Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[Teila]

Hey silkiespekins Welcome to BYC and also to this thread; good to meet you. Unfortunately, I am not able to help on this occasion, I have no experience with incubators; only having had hatches with broody hens.

As we were sort of on the subject of water containers earlier; while giving my three the weekly scrub, I was just wondering what others use to clean theirs?

I just use dishwashing detergent, warm-hot water, a good scrub and a good rinse following.

I read on a thread that someone puts theirs through the dishwasher??? Just wondering on the thoughts of doing that.

 

[cwrite]

I put ceramic treat bowls used by the chooks through the dishwasher, but I'm fairly certain that the heat from a dishwasher would degrade the plastic water containers. I scrub mine out with hot water and dishwashing detergent and I'm sure that is fine.

 

[sjturner79]

Hey silkiespekins Welcome to BYC and also to this thread; good to meet you.  Unfortunately, I am not able to help on this occasion, I have no experience with incubators; only having had hatches with broody hens.

As we were sort of on the subject of water containers earlier; while giving my three the weekly scrub, I was just wondering what others use to clean theirs?

I just use dishwashing detergent, warm-hot water, a good scrub and a good rinse following.

I read on a thread that someone puts theirs through the dishwasher???  Just wondering on the thoughts of doing that.

I wash mine with cheap vinegar - mostly because our water is very akaline

 

[Anniebee]

To Teila and cwrite :

I have very large plastic containers that drip down into the green tray of the water bowl thing, for my chickens. .... I change the water every two days, and wash thoroughly once a week, with a scrubbing brush, some mild hand detergent in warm > hot water, and rinse a dozen times ( or more ) after that.

I find that very little of anything gets into the bright green tray bottom, and any bits of dirt, or whatever that DOES get in, is seen very easily - and it settles always on the bottom - so the chickens don't get anywhere near it when drinking. ... If however, I find bits of their food chucked in the green drinking tray, I change the water immediately. That is rare as the food and water are not close together.

I have found ceramic bowls will attract some form of algae, or that brown stuff ( another algae ? ) build up. ... Miss Ruby dog's main water bowl is ceramic, and gets dirty quickly with the brown (algae ?) deposit on the bottom and sides, whereas her plastic water bowl does not.

The vinegar sounds like a good idea - I use vinegar to clean so much around the house - especially my untreated wooden floor boards - which is protected to a degree by the vinegar ( advised by a household expert !! ), and brings up the natural grained floor beautifully, while it lifts all the dirt - I finish the floor off with warm > hot water only, which dries very quickly.

Personally, I would never use the dishwasher for my chicken dishes ( chooks are fed their mash in dog bowls which they cannot tip over ). I hand scrub and clean thoroughly, those dog bowls after each special meal. Two are plastic double bowls, and two are stainless steel.

I have occasionally given them some porridge or whatever, in a normal kitchen bowl - and without fail - one of them will tread on the edge and tip the lot out. ... not that it worries my girls ... they don't mind porridge and dirt mixture !! ...

Cheers ...

 

[chooks01]

My araucana has bitten the bullet only saw 4 blue eggs but better than nothing.

 

[cwrite]

Aniebee - I think I'm going to try a stainless steel large dog bowl next as my plastic one is already near the end of its lifespan. I have a about 5 small ceramic bowls that were my kids and got downgraded to cat bowls. Now the cats share their bowls with the chooks when they get a treat like yoghurt. They then get a wash in the laundry sink and go in the dishwasher - always have. And the pets get to eat out of clean bowls. Plastic pet stuff gets washed in the laundry sink which isn't used for anything else.
The expression on my cats little faces when I walk past them with one of "their" bowls to give the chooks a treat is priceless.

 

[cwrite]

My araucana has bitten the bullet only saw 4 blue eggs but better than nothing.

Sorry for our loss.

 

[Ashburnham]

I wash mine with cheap vinegar - mostly because our water is very akaline

I wash mine in cold water and scrub them with a dunny brush.

xxxx M

 

[Fancychooklady]

I use cement, where possible, keeps the water colder in the summer. Just like Ash, I use plain old water and a cheap , flat sided bottle brush. When they are getting low on water they will drink from the cement horse troughs.

In other pens I have galvanized buckets and those big green plastic saucers for oversized pot plants. The galvanized buckets are probably the only ones that don't get slimy.

 

[ChristieB]

I use these,

Couldn't find a better picture ( the high one was empty and just hooked up there out of the way) I've since moved them in under the roof of the coop as the fussy girls didn't want to stand in the sun. A bit of dirt gets in the red cup but I just wash it out, inside I've never had to clean just a rinse when I fill it, it's still pristine. With now 7 chooks using one waterer it's lasting 2-3 days till dry, in summer would be 1-2 days till dry but I will have 2 back in there by then. My dog just has a plastic bucket lol