How to tell if chickens are drinking enough?

[detz]

At six weeks I moved them out to the coop and there they switched to nipples. I showed them how and have witnessed them all use it at least once so I know they know it's there but I filled the bucket half way (2.5 gallons) last week and over a week it doesn't look like that much has be removed. They look fine but I want to make sure as it's going to be in the 90's this week.

 

[TheRambler]

Whiles birds do drink frequently, they dont actually drink a lot volume wise especially when young. Nipples are very efficient and so have little waste as compared to other waterer types. As long as you witness them all using it they should be fine. 2.5 gallons would last a few weeks easily depending on how many birds you have.

 

[detz]

Ok, I only have four birds too. After reading on here about how people have to refill their water daily and then not having to for over a week scared me a little.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

It's easy to become concerned. With four birds your water lasting longer is understandable, especially since these are fairly young birds. I have 17 in the main coop that range from 7- 14 months and I have a 3 gallon water station that I refill every 3-4 days - I do it daily during hot weather. It isn't always in need of filling, but I like to freshen the water at least that often. As noted above, your use of nipples removes some of the issues such as water waste and/or contamination of the water from the birds getting stuff into the water supply.
To help calm your concerns, this is information offered by the extension service:
Quote: http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G8350

As you can see, I am in violation of their guideline by not refilling and cleaning the water station daily, but that is because I find it unnecessary to do so. I do check the water station daily and, if/when needed, it gets pulled for cleaning even if it's not a regular fill day. Sometimes the girls get a little over-active in the scratch and fling department and manage to get some extra crud in the drink tray (I use a double wall fountain style - this isn't an issue for you as you use nipples)

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Also - if the birds have access to the outdoors and you have recently had any rainfall they may be drinking elsewhere. No matter how nice and clean we keep the water we supply them, the lure of a nice, dirty mud puddle is just too much to resist. Nothing more irritating than to go to all the trouble of scrubbing, filling and hanging a nice fresh water station only to see them go out of their way to get to what little bit of puddle they can find to get their drink (my horses do the same thing-actually standing right next to the nice, clean trough and drinking out of the puddles created as I washed and filled it

- more natural for them)

 

[BuffOrps416]

I know it's been a while since the last post on this forum, but I have the same concern. I NEVER see my girls drinking water… not even today, and it's abut 87 degrees out. Their run is all dirt, but I always give them fruits and vegetables and let them free range a few hours a day. Do you think they just get all their water from their food?

 

[pdirt]

I know it's been a while since the last post on this forum, but I have the same concern. I NEVER see my girls drinking water… not even today, and it's abut 87 degrees out. Their run is all dirt, but I always give them fruits and vegetables and let them free range a few hours a day. Do you think they just get all their water from their food?

They might be getting a fair amount of their water if you are feeding a lot of fruits and vegetables and no chicken feed. But I assume you're feeding chicken feed as well. Somehow measure the water you're giving them and after a couple days measure what's left. Perhaps they're drinking more than is obvious.

 

[jeffbuckley]

We have 70 chickens, 20 ducks, 13 turkeys and 40+\- pheasant. I Have 8 auto fill cups on a 275 gallon ibc. The pigs have a line running through their pen with nipples. I Have no idea what the birds use but usually I see them drinking from the nasty duck pools. I Wash them daily but like others find it frustrating to see my precious birds drinking nasty pond scum. Especially when clear clean water is available. I will read them the disclaimer on fresh water in the morning and report back.

 

[BuffOrps416]

Thanks for responding, I will try to measure how much water they are drinking and then I'll see if I should really be worried.