Provide extra water and feed in the heat

July 5, 2022

Hot weather brings with it a number of problems that can impact on game and poultry health. High temperatures and too much heat can see subtle changes in both behaviour and physicality. It is important to recognise these signs and know what to look out for – and how to react.

To provide extra water and feed in the heat of the UK Summer will benefit your birds.

Clean, fresh water is so crucial during normal weather, so during the heat this becomes even more imperative.

“All gamebirds must have access to adequate supplies of clean, fresh drinking water at all times” DEFRA Code of Practice

Water intake

According to the Game Farmers Guide it is that likely consumption per 100 birds, per day, in litres is:

The warmer the weather gets, the more essential extra water and feed becomes.

Provide extra water and feed in the heat

Chickens surrounding a cleanfo nipple drinker. Poultry rearing supplies.

Biomaster Guard for Bec75, Watermaster 2E & 3E Drinkers

It is a good idea to place some extra drinkers around the furthest to reach parts of a pen, so that birds don’t have to search for water. This is when hand filled drinkers such as the Tripod Drinkers come in to their own.

If you are running an automatic water drinker system, the Watermaster 2E Drinkers are the most popular option we stock. Biosecurity is increasingly paramount and can be improved with the Biomaster Guards in place. This Biomaster Guard prevents dust, dirt and faeces from entering the automatic drinking system.

For further information about best practice biosecurity steps take a look at the up to date DEFRA document here.

Feed intake

Hot summer days also reduces feed intake especially during the hottest part of the day. Young birds may only be feeding when it is cool – meaning first thing in the morning and early evening.

Creating or ensuring there is shady areas in a game or poultry pen will help to encourage all day feeding.

For pheasants and partridge a release pen will usually provide a natural shaded environment. As recommended by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust:

Pheasant pens should be comprised of one-third open sunny areas, one-third low escape cover and one-third low roosting. Ideally this should be in a mixed mosaic to spread the birds evenly across the entire pen. Not only will this approach reduce predation, it will also lighten the birds’ impact on the vegetation and reduce disease transmission.

For a poultry pen you can use trees or shrubs to create shaded areas, or tarpaulin can be a good, cost effective option.

Chickens love having a dust-bath in the sun, so make sure they have an area that they can use for this.

Domestic chicken having a dust bath to keep healthy

Top tips:

Make sure you have plenty of drinkers on your shoot, game farm or poultry farm. It will help to keep your birds healthy, hydrated and to stop them from wandering.
Newly released pheasants can easily get lost in a big pen and extra sources of food and water are critically important.
Give your birds supplement electrolytes when the weather is already hot will aid in the prevention of dehydration.
Give your game & poultry birds Gamestay Oregano to relieve stress when they are being moved. It will also boost the immune system.
Holding Blocks with help to prevent boredom, wandering and keep birds interested in feeding.
For chickens and poultry consider adding some ice to the water or supplementary feeding some chilled vegetables/fruits
Add some Smite to any dust baths or housing to keep red mites at bay.