Are Plastic Chicken Feeders, & Waterers Food Grade?

[Al Gerhart]

Yes, eventually, the water buckets have a life span. How to clean it, rinse it out with the hose while filling it. The rust is just iron oxide, an essential mineral in a chicken's diet.

Well, it would be, most forms of iron oxide isn't water soluble or bio available. With iron the source matters, with the majority of iron coming into organisms from meat as the heme type iron bound in fish, chicken, red meat is very bio available while nonheme type iron coming from vegetables or grain has a very low absorption rate. 10% to 2% versus up to 30% from organ meat.

So the reason that sludge builds up in rusty water buckets is because the iron oxides, red, black, or yellow, are all non soluble in water. If the chickens or ducks ingested the oxides it would pass through harmlessly.

Your chickens are more likely to suffer from iron deficiency than being "poisoned".

Remember, the dose is the poison. Tiny amounts do no harm and might well do some good. Bio availability is as important as the amount or the element.

 

[Bawkbok]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Always an education here at BYC

 

[gtaus]

Asking cuz my Aunt believes they contain PFAs, & wants to switch to metal.

Also if they contained PFAs, wouldn't that make all poultry unhealthy?(Internally, Meat/Egg/Manure Contamination).

You don't have to guess. Most plastics have a recycle code stamped on them. Here is a picture of those codes...

IIRC, codes #1, 2, 4 and 5 are all considered food safe.

Here is a more detailed article on 7 Plastic Recycling Codes That You Should Know and if they are food safe or not. It will tell you each code along with their uses, recycling factor, and health risks (if any). Your Aunt might be comforted to know that many plastics are considered food safe.

FWIW, I am a big fan of using 5-gallon buckets for feed storage. All the buckets I have gotten from Home Depot, Harbor Freight, and Menards were stamped with Code #2, which is considered food safe. Yes, you can pay more for their designated "Food Grade" 5-gallon buckets, but I personally am OK with regular #2 buckets.

I have heard that a person can sometimes get higher quality "food grade" buckets and lids from a bakery, or restaurants, at low costs. You might look into that possibility, but know the value of a bucket and lid before you buy a used one. Remember, it's just trash to them after use.

I get most of my Code #2 5-gallon buckets for free at Harbor Freight and our local Fleet store when they have bucket sale weekends. Free is better than paying, and like I said, I am OK with using those buckets with Code #2 stamped for food safe usage.

Like many people, I have a hanging 5-gallon PVC bucket feeder in my coop 24/7 to feed the chickens. It works great. I have a metal water fount with a metal heater base because I live in northern Minnesota and I have to heat the water for about 5-6 months of the year. Plastic waterers do not work as well on the heated bases.

Also, I don't add ACV to my water, so the metal is not affected. I do have some rust in my water fount after 4+ years, but I have read that a small amount of rust will not harm the chickens. Just clean it out as needed.

I think somebody mentioned having a ceramic bowl for water mixed with ACV. That sounds like a good idea. I know our local Thrift Store sells used ceramic bowls for cheap. I bought one for special uses myself, mainly because it was heavy and would not tip over easily. I keep it in the coop for those few times when I have some wet, liquid type food stuff to give to the chickens. Like maybe cottage cheese, leftover soups, etc...

 

[Al Gerhart]

Good info, but remember, the resin type/number doesn't tell you what was used for the UV stabilizing component.

I had a friend working in China for a couple of decades, a chemist, he told stories of how he had to constantly test the incoming materials trying to keep toxic heavy metals and lead out out of the countertop materials he was in charge of producing.

These are a people that filter grease and oil out of sewers to resell to restaurants, called gutter oil. They put melamine powder in baby formula to hack the protein tests. They might stamp that #2 logo on the bucket but God knows what is in the materials.

 

[gtaus]

They might stamp that #2 logo on the bucket but God knows what is in the materials.

Well, if you don't believe that these companies are meeting the standards of their trade, then I would not trust the more expensive "food grade" buckets are safe, either. That's why we need independent organizations ensuring safe materials and practices are followed by companies that are making products for consumption or storage.

Of course, we only hear about those companies that violate the law and dump toxic substances in their products. It makes it bad for everyone when trust is lost.

Assuming that a company is following the law and meeting the standards of their plastic codes as listed, you should be able to count on those items marked as food safe are indeed food safe. But there are many alternatives to plastic for people who do not feel safe using things, such as a #2 5-gallon bucket for chicken feed.

 

[FunClucks]

I use anti-tip stainless steel dog bowls sized for great danes for daily water and food rations. Often multiple dog bowls. I get 5-gal food grade buckets from a sandwich shop that sells their used pickle buckets to raise funds for firefighters. $3/bucket. Takes a while for the pickle smell to go away, but it doesn't bother me or the chickens. I figure I get much more exposure to PFAS any time I eat in a restaurant, fast food, or any time I eat something I don't cook from scratch myself. Packaging of my food probably gives me a lot more PFAS exposure than anything my chickens might pass along in their eggs, meat, or manure.

 

[Bawkbok]

On this happy plastic note, the University of New Mexico Health Sciences researchers have detected microplastics in human brains are at much higher levels than other organs (liver, kidneys, heart, veins). The human brain may contain as much as a tablespoon size of microplastics.

If you want to read more you can go here:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com
https://hscnews.unm.edu

 

[Al Gerhart]

Well, if you don't believe that these companies are meeting the standards of their trade, then I would not trust the more expensive "food grade" buckets are safe, either. That's why we need independent organizations ensuring safe materials and practices are followed by companies that are making products for consumption or storage.

Of course, we only hear about those companies that violate the law and dump toxic substances in their products. It makes it bad for everyone when trust is lost.

Assuming that a company is following the law and meeting the standards of their plastic codes as listed, you should be able to count on those items marked as food safe are indeed food safe. But there are many alternatives to plastic for people who do not feel safe using things, such as a #2 5-gallon bucket for chicken feed.

Those are all valid points.
I would tend to trust the U.S. made products, they got skin in the game and employees that might "rat" them out if they get fired or mistreated and a regulatory system that just salivates at regulating companies with substantial assets.

Imported products just don't get tested unless they screw up with the paperwork or have a history of being a problem. Brokers always warned me to never, ever, under any circumstances inquire about the time frame for releasing one of my containers as it flags you as suspicious and your container will get pulled aside, opened, inspected, and tested if warranted and they WILL find something wrong and fine the bejesus out of you. Plus you pay for all that at $100 a man hour. But 99.9% of imports never get tested upon importation.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that all plastic products are dangerous. I am saying I'd rather have a known risk than an unknown risk