Water

Chickens need to have fresh, clean water available to them at all times when they are awake.  This section will go through the best ways to provide this for your birds.

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How Much Water

A laying hen will drink about 0.5L per day in moderate temperatures but can drink well over 1L per day in hot summer months.  

A hen will drink about 25% of her total daily water intake during the 2 hours before sunset.  If you only fill the waterer in the morning, it may be empty by mid-afternoon and not getting enough water can cause chickens to lay fewer eggs.

How To Provide Water

The four main types of waterers that backyard poultry keepers use for their chickens are:

Bucket, Container, or Trough

While these are cheap and easy to set-up, you may run into problems with the water getting dirty or spilled if the sides are too low or birds not being able to reach the water if the sides are too high.

Bell Drinker

These are the most common type for backyard poultry keepers because they are quite cheap and do a reasonable job of controlling spills.

Cup Drinker

These systems have a small cup that is constantly filled with water for the chicken to drink. There are auto-filling cups that refill when the water gets below a certain level and pecking cups with a paddle that chickens peck to release water into the cup.

Nipple Drinker

These systems contain a small nipple that the chickens push to start water flowing without or without a cup underneath to catch any spills. There are horizontal nipples and vertical nipples.

The bell, nipple, and cup drinkers can be set-up as manual, meaning they are attached to containers you have to fill up with water yourself, while others are automatic, meaning that they hook directly into your water supply so there is always going to be water available.  Whether you choose manual or automatic will likely depend on whether there is water access near your coop/run and how many chickens you have.  It may not be worth the investment is automatic waterers if you only have two or three birds.

Nipple drinkers are the cleanest option because there are almost no surfaces to get contaminated so they tend to be lower maintenance.  The horizontal nipples are less likely to freeze in winter and are also easier to maintain so tend to be preferred by owners over the vertical nipples. The cup systems require less training than nipple drinkers, but collect manure, bedding, and dirt which must be cleaned out regularly to prevent growth of bacteria and algae in the standing water.

In research studies where they have looked to see what style of waterer birds prefer, nipple drinkers are slightly preferred over bowls or cups when all are located at the appropriate height. 

For adult chickens, cup waterers should be at the level of their back while nipple waters should be positioned at head height or just slightly above because chickens access it with a pecking motion.

When water is located at ground level, it takes chickens much longer to drink because they have to raise their head to help the water run down their throat.

If you have a flock with mixed-size or mixed-age birds, you may need to have multiple waterers at different heights so that everyone can drink comfortably

It is important to make sure each bird has the ability to access the waterer. If you are using a straight trough, there should be at least 2.5cm of space per bird.  If you are using a circular bell drinker, there should be at least 1 cm of space per bird.  Welfare standards for nipple or cup drinkers is a minimum of 1 for every 9 birds. For backyard birds, 1 for every 2 or 3 birds is better to prevent fighting or competition.

Where to Put Waterers

The best place to keep waterers is outside in the run, ideally in a location where it’s hard for them to get knocked over and they are also protected from getting contaminated with dirt and debris.  Keeping waterers inside the coop can increase the moisture levels, which can lead to problems with bacteria, mould, and ammonia.

How to Maintain Waterers

The ideal temperature for the water ranges from 10°C to 27°C.  In the summer, you can add large ice cubes to the water several times per day.  In winter, you may need to add water heater, heating pads, or look into getting heated bowls. Many of the commercial bell drinkers, cup drinkers, and nipple drinkers have heated options.  Just be careful if you have plastic waterers since these can melt.

It is recommended to clean waterers thoroughly at least once per week and more frequently if they are getting dirty to prevent the build-up of bacteria and debris that could make your chickens sick.  Hot, soapy water works just fine.