I have transitioned my hens to drink from the bucket with the red nipples from the gravity fed water jug. It is a lot less work BUT I don't know if my girls are drinking enough water. At night when I close them up in the coup some times they are sitting on the ramp and the door way not wanting to go in. I have given them water in a smaller jug for inside the coup but had stopped it when they started drink from the bucket. Now from their behavior at night are some of the hens not getting enough water during the day.
What should I do?
What should I do?
Last edited:
and Welcome To BYC! I don't like to see thirsty laying hens so I would be inclined to give them water and start over with the teaching them to use the nipples to be sure all the hens know how to drink from the nipples (if they are thirsty at night, tap on them so the birds can see the water drip like you did to start with etc), and double check to be sure they are all working. The hens going after fresh or new water may not mean they are really that thirsty, they will sometimes do that just because the water/ something is new... mine can have water sitting in front of them and if I bring out a new bucket they all want to drink out of that one.
