Hi There, I just been given a food grade large plastic drum which I am going to use PVC pipe into cup waterers for my girls. However, we are coming into the hot summer here and I am worried about any nasties that might grow in it. I plan to use some ACV in it but is there anything else? I will check it and clean it out regularly but just want to see if there is any sage advice that will also help. Thanks guys
Hello, Just a few months ago I did the same thing with my chicken run/coop. I wanted a much easier way of providing water to my chickens without having to visit their pen daily. Using a section of PVC pipe I used "food grade" PVC glue to connect the drum to two waters located on opposite sides of the pen. I then placed the drum on the top of the enclosure and filled with water. Due to the simple fact that everything involved with chickens gets dirty the idea that this would be different was absolutely wrong. After just a week I started to notice buildup of dirt and dust in the water (which might have back-flowed up the PVC into the drum). I then had the difficult job of removing all 55 gallons before cleaning out the interior. Overall, I would strongly suggest you add a port where you can release the water to clean it. I ended up adding this type of port to my drum and ran another ten foot section of PVC from their to the edge of a ditch I made. This way I didn't have to worry about the water back flowing into the run/coop and causing more problems.
That's what I use too. Mine is a dark blue so no light in the barrel helps, if yours is white you may want to paint it a darker color. If you can keep it in the shade this will help with the alge and keep the water a little cooler in the summer. When I had 40 chickens I would fill it up since they went threw the water pretty quick, now that I'm down to about to about 15 I don't fill it all the way so that i turn the water over faster. I have found that not having water in the barrel for longer periods of time without changing over helps and in the summer the water stays a little fresher. If you just have a few chickens and fill the barrel up this will give a lot more time for stuff to grow. But over all light is your biggest enemy.
Thanks so much for your replies, thankfully, the drum is black so light isnt't an issue it's more the warmth. I guess. I will only half fill it at a time so I can replenish with the hose once a week or so, so this should also help preventing the bacteria. A tap is great idea, that way I can fill the watering can and water the veggies as well if need be. Thanks again for the suggestions.