Beak Size always limits water consumption, regardless of environmental conditions.

Beak Size always limits water consumption, regardless of environmental conditions. The amount of water usage (WU) being recorded reflects two things going on in the bird house: water consumption (WC) and water spillage (WS). We noted this to emphasize that discharging more water at each drinker by increasing the water pressure doesn’t mean the birds will drink more, as they can only capture so much water in their beaks with each peck of the trigger pin. Drinkers discharging more water than bird beaks can hold simply results in more spillage. If the spillage reaches the point where the litter gets too wet, it creates an environment that can harm the bird (increased ammonia, pododermatitis, more disease challenges, among other things). The solution is to pay close attention to litter conditions and manage the water pressure in small increments until the litter has a less threatening moisture content (about 25 percent), which means less water is being spilled while the birds drink their fill. However, looking at this process a little closer, we can identify situations where excessive spillage may not always end up wetting the litter. Heat and different litter materials can be factors in keeping litter drier. But it is especially when ventilation fans are working hard in the summertime that any spillage can quickly evaporate, leaving the litter acceptably dry. Beak Size always limits water consumption, regardless of environmental conditions.