Chickens not drinking outside.

My barn birds have water in tubs within each pen. Many, if not most will drink immediately after coming off roost, especially when on a straight formulated feed. For balance of day they do not seem to consume water from the tubs. When I watch them closely, they will peck up snow here and there. If I put a pile of dry feed on feeding station, then they will eventually step out to consume snow rather than go back to tub in coop. I try to keep distance between feed and water to reduce contamination of water sources. The pattern may not hold if the resources are close together.
 
I moved my waterer outside of the coop a few weeks ago to heat it. The girls are fine with this and drink outside. But now - the dreaded SNOW ATTACKS! They won’t go outside to drink
I have water in the coop on a heated base. 20181211_090308.jpg . I also have the extension plugged into an outdoor GFCI outlet. 20181218_084427.jpg . If your coop is big enough and well ventilated you should be fine. GC
 
First exposure to snow generally sets them off - chickens hate change, but they adjust and as Centrarchid has mentioned will consume snow as readily as drink water.
What I am seeing is many do not realize the birds will willing consume snow. There may even be an assumption that the practice is unhealthy.

I remember as a kid having to break pond ice to bucket up for cattle and horses and they wanted it bad. When snow was on the ground, water was not as urgent a need.
 
I can agree that they can and do eat snow.
Indeed they do. When mine got their first taste (pun intended) of snow, they were rightly confused. Once I got em kinda OK with walking in shoveled areas, I held out a clump of snow - since it was in my hand, they ate it. Eventually they caught on that it's just a different kind of water. Now if it's on the ground, they prefer that. I guess they don't have to walk as far when they're thirsty, cuz lazy.
 

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