Help! Moldy Water!

[dunnmom]

By the way, my chickens slow down on water drinking when there is algae or mold present. I think they can taste it and don’t trust it much, and yeah, it can cause runny poop. I clean the waterer with diluted bleach water when I suspect it, and soak the nipples for a bit. I rinse until I can’t smell the bleach anymore. Problem with mold and algae in waterers is if you get it once, it seems to return no matter what. I stopped using our garden hose to fill the waterer once I figured out that mold and algae will grow inside them. Now I use the kitchen faucet.

 

[CaliforniaPeeping]

OP means original poster, I believe. And In The Brooder refers to how many points you’ve accumulated. If you want to see your points, it is listed on your profile page.

Yep! It will change as you post more things and interact more on the forums.

 

[SimplyLivinthatFarmLife]

I changed out the waterers for my birds daily. It takes longer than I'd like, but it's well worth it. It is still really hot here in Georgia, so they all enjoy the nice, cool fresh water daily. I will say that when it gets cooler...November and beyond I don't change daily because they don't drink as much.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I've read the chicken poop guide. Just wanting to know if the sick poops occur with normal poops throughout the day, or if the bird's poops will all be sick poops if she has something wrong with her.

Also, does anyone have any ideas as to what I should look out for incase the moldy water has made them sick? And how should I treat them? Is there something I should give them incase the bad water has had an affect on them?

So, without seeing your chickens poo, I can say that they poo all different types of formations throughout the day. Are your chickens acting differently? Or just normal? I tend to over analyze everything (poos, how much itching are they doing, etc)
What I have read is that the bad poos will be consistent.
If they weren't drinking much due to moldy water, they might have tanked up once they got fresh which would result in watery poos.

 

[Aceoky]

The "OP" simply means you're the Original Poster (the one who started the thread)

 

[Shorty22366]

I have 6 water and feed stations in my run and I change and clean them everyday. I use acv in them once a week. I have 60 chickens and I am planning on adding 2 more water/ feed stations. My husband thinks I am crazy when I take my wagon and go around and bring all the waterers in and scrub them and fill them back up and go put them back out. He says my chickens are spoiled rotten. I wouldn't want to drink water that had been sitting around for days so I don't expect my chickens to either. I have seen alot of different ways to do things on here. I guess everyone has to find what is best for them and their birds. Good luck

 

[imnukensc]

Put some small pieces of copper (pennies before 1982, copper wire, copper plumbing fittings or whatever you have) in your waterer and you won't need to worry about mold or algae in your waterer. Copper is a natural biocide and will not hurt your chickens.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I have 12 chickens and 3 waterers. One 10 gallon igloo with nipples, it gets used the least I refill it monthly, 2 galvanized founts hanging on chains one 3 gallon and one 6 gallon. Saturday mornings the galvanized founts get dumped rinsed and filled and the food topped off. Done. When everything is topped off the chickens could be left alone for two weeks without running out of food or water, I have left them for 5-6 days at a time. I am not a slave to my chickens, they are my slaves!

Gary

 

[mixedbreeds]

I have 12 water containers from 1 gallon to 3 gallon I dump and hose out every day it doesn’t take that long.

 

[Ms.tiamaria]

By the way, my chickens slow down on water drinking when there is algae or mold present. I think they can taste it and don’t trust it much, and yeah, it can cause runny poop. I clean the waterer with diluted bleach water when I suspect it, and soak the nipples for a bit. I rinse until I can’t smell the bleach anymore. Problem with mold and algae in waterers is if you get it once, it seems to return no matter what. I stopped using our garden hose to fill the waterer once I figured out that mold and algae will grow inside them. Now I use the kitchen faucet.

Very good to know!