Question about water

[CarolAB]

Newbie here. After reading about the importance of having access to water, I am wondering if I should put water in the roost at night for my chickens. Their coop has the roost separate from the run, so at night there is no water in the roost.

 

[chooks4life]

Hello and

Since they don't naturally drink at night time, no, you shouldn't give them water at night. It would run the risk of them getting soaked and possibly developing a chill or respiratory issue if they blunder into the container. Chooks tend to do some random shifting about at night every now and then, but drinking, no. Most chooks are fairly night blind and won't eat or drink at night even if artificial lighting is introduced, (though some will).

I think perhaps you've been hearing some horror stories which have been blown out of proportion or heard of a short-term lack of water being blamed for mysterious deaths?

Sometimes when chooks die suddenly and in multiples, people attribute it to some standard but usually unlikely things like old age (when they're still quite young, I've even heard of the deaths of chooks in their first and second years being blamed on 'old age', lol! 'Old age' is one of the most popular ways people explain away deaths of livestock of many species when they don't know why it happened, and it's not the true diagnosis in most cases I've seen). I knew one farmer who let his ewe die of bloat, deciding it was 'old age' despite her overall health and the obvious symptoms of bloat.

The biggest risk for chooks in terms of dehydration-related deaths are when it's very hot and they don't have water for most of the day, or all day. Generally if it's too hot even having water on hand isn't going to save them if they don't have somewhere cool and slightly damp to rest and maybe dustbathe to keep their temperature down, since dustbathing isn't just done to remove parasites but also to keep cool.

Best wishes.

 

[6of6chicks]

Hi-

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. I'm not disagreeing with chooks4life at all, but I do have water in my coop and wanted to share my reasons why.

I'm in the south and dealing with extreme heat, and I have water in both the coop and run. Even though the run is shaded, the run water evaporates much faster than the coop. I'm still using the waterers from TSC (not nipple waterers), so I think of the coop as my "backup" water source. If the one in the run gets tipped over, goes dry, or gets dirty, then I have another water source in the coop. At the worst part of the day they do like to hang out in the coop and that waterer does get used (so it isn't wasted real estate for me).

I also want water in the coop because I've found that if I keep food and water in there then they are much less stressed in the morning if I'm not out there at dawn to open the door. I'm the only "automatic" door opener and sometimes I'm not so automatic, lol! With food and water in the coop they just mill around peacefully until I get there, but without it they get stressed and start fighting.

I think it's just a personal preference. Most people don't put food & water in the coop, but it works for me.

 

[chooks4life]

Hi-

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. I'm not disagreeing with chooks4life at all, but I do have water in my coop and wanted to share my reasons why.

I'm in the south and dealing with extreme heat, and I have water in both the coop and run. Even though the run is shaded, the run water evaporates much faster than the coop. I'm still using the waterers from TSC (not nipple waterers), so I think of the coop as my "backup" water source. If the one in the run gets tipped over, goes dry, or gets dirty, then I have another water source in the coop. At the worst part of the day they do like to hang out in the coop and that waterer does get used (so it isn't wasted real estate for me).

I also want water in the coop because I've found that if I keep food and water in there then they are much less stressed in the morning if I'm not out there at dawn to open the door. I'm the only "automatic" door opener and sometimes I'm not so automatic, lol! With food and water in the coop they just mill around peacefully until I get there, but without it they get stressed and start fighting.

I think it's just a personal preference. Most people don't put food & water in the coop, but it works for me.

That's a good point, several actually, I was assuming the OP had them able to access water at will once daybreak but that's a pointless assumption to make since I don't know their setup.

I live in a subtropical area and they have water in the coops 24/7, but the phrasing on the original post ('water in the roost at night') made me think they were asking whether to provide water for nocturnal drinks. My mistake.

If you have an automatic door you don't necessarily need water in the roosting coop, but mine don't have either an automatic door or a run --- when I open the door in the morning they go free range and I have water sources outside the coops as well.

Best wishes.

 

[chfite]

I don't keep water in the coop. They don't drink at night. I keep water in the run. If there is a spill, it soaks into the ground and does not leave a mess. They are out at first light, so they can drink all they want.

Chris