Do chickens need access to water ALL the time?

[vehve]

Go with horizontal nipples on a small container - those aren't as leaky as the vertical ones, and you have less risk of spillage compared to traditional waterers.

 

[dstinett]

What time do  you let them out? Do they return to coop to lay eggs? 

they go to bed at sunset and stay til sunrise. I do not normally close the door because the dog sleeps nearby and nothing except a snake will get past him. I lost several chickens to broken necks trying to get out the closed door to escape snake that had come in. They normally lay in the henhouse.

 

[Steeler43chick]

I understand the whole leaky waterer concern. Does anyone else use the Little Giant Waterer? I was very happy with it for the first several weeks then it started leaking. I wasn't do anything different. I called the company and they said it must have lost suction and the sent me a replacement. Second one did the exact same thing. I am doing the deep pine shaving method so what a messy waste this is causing.

 

[Papas Chickens]

I live in Arizona so a little leak from waters doesnt bother me plus my girls like a bit of water on the ground to help them cool down in the heat of the day.

 

[Steeler43chick]

On the ground, outside the coop is no problem for me either here in Florida. Inside is another matter, as the nasty muck of wet pine shavings, food debris and waste quickly gets rank and full of bugs.

 

[Papas Chickens]

I have a coop that isnt fully enclosed, the run I have for them is though with hardware cloth and chicken wire. I dont use shavings or anything like that it is all sand and clay, there nesting boxes has straw in it to help keep the eggs clean. In the colder months I sometimes will put straw down in there coop and close up a portion of the coop to keep it warmer depending on the weather.

 

[20eas12]

I don't keep food or water in the coop. I let them out at 5:30a and lockup around 8:30p.we let ours free range most of the time. The only time we don't is when a new one starts laying then we keep them in the run till they continually lay in nesting boxes. Right now I have 8 laying and average 6-8 eggs a day.