FAQ: Buying a Chicken Drinker

Buying the best chicken drinker for your backyard chicken coop is not as easy as picking out the most attractive waterer from a store or website. Choosing a poorly designed drinker, and soon being out of pocket for a replacement, is not the only problem. The number of drinkers you need, and where they should be placed also vary from flock to flock.

I have been working with clients for over 8 years in order to help them choose the best poultry watering system for their chicken coop. I know that each chicken coop is unique, and that is why I have designed this handy guide, to help you choose the best Chicken Drinker for your flock.

The answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions about choosing a Chicken Drinker are found below. However, I am committed to providing personalised consultation to my customers. If you have a query that is not answered here, please contact me directly. 

 

What do I consider when choosing a Chicken Watering System? 

Choosing the best chicken drinker for your coop should be based on:

  • How many birds you have in your flock

  • How much space your chickens have

  • The amount of shade/shelter available to your chickens

  • The design of your chicken coop

  • Access to a water source such as a tap or hose

  • Where birds like to spend their time, in particular during the hottest part of the day

  • How often you wish to refill your waterer

 

What are Lubing Cups?

Lubing Cups are a German-made water delivery system designed specifically for poultry. They set the industry standard on both commercially and for backyard poultry keepers. Lubing Cups are designed to provide on-demand access to fresh water and do not become contaminated by dirt and feed as easily as traditional waterers.

Additionally, Lubing Cups discourage pest animals, like rodents and wild birds, from using your drinker and brining potential contamination and disease.

Through experimentation, we have found that the one flaw with conventional Lubing Cups is that they usually appear dry. We up-grade all Lubing Cups with our Australian-made Dine a Chook float that allows more water into the cup, ensuring that our drinkers will never run dry and showing your chickens where the water is!

 

How many drinking cups do I need?

Only one chicken can use a drinking cup at a time, which works well as birds are unlikely to be thirsty all at once.

Generally, we recommend a Single Cup Drinker for every 8 birds provided that they have ample room to move around. If your coop is very small or birds do not free range, it is best to use a Twin Cup Drinker (or two Single Cup Drinkers) for every 8 birds.

For flocks of more than 8 birds, we highly recommend two Chicken Drinkers, in order to ensure ample access to water.

 

How many Chicken Drinkers do I need?

The number of Chicken Drinkers that you need will depend on:

  • The number of birds in your flock

  • The amount of water your birds consume

  • The arrangement of your chicken run and climate

Dine a Chook Chicken Drinkers come in one size only, equipped with Single or Twin Lubing Cups to service 8 and 16 chickens, respectively.

As a general guide, a chicken consumers about 500 ml of water per day, so a full 4 Litre Drinker will contain enough water for 2 birds for 4 days, or 8 birds for 1 day. Of course, water consumption will vary according to breed, diet and weather.

In the majority of cases, even when you have a small flock, we recommend a minimum of 2 Dine A Chook Chicken Drinkers. It is better for chickens to have access to water in two locations, in particular where they have a large run or where summers are hot. Having two waterers can be the difference between dehydration and health on hot summer days.

We suggest installing a 4 Litre Chicken Waterer (with one or two Lubing Cups depending on the size of your flock – see above) in two locations in your chicken coop:

  1. Where chickens roost overnight

  2. Wherever chickens spend the hottest part of the day.

 

Do Dine a Chook Chicken Drinkers leak?

Dine a Chook Chicken Drinkers snap together for a leak-free waterer that will keep your chicken coop clean and dry. The no-drip Lubing Cup delivery system is engineered to keep water in the cup and off the floor, even with the thirstiest poultry!

 

Can I use a Dine a Chook Chicken Drinker for other poultry?

Our Chicken Drinkers fitted with Lubing Cups are suitable for chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl and aviary birds.

Ducks, geese and other water fowl can use Dine a Chook Chicken Drinkers. However, they have a tendency to foul the Lubing Cups more quickly and as such a Chicken Drinker fitted with nipples is preferable. Dine a Chook Chicken Drinkers with nipples are available from our Australian website.

 

I don't have time to fill a Chicken Drinker every day. Is there a solution?

At Dine a Chook, we understand how busy backyard chicken keepers are. That is why we offer our top-quality Chicken Drinkers in a variety of sizes. If you don't want to fill your drinker every day or so, we recommend: