Coop+Rain Barrel?

[wildorchid053]

mine have had nothing but rain water off the roof.. we have a water softener system and there is too much salt in it.. kills houseplants. so everything gets melted snow and rain water only. they drink out of muddy puddles why not rain water.. you will find all the "junk" settles to the bottom anyways and the water is clear. we just dump it every now and then and start fresh

 

[1stepcloser]

You read my mind. After going outside and watching a billion gallons of water run off the coop this morning I thought of the same thing. I am going to try it...

 

[Acre of Blessings]

Quote:
I agree. My chickens even drink the rain water from the ground when it puddles up and they are still living. I have 3 rainbarrels and more on the way and we have used them for over a year now and all is well. We water our garden and our chickens (when there hasn't been much rain). Our coop has a tin roof, not asphalt.

To me.....nowadays.....everything is contaminated in some form or the other

The family doesn't consume the water and if we ever thought of it, there would be a filtration system set in place and the water would be treated and boiled before use. Just me 2 cents

Note: If you have a tin roof that is leaking.....put silicone around the screws/nails and that will solve the problem. It it be screws then back them out and place teh rubber screw ring around it and replace it.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
For whatever it's worth, I think it is fine to use asphalt roof water on your veg garden as long as a) you wash your produce well if you are using long-stored water [as opposed to using water fairly soon after the rain], and b) you are not super-paranoid about chemical contamination of the soil being taken up into plants that you then eat parts thereof.

Me, I am a fairly cautious person but do I use freshly-collected asphalt roof water at times for MY veg garden

I would be a little more hesitant to use it very frequently and over a long period of time (decade or more), but might still do it if there was a good reason and the veg garden was only a limited proportion of my total diet.

JMHO,

Pat

 

[Tala]

Quote:
We did use the rubber gromet type roofing nails.
The leaks are from former nail holes. The tin has been reclaimed at least twice - it used to be on a house and my FIL had it for a while after that.

 

[Mahonri]

My chickens would die if they depended on rain water from on top of their coop.

If I lived in an area where it rained , I still doubt I'd do it.

 

[davidr]

I collect the rainwater off of my shingled coop and will continue to do so, untill I see some data from a test or study by a reliable source. EPA?

I do not put a lot o weight on statements that start with I heard, I think or I know someone who knows someone... on and on .

Do I drink the runoff water? No, not directly, but I probably do since I have a well (tested 4x/year) and the run off soaks into the ground doesn't it.

I'll get off my soap box now.

Thanx,

David

 

[newchickmom]

We had a leaky tin roof on barn. Used silicone caulk to patch visible holes, replaced missing nails, then painted with a special tin paint. (not tar) There are different thicknesses and we got the cheap, thin stuff. All leaks now fixes! I also am considering collecting rain water from there now.