E. Coli in water

[goldeneggtees]

we just found out that our local water district found traces of the e. coli bacteria in one of the wells that serves our district. they are advising boiling the water and are treating with heavy doses of chlorine.

are chickens susceptible to e. coli bacteria? and how might the chlorine affect them? it would be a major pain to boil all their water and then let it all cool down. of course, having them sick would be much worse.

what do you think?

 

[goldeneggtees]

HI, can anyone offer any advice?

 

[goldeneggtees]

Hmmm, no advice?

 

[bigdaddyabc]

Boil as big a pot as you have. It will serve you for days. Or you could fill your tub, add chlorine (bleach) and let it sit for a few days, and the chlorine dissapates. I would MUCH rather booil every night for the next day than have chickns with e.coli.

just my 2 cents

 

[urbanfarmer101]

Good question. Usually e coli travels from livestock to drinking water, if you give contaminated water back to livestock, does it work as a purification method? Wouldn't that be ironic.

On a serious note, I would haul in safe water for the livestock.

 

[redhen]

well..i think of it like this..
Would you drink it? I would never give my animals tainted water if i knew about it. Its not worth the risk of sick birds..
Just my opinion...

 

[joy]

and be extra careful to wash hands etc after handling eggs etc as this can be transmitted to humans and causes stomach cramps!

 

[goldeneggtees]

thanks all. actually, i got a call from the water utility and they said our water should be fine as we don't get the water anywhere near where they found the bacteria. i guess as a precaution, they are alerting residents to boil the water anyway. i have washed my dishes with the water since the call and rinsed salad from our garden with the water. hoping we are all fine and no one gets ill from it. i don't think we will.