Green water in waterer!

[Hedgeland Farms]

Welp, looked into it. If the reviews are to be believed, the 16oz package makes 16 gallons and costs 23.50

At any given time I have at least 2 five gallon poultry waterers, plus a couple big black livestock waters (not full).

So, unfortunately, that means this stuff would last me, at best, a single water refill. There's no way I can justify $23.50 per water when it's free now.

I'm starting to guess that's why livestock owners go with a tiny bit of bleach, it may be the only economical solution.

I have 3 5 gallons and I put 4 capfuls in each bucket and have used it multiple water refills...(it's really supposed to be 7 capfulls...but meh...7/gallon)
Good luck to you and solving your water issue.

Eta I'd choose washing every day vs bleach

 

[affacat]

I have 3 5 gallons and I put 4 capfuls in each bucket and have used it multiple water refills...(it's really supposed to be 7 capfulls...but meh...7/gallon)
Good luck to you and solving your water issue.

Eta I'd choose washing every day vs bleach

It sounds like 30 minutes of sun is long enough for the bleach to basically be completely safe? Not sure.

Here is an old thread on it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bleach-in-chicken-water.701228/

Here's a . edu site promoting it. I've also seen .gov and multiple cattle/livestock health sites. Seems very common.

https://burke.ces.ncsu.edu/2016/05/controlling-algae-in-livestock-water-tanks/

That said I have the same deeply ingrained resistance to actually doing it.

Cleaning every day gets old very fast. I think the issue is if you do a quick clean, you're not really fixing anything since you're leaving a lot of 'starter' algae. And if you do a deep clean every day, all of a sudden filling up waters takes a very long time.

I'll think on it more before totally deciding... Summer is almost over, and the animals have been drinking algae water for a few months to no obvious issues. We've never had it (algae) as bad as this year. We keep our water in 'mostly shade' but are somewhat limited simply by hose length, etc

 

[B_o]

i have a 5gal waterer for my chickens and its its somewhat easy to clean and i get algae constantly. I dont really have another place to put it where it will be out of the sun. Theres shade but not enough for the water to be covered so I use 2 big bottles of water, put them in the freezer, then put one in the waterer and it works pretty well. I just have to make sure I exchange it with the other one when it defrosts. And i wash them before i put them in the freezer.

 

[raingarden]

I hate filling waterers. I hate it so much that they are never ever scrubbed. But, waterers are for the lucky penned birds. The free-range yardbirds have to find their own water. There's plenty of deralic ponds, swamp and mud holes to choose from. Sometimes, their choices disgust me, but to each their own.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

In the big run, We’re making a switch from the 3 gal plactic waterer nightmare to a big stainless steel dog bowl from TSC. Easy to dump and clean, no algae or struggle to fill. Easy to glance in to see if its clean! We had to put it on the ground instead of raised up on cement block like the other one, cuz the flock was a bit confused at first. They like it on the ground just fine. For winter, we’re going to have a heated bowl - we will keep it inside the coop.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

I know some livestock types recommend adding a touch of bleach or other product to the water... Does anyone have any experience with this?

We have effectively the same issue - well water, heavy algae issues.

I am not that brave!! Just call me ‘chicken’!

 

[affacat]

I am not that brave!! Just call me ‘chicken’!

I still haven't either. Our animals don't seem to care too much about water cleanliness so I'm trying to weigh solutions vs actual need

 

[LostHomestead]

Water turning green would be from algae growth as been discussed.

A lot of well water in the USA will have a touch of algae and a small amount of nitrates, nitrites, and a lot of times both. Parts of the USA have a large amount of Co2 in the well water also that will dissipate on it's own over time, but faster as there is water movement where there is air contact.

Darker containers will keep the sun off the water, but a lot of the waters I have seen are translucent so that dose not help.

I put a shot of apple cider vinegar in our chicken water to help with algae growth. I'm not saying this will work, but think it helps.

Yearly well water test should be done and a full water test. I feel it is best to do them at different times of the year as different flows can bring in different contaminates.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

We also have in our well water:
Hardness= 11.7 gpg (calcium & magnesium),
PH=9

Will our very hard water affect the chickens?

 

[raingarden]

We also have in our well water:
Hardness= 11.7 gpg (calcium & magnesium),
PH=9

Will our very hard water affect the chickens?

Wow. How do you keep the pipes from clogging with scale?

If the chickens are OK now then it must be safe. I'd just go along with it.

It may be good for the hens, but bad for the roosters; sort of like laying pellets with the extra calcium added. They say calcium is bad for roosters, but I don't know exactly how that works unless the kidneys can't take it or something like that.

Putting in a water softener for the chickens sounds way too excessive to me. But that's about the most cost-efective way to get rid of the minerals.