How Long Can Baby Chicks Go Without Water?

Baby chicks are adorable and a great thing to have as part of a natural science project (I see it in my elementary schools all the time!). 

But they all need to be taken care of, and there’s something special about raising chicks into adulthood and keeping them as productive chickens at your home. 

These little guys are prone to dying if not well-cared for, and one of the main aspects to worry about is their water. 

How much do they need? How long can chicks go without water?

Baby chicks will die if they go more than 12 hours without water, but even 6 hours without water is damaging their health. Provide room-temperature water 24 hours per day to help regulate their body temperature and keep them hydrated. Refilling water systems are the best way to provide constant and freshwater. 

Let’s look into the details on this issue, along with tips and other information you’ll find handy when caring for these little fluffballs. 

Affiliate Disclosure: Links in this article may be affiliate, which means we earn a small commission if you click and buy at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting our little farm! 

When Do Chicks Need Water? How Long After Hatching?

When it comes to baby critters, people feel afraid to start giving them food and water. 

Maybe they’re afraid they’ll choke or something. 

In most cases, animals can eat and drink right off the bat. 

Chicks are the same. 

They need to drink within 72 hours of hatching, or they will die. 

Good breeders and caretakers will offer them water to drink right away. 

Whether they do or don’t drink on their own at that point is up to them.

But at least you’ve done what you need to. 

What’s The Best Way To Give Chicks Water?

The two most common ways chickens get water are through ground waterers or hanging/dripping waterers. 

Either of these works great for chickens, though many prefer the ground or trough systems (including me). 

Hanging waterers use nipples and let the chickens nip at the end to let the water out. 

In my experience, this doesn’t work well for chicks at all. 

Many people use them and say it works just fine, but I know a lot of people who watch their baby chickens struggle with this type. 

Ground watering systems work better, in my opinion. Water is always available, and it’s easy to get. 

The only downside with standing water is that it can sometimes get dirty if they kick woodchips into it or deposit some droppings. 

Just make sure you check the water to make sure it’s clean.  

It doesn’t have to be fancy. We had this double pack of chick waterers out of mason jars before we started making our own. 

Should The Water For Chicken Hatchlings Be Warm Or Cold?

Water temperature with chicks is an issue of some minor debate for some people, but it’s pretty much settled with experienced chicken owners and experts. 

Some places mistakenly suggest cool fresh water. 

Fresh water is good, but cool is something to skip. 

One of the biggest dangers with chicks is how poorly they regulate their body temperature. 

They get too cold quite fast, and then they die. 

It makes sense; there’s not much to their little bodies to regulate. 

Water is as important as a heat lamp in body temperature. 

This is why most experts suggest room temperature water in their waterers. 

Hot water and warm water aren’t needed, but cold water should be avoided. 

How Much Water Do Chicks Need?

As far as I know, there isn’t a lot of information out there on how much water chicks drink or need. 

Adult chickens, oh yeah. That’s been measured like crazy. 

For more info on adults, check out our article on how many waterers you need per chicken. 

I suppose part of the reason we don’t know an exact amount for chicks is that we don’t want to experiment. 

They already have a decent chance of dying. Why risk it?

We can say how much water we should give chicks, and the answer is pretty simple. 

Chicks need water to drink 24 hours per day. They should never be without it. 

This is where watering systems and checking on your chicks as much as possible is critical for helping them survive the first 16 weeks of life. 

Do Chicks Need Water At Night?

Some may question the above statement. After all, chicks sleep at night too. 

Why do they need water?

Especially right after hatching, chicks get dehydrated quickly, and if they do, their instincts will tell them to seek water. 

If there’s no water there, then you add stress they don’t need. 

So do they need it? Maybe not. 

But there’s no harm in providing it, and there is some harm risked if you don’t give water at night. 

Can Chicks Drink Too Much Water?

Chicks won’t drink so much water they get sick. Their instincts will prevent them from drowning by drinking. 

This question may stem from the myth that chickens will drown in the rain by staring up at the water until their bodies fill up with water. 

This myth has no basis in fact with chickens. 

If you want to read more about this myth and chickens and rain in general, click the link to visit our detailed article. 

Why Do Chicks Need Water So Badly?

We know water is a critical part of life, so we don’t usually question when we say an animal needs water to survive. 

But it’s worthwhile to take a bit of a dive into the reasons baby chicks need it so much. 

It may give you some insight into its importance. 

Hydration

This first one is pretty obvious, but it’s critical. 

Chicks need hydration. Like many animals, a chick’s body contains a lot of water. 

Heat lamps help keep the chick warm, but they also dry them out. 

