How long will chicks survive without water?

[Schroeder]

My 4 week old chicks had knocked over their waterer sometime during the day. When I returned home and gave them fresh water you would have thought they had been in the desert all day (it was 60 degrees outside). That caused me to wonder how long without water before serious inujury would set in.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

You have to be dilegent. When they knock the waterer over or get shaving in the thing, they are basically out of water.

I put my small waterers on a flat surface above the shavings, but within reach for the chick. Since they grow very quickly, you can progressively use taller surfaces.

I would not let it go more than 12 hours. They are on a super growth spurt at this point and need every nutriant they can get their little beaks on.

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
I always have 2 waterers out, quite often the'll knock one down.

The safest is to have flat dish filled with water, but it is not easy to keep it clean all the time.

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

Mine have done this twice recently. I felt horrible when I saw how thirsty the were!

My husband should be finishing our coop soon, so I can get them outside to more room and a better stabilization for the water!

 

[BirdBrain]

Get a larger waterer.

 

[felidaet]

My 4 week olds also have knocked theirs over a couple of times the last couple of days. They drank some but not a lot when I refilled it and so I don't think they were without water too long. I am checking it several times a day. They can empty it 2 - 3 times a day. I am using a quart size chick waterer currently. There are 18 chicks in the brooder.

Tomorrow evening I will finish putting hardware cloth over the vents in our new coop and then they will be moving to the coop for good. They visited it a couple times this last weekend and loved it. There is a new 5 gallon waterer waiting for them. Note - I will have a heat lamp in one corner for another 2 - 3 weeks, depending upon outside temperatures.

 

[ZooMummzy]

Mine did that too a few days ago. It was a funny sight to see all the little fluffy bottoms lined up at the waterer, but I felt bad how thirsty they were. It had probably only been a couple hours but I have since made it more stable.

 

[mylilchix]

I have a quart sized waterer in the brooder now. The chicks kept dumping it even with me raising it. I ended up putting it in a aluminum pie plate nailed to a board. They spill water into the plate, but haven't dumped it since.

Sonja