Is anyone else noticing how much their chickens are drinking?

[Kate+chicks]

Mine are drinking more water too and I was surprised by that until Ii read the post about needing to stay hydrated to keep muscles warm. Makes sense. They are also laying pretty well and we get an avaerage of 5/6 perday out of 12 hens. Sometimes we will get as many as 8 but I have never had the girls all lay at the same day.

 

[Mygirls20]

We use a heated dog water bowl cost like 10 bucks and holds 2 gallons

 

[fried green eggs]

You sure those chickens ain't having some "Help" eating their food. Sounds like a heckova increase. My birds have picked up a bit, and they are using more water to wash it down, but it's not that much more.
Jack

I wormed all my birds in December so, thats not it and I know there are no mice or any other critters "helping" them with their food. The feeders only allow them to put their head in for food so they can't scratch or waste any feed really. The 20 #flock blocks I have for each pen haven't been getting smaller. I use these in the winter since they can't get to bugs or grass. They sit under the coop in pans so the birds don't have to be in the snow but they haven't been going out much just choosing to stay in.

Egg production hasn't gone down since the really cold weather hit. I thought it would. I had turned off the light I had on a timer to add daylight hours because, I added a red heat lamp above the roost in each pen so my roosters combs will stay in better shape. Its still cold enough in the coops that I am finding eggs that are cracked because of freezing even when I am collecting 3 times a day.

I think maybe they are eating more to generate body heat ? I know with horses eating hay helps them stay warmer than getting more oats will. Then they need to drink plenty of water to digest it. I think I will put a couple flakes of alfalfa outside under the coops and see if that helps cut down on pellet comsumsion

We have well water that has high iron which all the animals seem to like but, other than the water is now being heated - it's the same as normal.

What kind of heater are you using, this one? http://www.amazon.com/9000-Eliminat...UTF8&colid=UCO298SXG3HV&coliid=I104HMH2XCRQUN


I need a new one as my aquarium heater failed in this bout of 0 degree weather.

Yes I have 3 of the K & H 9000 that I have in 5 gal buckets with nipples and they are all working Great! I did wrap the buckets with the foil/bubble wrap insulation and duct taped to keep it on. The buckets hang high enough that the foil insulation is holding up well. I purchased them on Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/K-H-BIRD-BA...534?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336e34ca5e because it was only $31.88 with free shipping and got them quickly.

I also have a Farm Innovator Heated Rock 75 watt that works great too but it cost a little more. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Farm-Innova...962?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c2cb579b2

I didn't try the tin foil ones as they looked too cheap. I have 2 rubber Kozy Bird Oasis Bird Bath Heaters (95 watts)and they are flat rubber disk and they are Wonderful ! I am using one in 4 gal rubber feed tub outdoors for my turkeys and even on the nights when it was down to - 6 degs it was totally open. It sits on the bottom of the tub and even when they walk over/thru it - it is not hot to the touch. I think this would be great for Ducks too if I had any.

I purchased a couple 250 watt birdbath heaters to have as back-up when the low wattage ones froze but, I really don't need them now.