Are you going to need to refill your chicken waterer once a day... or once a week?
You might be wanting to plan ahead for what size waterer you'll need for your new backyard flock. If you're thinking about this already, good for you! You'll be much happier if you've thought everything through and planned everything out, first. To choose the right waterer for you, it can be helpful to have a rough idea about how much your birds will drink.
That said, many things will affect how much your flock will drink: larger birds will drink more. Birds not laying will drink less. In the heat of summer, your birds will drink more, and so on. So, keeping in mind that you'll still need to check their waterer regularly--that is, don't just operate on a schedule--we can give you a rough estimate so you can plan things out.
Do different breeds of chicken drink varying amounts of water?
Yes. Usually, a standard egg-laying chicken drinks half a liter a day. However, those chickens used for meat production drink twice as much. And some even drink over a liter a day. This is because these chickens have a faster metabolism; to keep up with that, they need more water.
Should you restrict a chicken on the amount of water they drink?
No. Never do this if you want your chickens to be healthy. Your chickens should always have access to water and let them drink the amount they want to drink. Water is just as crucial as feeds to your chicken.
Your chickens can last longer with only water than with feeds but no water. So ideally, you should always check if your chickens have access to clean water and enough containers or waterers so each chicken can drink the water its body needs
The Importance Of Water For Chickens
Water is vital to life but what exactly does it do?
The first thing it does is help chickens to regulate their temperature.
This is especially important for chickens as the only way they can lose heat is from their feet, comb, wattles and panting and spreading their wings. By drinking lots of cool water they can help to regulate their temperature and stay hydrated.
Next up is egg laying.
When chickens do not have enough water they will stop laying eggs. Their body cannot function normally if it is dehydrated.
Water also helps chickens with their digestion. Water is used to help break down food into an easily digested form. The nutrients from the food, electrolytes and vitamins are transported through the body by the blood (which has a large water component) and is delivered at the cellular level.
Without water digestion issues such as sour crop can occur.
