Water intake

[Whitepinefarm]

The temps here in Wisconsin are in the negative 20 to 30 degrees. My chickens are in an enclosed coop with good ventilation and no drafts. They are eating well but are consuming very little water. Their water is in a heated dish in a sheltered spot. I would appreciate any thoughts on why this may be. Thanks.

 

[sourland]

Have you checked to make certain the waterer is not shorting out and shocking them ?

 

[wamtazlady]

I have read that chickens do drink less water in the winter than during the summer.

 

[K0k0shka]

Are they eating snow? Mine love eating snow for some reason, even though they always have water available. Maybe they're supplementing their water intake with snow.

 

[Alaskan]

If it is that cold, put the waterer in the coop.

 

[Acre4Me]

All good suggestions above.

during really cold spells I’ll give my flock wet mash (feed + water to a batter consistency), they get water that way. We also find they drink fresh water best- so when we put fresh water into the waterer they are very thirsty then.

once we had a bucket de-icer. It went into the plastic bucket and was meant to just keep the water from freezing (so not warming the water much beyond 40F). But the cage around me the heating element was welded with a rusting material, so the water was rusty...very quickly even after it would get changed. The girls would not drink the rusty water. So we got a bucket heater for livestock (rated for a 5 gallon bucket). WOW-it made the water quite warm and the girls would not drink that either.

I egg production quickly suffers when water consumption is low. So, if there has been a recent reduction in egg production that could be an indicator of not drinking enough water.

Good luck.

 

[K0k0shka]

during really cold spells I’ll give my flock wet mash (feed + water to a batter consistency)

I started doing this in the summer with cold water to help them stay hydrated and cool down. They loved it so much that now the mash is a daily ritual and they look forward to it like it's the best part of their day In the winter, I make it with hot water (a little thicker than batter consistency - more like clumpy, wet sand), so they get a nice warm steamy breakfast. They love it so much that they will ignore their regular feeder until all the mash is gone, then stand around the empty mash feeder and complain loudly, then grumpily go over to the dry feed feeder and eat while continuing to complain loudly. So now I make enough mash to last them for almost the whole day, and they get most of their feed that way. It's like feeding them candy... they love that stuff. Can't blame them though - it smells so good when mixed with hot water, it makes me want to eat it too! Like bread, warm out of the oven. Mmm.

 

[Acre4Me]

I started doing this in the summer with cold water to help them stay hydrated and cool down.

Yes, extremely helpful in the heat. During the summer I take a large feed pan and add the cold water, wait until it’s soaked in and thick, then push ice cubes into the mash so that it will stay cool and continue to add water while the ice cubes melt. It’s put in the shade, of course.

Wet feed is great bc they think it’s a treat.