julie’s adjustable chick waterer, seen
above and described below:



I
introduced my Light Brahma chicks to the water nipple drinking
system in their brooder box when they were 3 weeks old.  My
husband devised the pegboard system to raise the pipe up as they
grew.  He used a zip tie to hold the peg bracket on the
pipe. 

The chicks are now 6 weeks old and have moved into the newly
constructed Chicken
Tractor and they are choosing the nipple waterer over the
traditional waterer.  I am weaning them off the waterers and
installing the PVC system into the run but won’t get it done in time to
meet the photo contest deadline.  Next year!



In addition to enjoying
the great solution for watering growing chicks, I like seeing that
Julie’s chickens have plenty of greenery in their tractor.  I
often see folks make tractors too heavy to move easily, with the result
that the chicken tractor quickly becomes a bare earth chicken
run.  Great job, Julie!

I discovered this
antique poster a couple of weekends ago at Green Cove Station along the
Virginia
Creeper Trail. 
Other old timey ads for Walko Tablets say “A valuable drinking water
antiseptic for all poultry to aid in preventing spread of disease
through contaminated water.”  The active ingredient is potassium
permanganate, which is meant to prevent coccidiosis. 



I enjoy looking at old
posters, but I wouldn’t have used Walko tablets.  Clearly, the
best cure for coccidiosis is prevention, and our homemade chicken
waterer lets new
chicks drink clean water that can never be fouled.