- ✓Set the height and number of drinkers according to age and type of drinker
- ✓Read the litter and consumption to detect badly adjusted watering
- ✓Give a product in the water correctly, when the veterinarian prescribes it
Three types of drinkers, three settings
| Drinker | Number | Height | Points to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fount drinker (brooding) | 1 for 80 to 100 chicks | On the ground for the first 3 days, then raised on a brick | Washed twice a day, filled with water at room temperature |
| Bell drinker (hanging) | 1 for 80 to 100 birds | Rim of the trough at back level | Water level 1 to 2 cm; check the ballast and for leaks |
| Nipple drinkers (nipples) | 1 for 10 to 12 birds | Chicks: at eye level; adults: slightly above the head, neck stretched | Flow rate checked every week; line flushed regularly |
Whatever the system, drinkers are raised every week as the birds grow. A bird should have to lift its head a little to drink: it wets the litter less and wastes less. A bird that bends down to drink splashes.
Reading the litter and consumption
- A ring of wet litter around a drinker: drinker too low, water level too high, or a leak. You adjust it and replace the litter.
- Litter dry everywhere and low water consumption: drinkers too high, too few of them, warm water, or not enough pressure at the end of the line.
- Birds jostling around the drinkers in the hot hours: not enough water points for the stocking density. Add drinkers before the weak ones stop drinking.
- Consumption rising suddenly: a leak, heat, or feed that is too salty. Falling: first sign of disease, or water being refused.
Reminder from level 1: birds drink 1.6 to 2 times what they eat, up to 3 times in great heat. A water meter per poultry house, or simply counting the drinkers filled, is enough to keep track.
Cleanliness: every day, without exception
Drinkers are washed every day with a brush; the slimy deposit inside is a film of bacteria that seeds the whole flock. Nipple lines are flushed regularly (open the end of the line) and cleaned between two flocks with suitable products (level 5). The water tower is emptied and brushed at every sanitary break.
Water must stay cool: reserve in the shade or painted white, pipes buried or covered, water changed in the hot hours. Water above 30 °C is refused, and a bird that does not drink does not eat.
Products in the water: the golden rule
Vitamins, vaccines, prescribed medicines: many things go through the water. The golden rule: only on the veterinarian’s prescription or the supervisor’s advice, at the dose, for the duration, and never two products at the same time without advice.
- Prepare the amount of water the flock will drink in 2 to 4 hours, no more: beyond that, the product breaks down and the water warms up.
- So that they drink quickly, cut off the water one hour beforehand (except in great heat), then give the treated water in clean drinkers.
- No disinfectant (chlorine, bleach) in the water on vaccine days: it kills the vaccine. We come back to this in level 3.
- Record on the record sheet: product, dose, date, duration, and the withdrawal period before sale if it is a medicine.
The neighbour’s “recipes” (antibiotic “as a precaution”, mixtures of products) are expensive and create resistance: a disease that no longer responds to treatment.
For the entrepreneur
- ›A water meter per poultry house costs little and gives the earliest figure of the whole flock.
- ›Forbid any product in the water without a prescription; insist that every treatment is written on the record sheet with its withdrawal period.
- ›Have the drinkers counted against the number of birds: one drinker too many is cheap, one drinker too few costs birds.
For the technician
- ›Daily washing of all drinkers with a brush; lines flushed; level and height checked.
- ›Wet ring = immediate adjustment + litter replaced; consumption recorded every day.
- ›Product in the water: water cut off one hour beforehand, volume for 2 to 4 hours, clean drinkers, record sheet filled in.
The 3 questions to ask your technician this week
- How many drinkers are working for how many birds, and when were they raised?
- Are there any wet rings around the drinkers this morning, and what was done?
- Which products went into the water this week, prescribed by whom, and with what withdrawal period?
Key points
- •Fount drinker: 1 for 80-100 chicks; bell drinker: 1 for 80-100, rim at back level; nipple drinkers: 1 for 10-12, above the head.
- •Drinkers raised every week; a ring of wet litter = too low or a leak.
- •Daily washing with a brush; cool water (below 30 °C); lines flushed.
- •Products in the water: prescription only, dose and duration, water cut off one hour beforehand, volume for 2 to 4 h, never chlorine on a vaccine day.
- •Every treatment is written on the record sheet with its withdrawal period.