Watering management and litter condition

To achieve optimal litter conditions, the following concepts must be fully understood and appreciated.

● Water discharge from the drinker is directly affected by column pressure. The higher the column pressure the more water discharged from the drinker when activated by the birds. Conversely lower column pressure results in less water discharged.

● During the drinking process, birds can only retain in their beaks a certain maximum amount of water. If more water discharges from the drinker than can be retained in the bird’s beak then this oversupply of water ends up in the litter. The greater the oversupply the greater the width and depth of the wet litter under the drinker lines. If very little water discharges from the drinker the birds can easily retain the discharged water in their beaks. With very little or no oversupply of water, litter conditions under the drinker lines are generally dry.

● Litter too damp or wet causes ammonia release, an unhealthy environment, disease, increased undergrades and poor flock performance. Litter totally dry may mean the birds are not able to get the water they need for maximum weight gain.

● The simple goal is to fill the bird’s beak during the drinking process but at the same time keep the amount of oversupply to an absolute minimum.

● The key to achieving this goal is to take Litter Readings. Read the litter conditions or change in litter conditions and make water column pressure settings and adjustments accordingly. Turn the column pressure down when litter conditions start to become wet and up when litter conditions are dusty dry.