Algea in water

[Phantomsway]

Hey I always have to clean my bottle because algea starts to build up. Is algea dangerous? Because last year I decided not to clean it and let the whole bottle turn green and one of my quails got a fever and died (coincidence?) Anyways here is a pic

 

[Pancholoco]

Hey I always have to clean my bottle because algea starts to build up. Is algea dangerous? Because last year I decided not to clean it and let the whole bottle turn green and one of my quails got a fever and died (coincidence?) Anyways here is a pic

Add ACV

 

[TwoCrows]

Yes, algae can be deadly. It was no coincidence. If you wish to add apple cider vinegar, mix it 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. Try to keep the water fonts out of the sun and they will not grow as much algae.

 

[tcmstalcup]

I'll probably catch some heat for my response but here goes. An old chicken man told me to put a few "glugs" of bleach in my waterers. These are 5 gal waterers. It has not hurt my chickens in any way and keeps everything algae free. I told my son (he's 15) that I do it to get more white meat! just kiddin with him

 

[TwoCrows]

The problem with bleach is that it will destroy the good bacteria in the crop and the rest of the GI tract. The crop needs these good bacteria for good digestion and by destroying them, you are asking for sour crops.

 

[tcmstalcup]

As stated, I have never had problems like sour crop or anything else other than clean water. Unless you have a reverse osmosis system, there is "stuff" in your water anyway that can cause salination in plants and small animals. Water is not pure even when its declared safe for drinking and other human use.

 

[TwoCrows]

Water does go bad eventually of course. But if you change it often, you don't need bleach. I have heard this too about adding bleach, but it will destroy good bacteria in the birds body and the birds may drink less water because of the taste. Water should be changed daily due to back wash from the beaks and other debris that gets tossed in. I wouldn't drink old stale water from a glass that others have drank out of and don't expect my birds to do so either. Granted, their GI tracts can handle more than mine can, but just the same, it is far more sanitary and good for the birds to change and scrub out the water fonts than to add bleach to the water.

 

[SavageChick]

When you hear on the news how piles of fish and other marine life wash up on shore during an algae bloom (like the green slush covering the shorelines in China), I have to wonder what an overgrowth of algae in a water dish can do to birds.

If you have any food-grade hydrogen peroxide on hand (not the stuff in the brown bottle), you can use this (diluted to 3%) to safely clean the water bottles for your birds. I use this to keep our outdoor birdbaths clean. Pour it in and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes while it bubbles and lifts away the algae, swirl it around and rinse (won't even need to scrub.) If you don't have any, you can purchase 35% food-grade hydrogen peroxide at health food stores - (you'll need to dilute it, however, but the bottle should come with directions on how to do this.).

 

[Zrcalo]

"When you hear on the news how piles of fish and other marine life wash up on shore during an algae bloom (like the green slush covering the shorelines in China), I have to wonder what an overgrowth of algae in a water dish can do to birds."

That is actually caused by algae choking out the oxygen in the water with nitrogen waste. Also algae blooms are caused by high temperatures which allows for less oxygen to be absorbed into the water which creates a nasty feedback loop. It's related to deoxygenation. Not any kind of toxin.

 

[chart]

I'll probably catch some heat for my response but here goes. An old chicken man told me to put a few "glugs" of bleach in my waterers. These are 5 gal waterers. It has not hurt my chickens in any way and keeps everything algae free. I told my son (he's 15) that I do it to get more white meat! just kiddin with him

Do you mean you use it to clean the waterers or they actually drink it? I use a couple squirts of a cleaner with bleach, wash and rinse well, and I do add ACV to their water. I've done this with every pet I've ever owned. A couple glugs is quite a bit. Even in food service, there is a Health Department regulation about the ratio of bleach to water that you can use on anything above the floor and believe me they check it. The ratio is surprisingly low. Something like 1 TBLS. bleach to one gallon water. If they are drinking it, I bet it hurts them somewhere down the road.I'm an old lady and I still rely on quite a few old-day-cures, but this a new one on me. Yes, we're getting warm...