Dying of thirst

[Clucking Caper]

Hey friends

So every morning I give the ladies fresh water. They have two water bowls. One with 4 nipple thingies (still half full) and one with an open bottom the regular kind lol still half full. When I filled with fresh water they were at the regular one gathered and drinking as if they were dying of thirst and gathered around the office water cooler.

They have no water in their coop only in the run. So from 9ish pm to 6 ish am they are without water It was not a hot night but rather cool.

What would cause this?

 

[FrostRanger]

Totally normal. They're just thirsty after waking up, same as you would be. I'd just add another waterer or 2 just to ease the crowding a bit

 

[igorsMistress]

All my animals do this, even my dogs. Fresh is best.

 

[swamphiker]

They're fine. Chickens will always prefer the "easy" free waterer over using the nipples if they have the choice.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Have you ever woken up in the morning and a fresh glass of cool water sounded better than anything? I don’t blame them they go 9 hours without water every night so they are going to be thirsty when they get access to water in the morning.

 

[Clucking Caper]

Totally normal. They're just thirsty after waking up, same as you would be. I'd just add another waterer or 2 just to ease the crowding a bit

Thank you.
They do have two water stations and use them both equally but you’d swear I put champagne in this one the way they flocked to it and not the other one. lol.

 

[SourRoses]

I'll add that chickens seem to love to drink water socially. From chick age to old hens they act the same. Each dips their beak and swallows with relish, then watches the others drinking before taking another turn. Honestly, I've watched mine have drinking parties at all hours of the day and wondered why they look so thrilled about it. It's not chocolate milk! But I'm also not going to tell them there are yummier options than water

 

[Kenya Mwangi]

What would cause this?

Hello Commercial feed is very dry and relatively salty because it is so dry. It is the reason they write on the bag make sure the chicken has water at all times.

One thing to note is that chickens that don't eat dry commercial feed don't swarm the drinkers in the morning like they just walked the entire Sahara.

 

[LaFleche]

Hey friends

So every morning I give the ladies fresh water. They have two water bowls. One with 4 nipple thingies (still half full) and one with an open bottom the regular kind lol still half full. When I filled with fresh water they were at the regular one gathered and drinking as if they were dying of thirst and gathered around the office water cooler.

They have no water in their coop only in the run. So from 9ish pm to 6 ish am they are without water It was not a hot night but rather cool.

What would cause this?

If they stuff themselves in the evening with dry pellets/crumbles or similar they will get very thirsty overnight just like a dog would that is fed dry kibble without access to water afterwards.

I don't feed pellets or crumbles or kibble and my birds and dogs do not act like that in the morning although they too love their water fresh and cool.

 

[Clucking Caper]

Thanks for the replies everyone. We do feed them pellets. But we also feed fruits and greens. But now I think it may be the dry pellets and the length of time overnight before they drink in the morning