Drinking Water temperature?

[BabyBantam]

Following Sue's question about shade - Can anyone confirm if there is a min/max temp. drinking water should be provided at?
I refill my 'plastic' container every morning, but although it's in shade at the start of the day, by evening it's in full sun and pretty warm. Someone told me that chooks stop drinking water if it gets too hot and as it's 27 degrees today, a bit worried they are going to overheat.

 

[tygrysek75]

I replace water for them as much as possible and put inside icepack(reusable like the one for portable fridge)and this help to keep the water cool for longer.Warm water do not taste good.if i see thet they had't drink much then i make watery porridge for them with the Icecubes-they love it and eat that so fast and drink all the water from it.Then I know that they well hydrated.

 

[chrismahon]

We have a large quantity (about 50) of ice packs for the chickens drinking water in France BB. May need to get more. It's a complete disaster if they stop drinking because the water is too hot. Ours is always in the shade of the runs anyway.

 

[dinosaw]

Never done anything special with regards to water temperature and never noticed the chickens stop drinking as a result, my thinking is that if they are thirsty they will drink, find it unlikely that they would stop drinking and thus kill themselves because the water was a bit warm. The max temperature I have seen is 33C with a metal drinker in sun for half of the day and no problems with them drinking.

 

[Margaid]

I have read on another forum of freezing small bottles of water and putting the bottle, with cap onin the drinker. Any small plastic bottle (about 500ml) can be used as long as you remember to leave space for the ice to expand. As they're only filled with water there are no health issues if one were to burst in the drinker. Prsumably if the drinker was big enough you could use washed out milk containers or even 2 litre bottles

 

[Chuck]

I have never known chickens to stop drinking water in hot weather or cold.

 

[foxy]

As long as plenty of clean drinking water is available chickens will be fine, there is no need to cool with icebags etc..in the UK that is. I have actually never heard of a chicken dying from problems associated with heat, although an exception would be in a hen that was already unwell then heat stress would likely have an impact on overall health.

Make sure that they have plenty of shade with a dustbath if possible. Dustbaths in the shade is a natural way for chickens to cool down. Diet wise stick just to basic layers and greens, no corn as this may heat the bird through digestion, or treats may contain sodium such as bread etc. Chickens have a slightly reduced appetite on hot days, preferring to eat early in the morning and late at night when the days are cooler and they are more comfortable foraging.

Check ventilation in coop to make sure they are comfortable at night. Double check for redmite, not just using your own eyes but wipe down perches with a tissue for evidence of specks of blood, or use a torch at night to spot those slow moving tiny grey/black pinhead sized red mite.

 

[darkbrowneggs]

Hi Foxy - I like to think I keep my birds sleeping pens free of red mite, and as far as I can see this is the case - but the other day I went up to the barn and on some dusty coops (not in use this year) there were quite a few small grey insects whizzing around in broad daylight.

I sprayed them just in case, but would these be some sort of dust mite rather than bird mite. They weren't particularly close to any birds.


######

On the water thing I think it is because if the water is warm it is not particularly pleasant for the birds to drink (same as for us) and so they drink less water - water is needed to produce eggs - so they produce less eggs.

With the Marans the heat and water temperature will also dilute the quality of the shell colour, which one would imagine would be the reverse, but unfortunately not so.