I am putting this out there to perhaps help someone with the same issues. After several years of successful poultry keeping and hatching we decided to get a well bucket so we could begin using the well water for produce, poultry and soon to be hogs. It would save so much time and effort hauling water almost 1/4 mile to our lower property where all the 'farming' goes on. It would save on the water bill when the rain barrels are dry. So after much searching we finally found a place that sold old timey (because that's the way we like it) well buckets- sticker shock on that one!- and I had fast access to cool clear water for my poultry. After a couple of weeks 2 chicks about 1 1/2 months old died. We had several days of rain and much cooler temps than usual, the chicks had been on medicated feed for the first two weeks of life but had bloody poo before dying so I thought cocci. Then a day later my 9 month old "big daddy" buff orpington cockerel died. NOT cocci there! The only thing they had in common was the well water. So I thought back to when I was a bit befuddled as to why I didn't have to refill waterers as much after switching to the well water. Cooler days I told myself. Moistened feed I said. I had another chick close to death when the BO boy died so I tried something- washed the waterer and filled with rain water. That chick stood at the waterer for 5 minutes just drinking like it had not had water at all! Hours of scrubbing every waterer on the property and refilling with rain water later and every chick, no matter the age, was looking better than they had in days! Even the adults seem to relish the water. By evening all chicks that looked a bit off that morning had full crops and were up doing healthy chick things! A passing word with neighbors confirmed my suspicion- years ago folks went on public water due to their wells being contaminated. I have yet to have our well water tested but hope to in the future to see exactly what is in it. Please 'consider the obvious' when something is happening in your flock. Remember the time such-and-such seemed off or odd? Consider it. Sometimes the small things that can be easily remedied are overlooked for the big things that take a lot of time, effort and money. Be cautious when thinking about using an old well's water. Older neighbors can be a valuable asset also because hey, they just may know why no one around you is using their wells! Good luck out there everyone.
