Messy drinker

[Happy]

For the second evening in a row I've had to take my hair dryer out and melt the icicles hanging off Harley's chest and dry him off before going to roost. This is new and I'm wondering if anyone has insight. My waterer is raised but because I have little game birds as well I put a step up on one side. Harley may be using the step but I haven't seen him do that. Aside from a rubber bib any suggestions?

[Jaye]

Can you take a pic of your setup? I'm having trouble visualizing what might be happening.

[Happy]

Will try to get one tomorrow but it's dark when I leave and dark when I get home. The waterer is on blocks. Raised maybe 6-8 inches off the floor. But there's a block on one side of it for my bantams to hop up on so that they can reach. Harley's wattles seem fine and no frostbite but he dribbles water all down his chest and it freezes. These Cochins are much higher maintenance than my rocks lol.

[Ontario Chick]

I use a small cage bird feeder inside a black rubber water dish (suspended from the side)
it seems to work well for the Wyandotte cockerels. I use heated waters for the rest of the pens, but the Wyandotte long wattles are a problem with those.
The water dish inside the water dish seems to protect the wattles, so I would assume it would also keep the chest dry.
will take a picture when I go out.

[Happy]

Sorry @Ontario Chick I somehow missed those pictures. That looks like an interesting set-up.
Sorry @Jaye I've yet to find an opportunity to get a picture. I've been called in to work both days I was supposed to be off this week. And hubby hurt his back so I've been hauling wood and moving snow.
The odd thing is that Harley hasn't had any ice on him since I posted this. I didn't change anything so I'm not sure what was causing it. Just going to keep an eye on him for the next bit and hopefully it was just an anomaly.

[Happy]

I finally remembered to snap a pic of my wAterer. The step on the right is for my oegbs. They wouldn’t reach otherwise lol. Harley hasn’t had any wet feathers since I originally posted so I’m not going to change anything for now

[KimChick]

That is the same heated water fount that we have, only ours is hanging from a beam and is lower to the ground. Our rooster doesn't have frozen water on his feathers. Hmmm... a conundrum.

[Happy]

If the waterer isn’t raised high enough Harley’s wattles get too wet. The Cochins are big birds. So I make sure that as the bedding gets deeper the waterer goes higher. It is under a board so can’t be hung. Idk what happened water fight in the coop I guess! Maybe one of the girls tried to drown him finally.