Water Needs Have Increased
Today’s 35-day old bird is more like a 50-day old bird 30 years ago. We’ve already examined several ways this impacts the birds’ needs, and water is no different. Birds need more water because they are developing more quickly. Broilers drink at a ratio of 2 to 1 in relationship to water/feed consumption. Thus, if water is restricted, the birds will not eat the needed feed to properly grow. When the lights first come on, it is an extremely high demand time for water. Monitor house meters during the first 2 hours after the lights come on to assure all houses are getting proper volume.
For pullets and hens, the need for water, spikes right after feeding. Water systems should be able to provide approximately 11 to 12 gallons/1000 birds for the three hours following feeding. However, antiquated systems cannot keep up with this volume and only provide birds with about 5 to 6 gallons/1000 birds. That’s only half of their actual need.
The results of insufficient water are dire:
•Increased possibilities of choking birds.
•Difficulty achieving the proper weight.
•Extended cleanup time of feed intake.
•Excessive slat eggs, because birds stay at the feeder/water longer and don’t go to the nest in time.
•Reduced peak egg productions.
For newer houses or retrofitted water systems, plumbing needs to be able to handle the peak volume during feeding, not just the overall flow throughout the day.