How to keep the water fresh

I really got so fed-up with the birds pooping in the water that I decided it was time to look around for an alternative to the open 'D' drinkers or water fountains. It didn't seem to matter how small the area of open water, they still managed to dirty it.

After investigation of several pet stores I found Bunny and Gerbil drinkers - these were of varying sizes and are fitted to the cages or flights with wires. I bought a dozen of differing sizes to try them out. They are in the form of a plastic bottle with a screw top culminating in a tube in which there is a ball-bearing. The bottle is placed upside-down against the wire causing the ball-bearing to fall to the bottom of the tube preventing all the water from pouring out. The birds soon learned to push on the ball-bearing to get at the water. My birds now have pollution-free water which makes me feel a lot better :-D

These drinkers are sterilized once a week by filling and soaking for about an hour in a weak bleach solution. I rinse them in cold water before filling with drinking water.

This is an email received from New Zealand which adds to the above:

I have just read your new Tip for August, about the drinkers and thought I would let you know about my experiences with them.

I used open drinkers for the first season, then decided there had to be a better way. I used the hamster bottle drinkers all last season, and they worked really well, BUT I found there were a few little things with them that needed some care.

Problem 1

Often as they are drinking, the birds introduce bits of seed husk etc into the aluminium tube, which stick in there. This can have two effects. Usually it just stops the ball bearing from sealing properly when it closes, and the water slowly drips out onto the cage floor. This is merely irritating. Sometimes, however a particularly large husk will actually jam the ball bearing right up in the tube, which blocks the water flow completely. This is more serious, particularly if the birds are feeding young.

Problem 2

Sometimes the air coming in at the tube end will not escape upwards to the top of the bottle, causing an air-lock which prevents any water coming down through the tube. The solutions to these problems are fairly simple. At least once a day I give the plastic bottle section a quick sharp squeeze. This will generally dislodge any bubbles of air that are trapped in the tube. It also helps if you alter the angle that the bottle sits at - the more upright the tube, the less chance of an airlock.

To deal with the first problem; at least every second day I detach the drinker from the cage, unscrew the drinking tube section, and clean out any seed husks or other debris with a cotton bud. If you use water with vitamin/mineral mixes added, this will sometimes form a precipitate/sludge and this is also cleaned out at the same time. If these minor precautions are followed, then the bottle drinkers become much more reliable to use. I certainly would not go back to open containers.

It is amazing how quickly the youngsters learn to operate the bottle when they come out of the nestbox. Hope this will be of some interest to you. We are just starting our breeding season in New Zealand, I have hens on eggs due to hatch in about ten days, so have my fingers crossed for a good start to the season.

Regards,

Wendy Gibbs.

Copyright: Dolores Noonan 1999

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