Water Strike?

[Cheerio27]

Hi, I have 6 hens, a year old in New England. I just switched from my heated waterer (which has an open trough) to a homemade one which they have to peck to get water. They used it last summer just fine. I put it out last week and refilled it once. 2 days after refilling it I noticed the level hadn't gone down, also their laying abruptly dropped off. When the girls fell all over themselves trying to get a bucket of muddy water my preschooler was carrying around I thought I'd better check to see if it was working. (It's fine.) The moment I touched it all six descended upon it as though they'd forgotten it existed and spent the next 5 minutes guzzling water. ??? They obviously know how to use it. I don't want to buy a new one and it's not practical to use the heated one through summer. Will they figure this out? There were no eggs at all today.

 

[Kiki]

They don't like change.
not getting enough water can cause them to stop laying.
I'm guessing they will get used to the new waterer but they may not.
You'll just have to watch close and see.

 

[aart]

They used it last summer just fine.

Then they'll figure it out...it will just take a bit of time.
Are they nipples or cups or....???
Maybe get the same kind that's heated so you can use it all year around, just unplug once it gets warm again.
That's what I do with my DIY horizontal nippled one.
They get plenty of water from them, tho consumption from the nipples definitely slacks off when there's rain or snow to partake.

 

[Penpal]

Maybe setting up the summer waterer beside the heated one would have helped. Set the new one so the water doesn't need to be pecked. Like brace it open with a quarter or something.