As much as the food is important for your chickens, watering chickens properly is as important as feeding them. Water is the nutrient chickens consume in huge quantities and depending on how much water they drink it is probable they will eat too. These two influence on each other directly, but amount of water your chickens are consuming can influence also to their growth and the size of their eggs. All mentioned, are the reasons why it is more than necessary to point out a few things about water issue and type of drinkers you need to have for your chickens.
Sometimes it is meant that chickens are enough just to give clean water. Well we have to disappoint you. No matter how much they are thirsty, chickens won’t drink in any case warm, dirty water, or the one you added some extra tastes or vitamins. As it needs constant checking and changing, around watering there is just the same amount of work as with feeding or keeping the place where our flock is living.
Nipple drinking systems contain small drinking pipes which are connected to a main container with a higher pressure. Thanks to a difference in a pressure water moves from the main tank to the pipes which have their own filters, and goes out as drops. The prices vary from 50 to 250 dollars depending the length of drinking line and number of nipples. When making decision which one to buy, have in mind that one nipple can drink 10 to 18 broilers, 6 to 12 layers and 5 to 9 breeders, again depending the water flow through the nipples (low or high flow) and the climate and temperature in a place you are raising your flock.
These water systems are good also because of one more thing. As you don’t have to dose the amount of the water to your chickens, they will have exactly the right amount, as they will follow their daily needs and you don’t have to count the number of pint you gave them today. However it will take you some time to train your chickens on this kind of system. So, get started.
