Abstract CHICKENS cannot survive very long when deprived of water. A ten percent loss of body water through dehydration and excretion results in serious physical disorders (Romanoff and Romanoff, 1949). Dehydration is particularly noticeable in the shanks, and some mortality may result as reported by Marble and Jeffrey (1955). Hoffman and Johnson (1946) reported chicks that have been without water can be readily identified because in their eagerness to drink they wet their plumage and have a bedraggled appearance for some time afterward. Kare and Biely (1948) placed New Hampshire chicks on diets containing .9 to 4.0 percent salt, and deprived them of water four to six hours per day. The water-restricted chicks compensated by drinking more when water was before them which resulted in approximately the same water:feed ratios as the controls with water ad libitum. In a study conducted by Ross (1960) one-week-old New Hampshire chicks were given…