Southern Chickens

[sourland]

No question that water content in ground feed is less than that in intact grain; however, water content in intact grain is minimal and not high enough to provide metabolic needs. Free ranging birds can compensate for this by picking at frost and ice particles. Birds or animals in confined situations are basically being water deprived.

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
My birds derive more water from metabolizing feeds than they consume as liquid. Water content of feeds and drinking make up difference in terms of total water budget. Most loss with breathing, some with fecal pellets and very little voidance of nitrogenous waste (uric acid). My birds do have access to ice in waterers and often snow. Some times picking at ice obvious, other times not.

 

[sourland]

?

 

[centrarchid]

For every pound of carbohydrate roughly 1/2 pound of water produced.

For every pound of protein consumed, about 4/10 pound of water produced.

For every pound of fat consumed, just over 1 pound of water is produced.


My feeds domnated by carbohydrate and protein with fat repressenting around 10% of total. I push fat levels up when it gets cold owing to higher energy density. For every pound of feed consumed my birds produce as a waste product that must be voided, just over 1/2 pound of water. This is through oxidation like water coming from exhaust of combustion engine. This amount in 20 to 30 times the moisture content of feed at time of consumption, assuming feed is dehydrated or grain based. I have not quantified typical water intake (as fluid) when available to excess but it appears to repressent less than 1/4 by volume of total ingested.

Some of what my birds are fed is hydrated such as vegetable scraps. Vegetable matter often pushing 90% moisture by weight, sometimes higher.

Average daily intake of feed for my birds is about 140 g each so about 70 g or 70 mL water produced. Based on water requirment table for poultry the minimum need for production birds is about 100 mL. Adults not laying are in maintenance mode so requirment likely lower. Some of the 70 mL derived from eating 140 g of feed must be available for meeting the 100 mL requirment. How much?

 

[Jx2inNC]

Half of my pen is uncovered (covered with mesh only -- no tin), so snow, ice, and rain are readily available when whether permits.

 

[Wisher1000]

This morning I took warm water out to the birds. It was about 22 degrees (f) and the waterer was frozen. I took a hammer and chipped up the ice trying to get to some liquid that might be below it. I never found any water, it was frozen solid. As soon as I backed off, several birds left the water I had carried out and began eating the ice chips! As I watched they ate several marble sized pieces. Go figure!

 

[sourland]

Do you have a reference source for your figures on water derived from feed metabolism? I must have missed that part of the organic chem. and nutritional biochemistry courses that I took eons ago. I spent a career working in an animal husbandry field monitored by the FDA and USDA. Water deprivation for 48 hours would have been regarded as animal cruelty.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

In these cold, cold temps that we've been having here in ne TN, hubby has been out 3 times a day knocking ice out of waterers and refilling them. I asked him if he wanted me to order some heated waterers and he said no.

He's also been out dumping huge ice blocks out of our ducks and geese pools and refilling them as well. No one here will go without water. Not even for a few hours. I know how I feel if I'm thirsty.

And the eating snow....just a thought...but I thought they tell humans NOT to eat snow if you're stranded or am I mistaken?

Laurie

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
I spent a career working in an animal husbandry field monitored by the FDA and USDA. As do I now. I spending holidays in lab making certain my charges are fed hourly around clock, even on Christmas and New Years. The only terrestrial guys that come close work in dairy. Wussies.

Following sources are dated but accurate. Same info can be extracted from most biochemistry / nutrition texts.

Link relating metabolic water production to major nutrient classes (CHO, AA, and FA)
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-metabolicwater.html

Link relating to water requirements
Follow link: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309031818
Reference Text: Effect of Environment on Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals


I think requirements they estimate for given ambient temperatures are based on confined birds fed standard ground formulations that are very likely to impose the greatest demand for fluid water intake. Criterion appears to be optimum for production. Most BYC folks during winter have flocks in maintenance mode or at most egg production. Growth seems most demanding in respect to water requirements. They do not even consider conditions many BYC'ers realize during winter. Less than 10 F, humidity all over place and wind. Trend is as temperature decreases, so does water requirments.


When many folks keep poultry in confinement, even with best of conditions birds are stressed. To control feeding cost highly processed feeds are the norm. Processed feeds typically have much lower moisture contents than natural foods. I effort to provide as much of the same feedstuffs in the intact form to reduce stress of handling something that turns to mush in the crop which is not natural. Considerable amounts of water required for making the mush. Imagine all that feed without water in crop. I am willing to bet a great deal less water is required for storage and movement of intact grains from crop. Hydrated vegetable matter for chickens is very much like consuming celery for us, a major water source. That is my omni-present backup water supply when water bowl freezes solid.

When birds operating on a walk without confinement of any kind and no water supplied by me, they make trip to pond or creek only once per day during early morning hours for water. This is consistent even with observations on red jungle fowl under natural conditions.


Problem for long term is provisioning birds with extremely nutrient dense feeds only at all times that requires more frequent water intakes is selecting for animals that either require such an arrangement or less able to tolerate care regimens that are ultimately closer to what is natural. We do the same to ourselves when consuming large amounts of grain based foods instead of raw fruit and vegetables, nuts and meats. Chickens are not naturally as gramnivorous as we force them to be. My free rangers when providing their own board consume much larger amounts of life animal protein that is loaded with about 70% water. That maybe why when in pinch they can go for extended periods without water.