Take a shallow dish and fill it with pebbles or marbles. Add water. The chicks can put their beaks between the stones to get a drink but if they step in will not get wet. They may mess it up some, but even with a waterer you have to expect to clean it at least twice a day. They will not be able to get wet and chilled and certainly will be safe from drowning.

Most feed stores around here have an attachment for a mason jar to convert it to a small waterer. It could be because it is so late in the hatching season that they are temporarily unavailable.

I use brightly colored marbles in the dish. It helps get their attention and helps draw them to the water so they drink more.

I feel so silly maggie. We saw the red thingys that go on the jars, but wondered where the JAR was at. Had no idea it was for a mason jar. Live and learn. Well I need to go back and get one before they are all gone again. Thanks for the ideas. If I can't get to one I will use the pebble in the dish until I can.

Take a mason jar with you to the feed store, just to make sure it is a good fit. The ones I have are rigid plastic in as sort of mustard colour and they fit the regular sized mason jars. There could also be larger fittings for the large mason jars... not sure about that.

Plastic mayo jars also fit the small waterers.

Good advice by maggie to take the jar along...those plastic or metal trays can be squirrely and it's a drag to get it home and discover you got a bad one! The narrow mouth canning jars fit these really well, as do the old-fashioned glass mayonaise jars.

I was lucky enough years ago to find a waterer with a very tiny trough--I believe it's a waterer for quail chicks. I've never seen one since!

Velvet ~:>