① Production performance: The higher the production level, the greater the water requirement of the chicken. For example, adult chickens drink more water than chicks; among chickens of the same weight, young chickens develop water deficiency faster than adult chickens; laying hens drink more water than non-laying hens.

② Feed structure: Some feeds such as rye, bran and certain minerals such as table salt can cause chicken loose stools, so the water requirement increases. Excessive protein levels in the diet can increase drinking water. Because too much nitrogen in the chicken must be excreted from the kidney, and the chicken has the worst concentration of urine, it is necessary to increase the drainage to excrete more nitrogen, thereby increasing the water requirement. The increase of crude fiber content in the feed and the increase in the amount of feces in the chicken also increase the water requirement.

③ Ambient temperature: Under the production conditions of broiler cages, due to changes in the ambient temperature, the amount of water consumed by the chicken has changed significantly. High temperature (above 30℃) usually increases the amount of drinking water. When the ambient temperature increases by 1°C, the amount of drinking water can increase by about 7%; when the temperature is low (below 10°C or less), the amount of drinking water decreases. When the temperature of laying hens is increased from below 10℃ to above 30℃, the drinking water volume can be doubled. In addition, the temperature of drinking water can more affect the amount of water consumed by chickens. Chickens like to drink cold water instead of drinking water above ambient temperature, and refuse to drink water above 45℃.

④Water quality: When using broiler cages to raise chickens, chickens have strict requirements on water quality. There are fewer impurities in the water, and the pH is between 6.0-8.5. If there are more impurities in the water, especially when the water contains more soluble minerals, it will cause the chicken's palatability to the water to be reduced, thereby reducing the amount of drinking water. In addition, the use of certain drugs in water can also reduce the amount of water consumed by chickens. Therefore, chickens should be given fresh, cool and clean drinking water.