I rarely see any of our three hens drinking from their water bowl. They do, obviously, it’s just that they normally aren’t especially obsessive about it.
Not so this morning.
When I locked “the girls” in the coop last night, I noticed that they had knocked over their water bowl, which is out in the pen. Not only that, but the bowl was bone dry, which meant it had been upside down for quite a while. But by then, the hens had already roosted for the night, so that was that. It was too late to rectify the problem.
I didn’t give the matter another thought until I released the girls from the coop this morning. Instead of zeroing in on the feed I had scattered on the ground, as they normally do, they all made a beeline for the bowl of fresh water I had placed in the pen moments earlier.
First, Snow and Nellie dipped their beaks into the water simultaneously, which I’ve never seen before. When Snow finally moved away, Hope took her place. Snow then tried to muscle in between Nellie and Hope, but neither of them budged. Only when Hope had had her fill did she make way for Snow’s return visit.
Chickens don’t lap water, heads down, the way dogs and cats do. Instead, they drop their beaks into the bowl, pull a small amount of water into their mouths, lift their heads to a normal elevation, and swallow. They then repeat the process, over and over again. It’s almost like watching someone bob for apples. Well, not quite, but close enough. Try to visualize a kid repeatedly dunking his face into a barrel and coming up for air while dressed in a chicken costume. Minus the apples, of course.
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