Are Plastic Chicken Feeders, & Waterers Food Grade?

[Bawkbok]

It's expensive, but here's one
https://www.amazon.com/Permafarm-12L-3-2Gal-Food-Grade-Bottom-Fill/dp/B0D9PCLZ14

Holy Moly! Wow, that's pricey. Thanks for the link @FrostRanger . Maybe if I'm good, Santa will bring me one for Christmas.

We've also tried to train them to the nipple waterers. After a week of that frustration I gave up. I followed the instructions in videos and put their beaks to it to release water, removed all other options, etc. They never caught on it. It's too hot here not to ensure they have sufficient water so open troughs work better for us.

 

[Toothpick]

Same, although I use cups rather than nipples but they wanted to know if stainless steel waterers existed so i dug one up

Oh yeah, I use the cups too. I recently switched to the cups last year. Much better. I was an early adopter of the nipples but a long time hold out for the cups. Quite a bit of waste with the nips

 

[FrostRanger]

Holy Moly! Wow, that's pricey. Thanks for the link @FrostRanger . Maybe if I'm good, Santa will bring me one for Christmas.

We've also tried to train them to the nipple waterers. After a week of that frustration I gave up. I followed the instructions in videos and put their beaks to it to release water, removed all other options, etc. They never caught on it. It's too hot here not to ensure they have sufficient water so open troughs work better for us.

You might be able to find one cheaper elsewhere, I pretty much just went with the first thing I found

 

[saysfaa]

If you go the route of 5 gallon pails and nipples or cups then you can get food grade plastic 5 gallon pails at Menards. Not at Lowes, Home Depot. They cost about $8 last time I looked - maybe a year ago.

A less expensive (than the link in the previous thread) stainless steel option is kitchen pans from thrift shops. You would need several for a large flock which is good for flock harmony anyway. And you may need to fuss with how to use them; build a holder of some sort, maybe, or fence type thing.

Or ceramic crocks as long as the temps are above freezing. The ceramic may be less reactive than even stainless steel.

 

[Bawkbok]

If you go the route of 5 gallon pails and nipples or cups then you can get food grade plastic 5 gallon pails at Menards. Not at Lowes, Home Depot. They cost about $8 last time I looked - maybe a year ago.

A less expensive (than the link in the previous thread) stainless steel option is kitchen pans from thrift shops. You would need several for a large flock which is good for flock harmony anyway. And you may need to fuss with how to use them; build a holder of some sort, maybe, or fence type thing.

Or ceramic crocks as long as the temps are above freezing. The ceramic may be less reactive than even stainless steel.

What a great suggestion. I never would have thought about ceramic.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Holy Moly! Wow, that's pricey. Thanks for the link @FrostRanger . Maybe if I'm good, Santa will bring me one for Christmas.

We've also tried to train them to the nipple waterers. After a week of that frustration I gave up. I followed the instructions in videos and put their beaks to it to release water, removed all other options, etc. They never caught on it. It's too hot here not to ensure they have sufficient water so open troughs work better for us.

Did you remove all other sources of water? If not, there is the problem. People think chickens are stupid when training, they are stubborn, what has worked will be their choice until they are thirsty or hungry then they will use the newfangled contraption their human placed in their world.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Plastics.... ugh...

First, most plastics require a UV inhibitor to prevent oxidation in sunlight. Ever watch a vampire movie where sunlight hits the vampire and it bursts into flames? That is true, the UV light causes oxidation in a lot of materials, it just takes a whole lot longer than in the movie. Oxidation is the same as fire, oxygen combining with combustible matter resulting in the release of heat.

There are two types of UV inhibitors, organic and inorganic.

The organic sounds safer, right? No, Benzophenone, benzotriazole, and hindered amine light stabilizers (HALs)are the most common. The first is a carcinogen, an irritant, and can cause stomach problems. The second is toxic, especially to aquatic species like fish, and it is a fairly dangerous eye irritant. The third is weird, it doesn't absorb the UV like the first two, it instead inhibits the oxidation by absorbing and recycling the free radicals formed when plastic oxidizes. What is weird is that it constantly recycles itself in the process, i.e., not consumed but the HALs are constantly renewed by the process. But HALs are used in polyurethanes, not the more common PVC.

Next are the inorganic UV stabilizers like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. So much for getting away from high levels of zinc..... titanium dioxide is used as a food additive in the U.S. but banned in the EU over risks to DNA and other health risks. Zinc oxide, zinc that has been exposed to oxygen, is safe for external use, okay for ingestion in small amounts, but can lead to zinc poisoning in very large amounts.


But, there is always a but... the Chinese manufacturers are notorious for cutting corners anywhere possible so they use a lot of lead as a UV stabilizer because it is more effective per gram, meaning cheaper per gram once you factor in the effectiveness. And it makes colors vibrant which is why we used it in paint for hundreds of years.

In toxicity the amount of the dose makes it toxic, not the mere presence of the poison. Are plastic waterers safer than metal? Probably not. If you are putting ACV in the water it is going to leach out the zinc and likely every other toxic chemical in the plastic anyway so just roll the dice if adding additives to the water makes you feel better.

It is hard to beat clean pure water and clean commercial feed.

 

[Bawkbok]

So what watering system do you use? @Al Gerhart

 

[Al Gerhart]

An old galvanized round one. I figured better off with very small known risks instead of totally unknown risks from a plastic product.

 

[Bawkbok]

An old galvanized round one. I figured better off with very small known risks instead of totally unknown risks from a plastic product.

Galvanized rusts does it not? How do you prevent that / clean it?