Rain barrel waterer

I have been looking for a food grade barrel to make a rain barrel waterer for my chickens. I found some that had soap in them. Would they be safe to use after washing very well with bleach water?

I believe they would be OK. Soap is something you would use anyway for washing things.
I use regular white vinegar to rinse things i have washed.
It helps to remove any left over soap.

I personally am not sure I would use bleach, I don't like how "toxic" it could be. But that is your decision.

If there is a restaurant or cafe in your area you should be able to get a food grade drum or barrel from them or they should know where to get one......Even a bakery may have one.....We have a ton of them here on craislist....I agree with Farmchick and would use white vinegar to clean with and stay away from the bleach as much as possible...You can see how I set up my 15gal rain-collection barrel.

I have a rain barrel right near where I'm building my duck coop (can't fricken wait for my new ducks ). I have been brainstorming over my coop plans and would really like to set up an automatic watering system. I also have a rain barrel that we seldom use (due to its location far away from garden and major planters), and this thread got me thinking... is it okay to use rain water to water my ducks?

I understand that fresh rain water would be fine, but for those of you that use rain barrels you know that natural algae can grow inside. From what Ive been told by my local feed store this algae is okay and doesn't harm anything, but I never asked the question in regards to livestock.

The barrel would be used to feed three ducks, I also have a hose spicket nearby I can connect the water system too should the barrel get low.

I'd like to know what others have done and experienced.

From what I understand and have been told, if you block out as much light to the system as possible it helps considerably-No light, no algae......I have painted mine dark and covered all that I could but then you have to worry about heat......One solution creates other problems....I was told to add apple cider vinegar to the systme to help eliminate the algae so I have added some off and on to my system...I have only had mine set up with water for a month and the chickens have only been using it for a week or so and they love it......I recently took apart my section with the nipples in it to check and it was all clean in there so I think it will work fine as i have it..I have no plans to leave it without paying any attention to it for any long periods of time so it should be fine for my chickens and me....I was told by an old timer that these are birds that will drink out of mud puddles and pot holes and peck at each others poo so dont over think it and that is what I have done, as clean as water as possible all the time...Good luck

Hawgon said:

I was told by an old timer that these are birds that will drink out of mud puddles and pot holes and peck at each others poo so don't over think it and that is what I have done, as clean as water as possible all the time...Good luck

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My sentiments also, but don't want to take anything for granted. I'll look into the apple cider and tips to keep it clean. Its already a black barrel that sits on the north side of the house that gets the least amount of light so I'm one step ahead. Thanks for the input!

I read on here that someone painted there rain barrel....first black, to block out the light ........then White again to help keep it cooler.

I also read that ACV might create problems if your drinker cups/nipples have any metal parts.

Good luck with your rain barrel.

If metal is an issue, you can stay with an all plastic chicken waterer cup.

midwestchickenwrangler said:

I have been looking for a food grade barrel to make a rain barrel waterer for my chickens. I found some that had soap in them. Would they be safe to use after washing very well with bleach water?

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There is a place in Sheridan on Craigslist that sells food grade barrels and totes cheap!!! And there is this place

csaws said:

There is a place in Sheridan on Craigslist that sells food grade barrels and totes cheap!!! And there is this place

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Dang! That is cheap! These sell where I'm at for $70-$125!