Do chickens like water??

[Tala]

Mine like wading. I got an oval 5gal water trough from tsc. Galvanized metal instead of a plastic pool so it will last in the sun. I put a large but flat rock in the bottom so it wouldn't be so deep. You can't keep them out of it once they figure out what to do. I dump and wash the mud out every couple of days, which is another reason I would avoid a pool because they would be harder to clean out. If you drop a penny in the water the copper will greatly help prevent algae which makes cleaning easier.

 

[Cynth]

We live in Maine so only a few days over a 100 here. Mine like cool dirt to bury in. Don't like the water.

 

[eggdd]

have you ever heard: 'mad as a wet hen'?

 

[Judy]

If you're thinking of the same picture I am, of chickens in a pool, you can tell that the one in the front is beginning to sink. They can swim, for a while. Then their feathers get waterlogged and they sink and drown.

I put out a wide, shallow pan of water last summer and they finally learned to stand in it or walk through it, but it took a while. Mine run away from a mister or sprinkler, and really, not much water is going to get through all those feathers. My main defense is shade and breeze. It gets over 100F here (37C.) I brought them frozen bottles of water to stand around but they ignored them, too. Ice in drinking water is probably soothing -- they really don't like to drink very warm water, I don't think. I have dunked the hottest looking ones into a bucket of water on occasion; it definitely alters the panting and wing holding-out that they do when hot.

If it's so hot you start thinking about buying them an A/C, you can make a cool place for them by putting a couple of bottles of frozen water into something like a 5 gallon bucket or large ice chest on its side. If they will go in, it's cool in there for a while. Not very practical if you have lots of chickens, though. I also hose bare dirt under a favorite bush so they can dig in it and it stays a little cooler than the dirt that's out in the sun.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Obviously you haven't seen them in the rain. Unless its pouring they'll be out running around looking like drowned rats. They don't mind being wet. Don't know who coned the phrase, but I don't see any truth in it

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Obviously you haven't seen them in the rain. Unless its pouring they'll be out running around looking like drowned rats. They don't mind being wet. Don't know who coned the phrase, but I don't see any truth in it

 

[eggdd]

Quote:
Obviously you haven't seen them in the rain. Unless its pouring they'll be out running around looking like drowned rats. They don't mind being wet. Don't know who coned the phrase, but I don't see any truth in it

the chickens here don't go in the rain. not once have i seen them even poke their heads out of the coop if it's raining. they prefer to stay inside and fuss.

 

[Jayson_Black]

I have these plastic trays. I think they are meat trays. They are only maybe 4cm deep but extremely wide. maybe 100cm x 60cm or something. Anyway, Chickens will love it if you get something like that. I put their drinking water in gigantic kitty litter trays and while I could easily fit 5 or 6 chickens in one of them, the chickens have never shown any signs they would want to wade or flap around in them. they are just too deep. but they absolutely love the shallow meat trays to wet their feet. Another thing they like is when I water the base of one of my apple trees. it gets a little flooded and some of them actually lay down in it. It's no deeper than about 1cm and they love it a lot.