how often to change chickens' drinking water

[PouleChick]

I was thinking about this thread earlier and I know we all try to keep everything as clean as we can as good animal husbandry practice. BUT before my hose end broke and I was filling directly in the run they would have their clean cold water in the waterer but more often than not they'd be drinking from the woody/muddy floor with either the water I'd dumped out or just the overflow! In the forests from whence they came they wouldn't have had cold water in clean plastic but have drunk from the forest floor so maybe why this seems more appealing to them! I'm not condoning leaving yucky green water out or anythign like that but we should keep things in perspective as well and don't beat yourself up if you dont' change your water every single day!

 

[NewFlockOnTheBlock]

I know! Our chickens have waterers easily accessible to them, close to the spots in the yard where they like to congregate, but I still routinely see them drinking from puddles. And, when our irrigation was on in the summer, they were always drinking from the one spigot that was leaking, and from the small pool of water that was forming at the base of it.

 

[Shorty22366]

I take my waterers inside all year because we have county water and my outside faucet is on our well and I won't drink that water so I am not giving it to my birds. I bought a big wheeled wagon and put the waterers in it and take them to house and clean and fill them and put them back in wagon and take them back to run and coop
Works really well for my back and my birds getting fresh water daily
My birds like to get in wagon and ride. Funny birds.
I use wagon to haul alot of things back and forth.

 

[NewFlockOnTheBlock]

Good idea with the wagon! I'd do the same if we didn't have stairs in the back of the house that faces the yard. To use the front door, which doesn't have steps, I'd be making a big loop walking all around the house, through a gate, through the front door, through the entire house to the bathroom, and back again with the water.

You wrote that you won't drink the water from your well. Is it contaminated?

 

[Shorty22366]

Good idea with the wagon! I'd do the same if we didn't have stairs in the back of the house that faces the yard. To use the front door, which doesn't have steps, I'd be making a big loop walking all around the house, through a gate, through the front door, through the entire house to the bathroom, and back again with the water.

You wrote that you won't drink the water from your well. Is it contaminated?

We had foster children a few years back and everytime they tested our water is was contaminated so we bought bottled water for cooking and brushing teeth
We put alot of bleach in well to kill bateria so we could bath in it. Thank goodness we are now on county water. So we only use well to wash cars and water garden ( through a filter)