How do I fix water problem?

[Nugget]

I have a big metal waterer hanging about 8 inches above the floor. In a day or 2 I have to empty, WASH and refill it. Scunge gets into the trough of it, and I guess anaerobes are reproducing in the reservoir making it stink like sulfur. When I wash it, there's a slime over the inside. I would really like not to have to wash the thing almost daily. What can I do to have the water clean for longer than 24-48 hours??

 

[Farmer Kitty]

You could try to do a bleach sanitizing and then throughly rinse. Other than that they should be given only enough water for a couple days max.

 

[Nugget]

oh... I guess I was fooling myself thinking that the water could last them the better part of a week... I don't have a lot of birds, but they mess it up in no time.

The guy I bought the chicks from has these tiny red plastic basins that have pipes running to them from a barrel. does anyone have any ideas for something a bit more self-sustaining?

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

Are you adding vitamins to the water? Ours get slimey fast when using vitamins.
McMurreys has those water cups your talking about.

 

[VaM715]

I put about a teaspoon of bleach to 5 gallons during hot weather. I read an article from Oklahoma Ag Dept about it. They said it doesn;t urt a thing. I did it all last year and the water stayed nice all the time. I"m putting in automatic water bowls this summer, if the time permits!!!

 

[MandyH]

If the waterer is in direct sunlight it will green up over night. Keep it out of the sun and it will stay relatively clean.

 

[Nugget]

It's not in sunlight, the problem seems to be that wood chips and poop gets in the 'trough' part, make poop-woodchip-soup, then the water in the reservoir becomes foul. I recently raised it higher from the floor which helped some, but it's still a problem.

It almost needs something like a low squirrel baffel, high enough for chickens to stick in their heads, but low enough to act like an umbrella for debris.

VAM, are you saying you have bleach in the water they drink, or that you wash it with bleach?

 

[MissPrissy]

Raise it up high enough that they have to reach for the water to drink. It should be at least at back height.

 

[Jillylam]

I use Oxine in the waterers and to spray the coop every few weeks. It won't help with keeping out poop and chips but it's great for keeping out the green growth.

 

[jnjross]

try a hanging feeder cover to keep them off the water they're about $4