Bluing for Algae Reduction

[carrierose]

Has anyone ever heard of using bluing for reducing algae in chicken waterers? I just read in a garden book that bluing will not hurt any living creature & that it is great for reducing algae in bird baths. Don't want to use it on my feathered friends until I am sure it won't harm them in any way.

 

[Acre4Me]

Ive heard of laundry bluing, so is what you are talking about the same or different? What is the bluing ingredient?

 

[Folly's place]

I wouldn't do it.
You can check the MSDS and the fine print on the dye container, and then decide.
Many substances will be found in the egg yolks, and I'd want better information first.
A little algae isn't the end of the world! Having waterers out of the sun, and rinsing or scrubbing them, should be enough.
Mary

 

[GardenTillers44]

Aquashade is intended for ponds and fountains to block out the light that helps cause algae. I don't like to use it with fish or other pond life, even though it states it's safe, and certainly wouldn't recommend it in the chicken waterer. @Folly's place brings up a good point, whatever chemical is in the Aquashade may pass through to the egg, and you probably don't want to eat it. Nutrients and light cause the algae. Keeping the waterer in the shade and changing/cleaning your water more often to reduce the nutrients that build up from the chickens dipping their beaks in the water will help a lot. Your chickens will appreciate it as well!

 

[carrierose]

Ive heard of laundry bluing, so is what you are talking about the same or different? What is the bluing ingredient?

I have never dealt with bluing so I have no idea what the ingredients are. Yes it is laundry bluing.

 

[GardenTillers44]

"Laundry bluing is made of a very fine blue iron powder suspended in water (a colloidal suspension)."

"Aquashade is a water-soluble mixture of blue and yellow dyes, which is used as a nonselective herbicide to control young, bottom-growth of plants and algae in contained lakes and ponds (Applied Biochemists, Inc., 1992a). The principle active ingredient in Aquashade is Acid Blue 9 (n-ethyl-n-[4-[[4-[ethyl[(3-sulfophenyl)methyl]amino]- phenyl](2-sulfophenyl)-methylene)]2,5-cyclohexadien-1-ylidene]-3-sulfobenzenemethanaminium hydroxide inner salt, disodium salt (also prepared as the diammonium salt) (The Merck Index, 1983). The other active ingredient is acid yellow 23 (4,5-dihydro-5-oxo-1-(4-sulfophenyl)-4-[(4-sulfophenyl)azo]-1H-pyrazole-3-arboxylic acid trisodium salt) (The Merck Index,1983). Aquashade filters out the red-orange and blue-violet wavelengths of light from the sunlight spectrum, thus interfering with the photosynthetic process in plants and algae. The half-life for Aquashade in water is about 4 weeks."

In the interest of putting less chemicals into my chickens (and me), I would not use either one.

 

[blackdog043]

If your having issues with algae, I would move the waterer or shade it somehow before putting anything in the water.

 

[lazy gardener]

What blackdog says. Would you put bluing or bleach in your drinking water? I would be concerned about the increased iron content of bluing. When giving vitamins to birds, it's always recommended that the vitamins NOT HAVE ANY IRON. Birds process things differently. Excess iron in the system can be fatal. Do a web search for Hemochromatosis.

It takes very little time to dump a waterer, and scrub it out if algae is growing in it. While algae growing on the side of a waterer may look bad, it is not toxic. I keep a little bottle of liquid Dawn by my coop for hand washing and cleaning chicken stuff. Grab a fist full of hay, grass, or creeping charlie to use as biodegradable scrubbers.

 

[imnukensc]

If you're on a municipal/public water system, you already have bleach (sodium hypochlorite) in your water. Put some copper pennies or small pieces of copper pipe in your waterer to deter algae. It's a natural biocide and will not harm your poultry.

 

[Folly's place]

Pennies minted after 1983 are zinc, coated in a little copper. Too much zinc is very toxic!!!
Just rinse out the waterers, and keep them out of the sun.
Mary