clorox bleach in water - ever heard of this?

[emvickrey]

As for myself, i'm not comfortable putting bleach in their water. It may be safe in small amounts but I clean all the water containers regularly and also have city water. But everytime I hose out the pen that has a concrete floor they go for the nasty water that runs out. Also my opinion, I feel if they aren't exposed to some germs and are kept completely sanitary they get prone to illnesses when they are exposed to them. Much like out society. They push antibacterial soap, germ free homes and when we do get exposed to something it's harder to get over it. It's just a theory of mine. I"m no professional or a doc or vet.

As an example, I've seen people use antibiotic cream on every scrape and cut they get and bandages like crazy. When I get a scratch or cut, I just wash the area good with soap and let it heal. I can't remember the last time I had an infection. I"ve stepped on wire that had been in a cage that held chickens and had been pooped on, scratched by many cages and claws. Even scratched by my cat. Those are well known for getting infected and sore. I washed it and poured alcohol over it and it never even got sore. I have many scars on my arms from catching birds that where in cages and making cages, removating cages and still no infections.
The few times I have gotten a cold I don't use antibiotics. It's gonna run it's course anyway. My body fights off and heals itself. So I do the same when a chicken gets injured. Depending on the injury of course and where it is but I've raised chickens for about 5 years now and never had sick chickens till this year.

I may just be lucky so far but that's my theory.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
Exactly. One needn't be so precise, but it helps to know where to start and what is going on in the process. Adding some bleach will help disinfect the water and keep slime (bio-film) and algae from growing on the equipment. If the water is not keeping between fillings and it looks like there may be stuff growing on the waterer, you can scrub down the waterer in a stronger solution and use a touch more bleach as regular sanitizer.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
That's fine too if it fits your situation, but you still know enough to keep the watering equipment clean and not all fouled up with God knows what.

For us we used watering lines that can't be scrubbed out like a bucket so we sanitize the water. We are on well water that has a high biological load, so if f I don't regularly sanitize the water the equipment gets clogged with bio-films that can harbor all kinds of nasty bacteria and viruses as well as affecting how the equipment operates.

 

[aprophet]

you know the city here where I live puts so much clorine in the water that you can smell it coming out of the spigot but in 2-3 days the waterers need to be cleaned and yes galvanized waterers are eaten by the water in 4-6 months

 

[Nurs4kids]

TouchO'Lass :

As a comparison, a public swimming pool should not be over 2ppm as anything beyond that causes eyes to burn, itchy/burning skin, and can cause stomach upset,

but is not harmful to humans at that level. As mentioned already, several things cause chlorine to dissipate; heat, sun, time...

TouchO'Lass,
I have to respectfully disagree with you here. I am new to raising chickens and know nothing about the dangers versus benefits of adding bleach to their water, however I HAVE mastered pool maintenance

What you said above is normally the thought process, but is totally inaccurate. Free chlorine levels (which is what you are referring to above) would have to be around 20ppm for it to cause irritation to humans (unless they have an underlying dermatological issue). The amount of stabilizer in the pool water also effects the amount of free chlorine available. What causes burning eyes, itchy/burning skin, etc. is an imbalanced pool...normally the ph. Also a common myth is that when you SMELL chlorine it's because the level is too high when in fact it is the exact opposite on pools. What you smell is what Mac refers to above--where the chlorine has been used up by killing the organic and inorganic material, leaving combined chlorine.

Bleach begins as salt and after going through chemical reactions to disinfect, it returns to salt. The amount to use to safely reach that point is the question.​

 

[galanie]

Quote:
I'm not sure why you say it's safer. Oxine is Chlorine Dioxide vs the Sodium Hypochlorite in bleach. I've never read anything that says one is safer than the other, nor that Sodium Hypochlorite is "unsafe" when used properly.

While this author does not specifically say "Oxine is safer than bleach," what he does say tends to convey that thought. It is used not only to kill organisms in water, which it does very well, but also is used to cure respiratory illness by fogging the chickens so they can breathe the fog. Already it seems safer than bleach to me right there. I am not saying bleach is unsafe when used the way it's intended to be used but then you can't let your chickens breathe it. Some of the worst poisons known to us are safe when used "properly," one is even a heart medicine.

Certainly, it is more effective:

" Oxine is known to kill every bacteria, virus, and mold it has ever been tested against and is 200 times more effective than chlorine bleach. But one of the most impressive things about Oxine for me is that it does it with such relative safety (when used according to label instructions). Environmentally speaking, Oxine actually biodegrades to ordinary table salt. And it is so safe to use on livestock that it is actually approved for use in the drinking water of ‘organically grown’ animals. I use it myself at the rate of 7-15 drops per gallon of water in our stock tank of drinking water for our own sheep. It keeps the water impressively clear and algae free, while keeping down the biofilm ‘slime’ that tends to develop on the sides of the tank."

This has not been my only source of information about using Oxine around chickens and livestock but it is the one link I did save since it gives specific rates of use per gallon for different needs (daily if you want to go that way, periodically, one time cleaning slimy tanks, or fogging sick birds) rather than per some huge amount.

It was written by someone who claims to have 26 years in the specialty chemical field, whatever that means, so I think he probably knows some chemistry and has obviously (if you read the entire article) researched the subject very well.

But to each his own. The cost is much higher. I have a jug that has lasted me a year so I'm not exactly sprinkling it around like Holy Water but I only have 10 birds and I really don't like using bleach. There is already chlorine in the water, adding more is just not what I want to do.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
??? Oxine is Chlorine Dioxide, if your argument against using bleach is to avoid putting additional chlorine in your water then you've picked the wrong alternative.

 

[mlward]

We have a well with an attached automatic chlorine pellet dispenser. It drops a small pellet every so many gallons (you can change the setting based on water testing), and we've never had a problem. We've tested our water a couple times and it's safe. We use it for our pets, chickens, gardening, etc. For things like aquariums, we would let the water "rest" a day or so.

 

[galanie]

Quote:
??? Oxine is Chlorine Dioxide, if your argument against using bleach is to avoid putting additional chlorine in your water then you've picked the wrong alternative.

Fine, I worded that wrong, not being a chemist. I prefer Oxine. There. Fixed.

 

[jamiej]

Will it bleach my hair?


http://www.dillonchem.com/p-187-clorox-bleach-pen-clo-04690.aspx