They’ll drink quite a bit of water to keep themselves alive during the early days of life, especially. 

Water also plays an important role in the processing of energy. 

Chicks use a lot of energy as babies in order to move around, grow, and create new feather layers. 

Without water, this energy isn’t there, and they’ll grow more slowly. 

Digestion

Chicks need water to help with digestion. 

In addition to water helping convert nutrients into energy, water actually breaks the food down in the chicken’s digestive tract. 

As with many types of birds, chickens don’t simply swallow food into a stomach where it’s digested as humans do. 

First, the food goes into the crop, where it sits in there and is pre-digested. 

Water (along with some dirt and other debris) is drunk and passes around and through the food in the crop. 

This helps soften the food and break it down before it’s passed further into their digestive system. 

Without water, the food won’t break down well. 

In many cases, it’ll get impacted, and the chick will regurgitate its food. 

Or, if it can’t do that, it may choke and die. 

To read more about chicken digestion and issues that may arise, check out our odd post on if chickens burp. 

Waste

All life needs to excrete waste, and chickens are no different. 

Like many other animals, chicks use water to help get rid of the unneeded food in the form of droppings. 

Without water, the excess stays hard and may make your little bird constipated. 

While chicks aren’t as all-consuming as their adult counterparts, chickens are known for putting almost anything in their mouth and passing it out if it’s something that isn’t actually food. 

In some cases, these objects are difficult to pass and require a lot of help from water. 

Temperature Regulation

As we touched on before, chicks need a lot of help staying warm in the early days. 

This is why so many people use heat lamps. 

Water is also helpful in staying warm. 

Water conducts heat easier than a body, so more water in the body helps warm the rest of it too. 

This is why you often feel extra cold if you drink a bunch of water and then go outside in winter. 

Tips For Watering Chicks

Here are some tried and true tips from myself and other chicken owners around my area. 

Some of these surprised me, and I’ll be sure to add them into my chicks’ setup when I get more! 

Enjoy: 

• Check on the water to make sure it’s clean. 
• Keep fewer chips around the area where the waterer is. 
• Make sure the water is room temperature. 
• Elevate the waterer slightly to prevent chicks from kicking wood chips into it. 
• Provide two water sources (to stop them from fighting over it and to make it, so you fill less often). 
• Don’t put the water directly under the heat lamp if you have one.  

Commonly Asked Questions

How Long Can Baby Chicks Go Without Food?

Chicks can technically survive 3 days without food, though we don’t suggest going more than one day if at all possible. 

Keep a small amount of chick starter feed available at all times to make sure they get enough to eat and grow into big healthy chickens.

We’ve always had success with Manna Pro Chick Starter. Click to check the price on Amazon.

Do Baby Chicks Die Easily?

Baby chicks die easily, but with proper care, you won’t lose many of your broods. 

Lack of water or food isn’t the thing that’ll kill them the most; it’s getting too cold. 

As talked about above, water does play an important role in this, so make sure you offer plenty of room temperature water 24 hours per day. 

A chick mortality rate of 1-5% is expected with proper care. If you lose more than 5%, there’s likely something wrong with what you’re providing or their setup. 

How Long Can Baby Chicks Go Without A Heat Lamp?

For the first four weeks of life, baby chicks need to be kept in a place around 95° degrees Fahrenheit (35° C). This is where a heat lamp comes in. 

If they drop below this temperature for any length of time, they’ll die of cold. 

Some say an hour is too long at the lower temperature, while others say even a half-hour is too long. 

Keep the temperature up as much as possible. 

For chicks older than four weeks and until adulthood around 16-18 weeks, a temperature of 75° degrees Fahrenheit (24°C) is fine. 

With these chicks, you may not even need a heat lamp depending on the temperature of wherever you’re keeping them. 

A lot of us don’t think heat lamps are the best warming option, though. 

They provide a lot of direct heat and will dehydrate the chicks. 

A better option is a warming pad in an already-warm room. 

We’ve tried this K&H Warming Peep Pad with great success.

Is It Bad To Hold Baby Chicks?

Holding baby chicks is safe as soon as they’re dry after hatching. 

Hold their whole body, so they don’t jump out of your hands and get hurt. 

Also, be careful you don’t hold them too long, or they’ll get cold. 

Do Baby Chicks Need A Heat Lamp If They’re Inside?

Baby chicks up until 4 weeks old will need a heat source (often a heat lamp) to keep them at the 95°degrees Fahrenheit mark, so they’ll need the extra heat source. 

If the chicks are older than 4 weeks and your home or interior room is above 75° degrees Fahrenheit, then they don’t need one.