Watering systems are an indispensable element of every professional poultry farm, which in particular farm breeding become a necessary thing. The goal of any farm is optimal production efficiency, which consists of many factors, but the constant access of birds to fresh water is of cardinal importance in this case. To better understand the weight and role of water in breeding, just look at the table below, which presents the daily water requirement of broilers depending on the week of life and temperature in the hen house.

Average temperature in the hen house
24o C 30o C 35o C
Number of weeks Number of litres of water per 1000 birds
1 22,7 l 26,4 l 30,2 l
2 64,2 l 83,2 l 132,3 l
3 105,8 l 151,2 l 264,6 l
4 147,4 l 219,2 l 367 l
5 185,2 l 272,1 l 442,2 l
6 211,6 l 321,3 l 499 l
7 249,4 l 355,3 l 544,3 l
8 264,6 l 370,4 l 567 l

As you can see, the amount of water needed to drink birds increases not only with age, but also with the level of temperature, which is why manual control of the water level in drinkers has no chance of success here - the only way out is to use an automatic watering system. Broilers consume a large amount of water. It is estimated that a chicken with an average weight of 2300 g, during its life drinks 7 liters (8.16 kg) of water and eats only 4.5 kg of feed. Recent studies indicate that a 10-day-old bird drinks about 55 ml in 24 hours. Every breeder should have such knowledge, because it is necessary when dispensing medicines for animals, and the right dose is required.

Although its construction requires many elements and quite a lot of work, the automatic watering system is associated with many measurable benefits. The first is undoubtedly the constant access of birds to fresh water. A closed watering system increases general hygiene. Water that would stand in a classic drinker for a long time, not only would be susceptible to dirt from the outside, it could badly affect young birds. Another advantage of the automatic watering system is the huge saving of labor and time of the breeder. In situations where breeding - poultry farm counts several thousand or even several hundred thousand pieces, e.g. broiler chickens, constant care for the right amount of water in drinkers would be practically impossible.

Watering system solves this problem completely. The extensive watering system means that the birds in the hen house have easy access to water, which has a big impact on their development and condition. The automatic watering system also facilitates the administration of medicines and vitamins. The medicines are applied to the main tank (or dosed with a dispenser directly into the watering line), from which they go to drinkers together with water, which significantly accelerates the dosage of pharmaceuticals. It is worth noting that thanks to automatic drinkers there is a saving in water consumption. Birds do not spill water, because in the drinker its optimal level is maintained all the time.

On the market you can meet several types of watering systems, which are used depending on the age and species of animals bred. They differ mainly in type, construction of drinkers and sometimes technical solutions. The most popular of them are drope plugs (also called nipple or nipple pills), cup plugs and bell signatures. In general, there is no division of which type of drinkers should be used, for which animals. The choice of drinker must be made individually by the breeder. Individual types of drinkers differ in efficiency, method of operation, construction, or circumference of the bowl or bell. More information about these types of watering systems can be found in the following articles.