Is it bad if the waterer is rusty?

[Amy's Animals]

I have a galvanized, double walled, 2 gallon waterer for my chickens. It has some rust on the inside bottom. Is that bad for my chickens? It's just a little spot I would say an 1 inch diameter.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

I have been using mine like that for over a year. No problems what so ever.

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

I agree, mine is almost never not rusty.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Mine too, and the chickens drink water out of the duck tub and mud puddles. I'm thinking a little rust is a-ok.

 

[LynneP]

Keep in mind, though, that the presence of rust means that the zinc in the surface is being replaced by iron. This means that the zinc is getting in the water and zinc is toxic to birds. It's all in the amount, and the reason that many have switched from galvanized to plastic. Now of course we hear about toxins in some plastic...is there no end to this!!!!

 

[chickenwhisperer123]

Quote:
GLASS!!!

Maybe??

 

[Amy's Animals]

I have plastic wateres but when freezing is a problem then.

 

[lngrid]

Quote:
I'm expecting to hear any day that our own shadows are radioactive.

 

[Chris09]

I think they will be fine.
Look at it this way. Before PVC and CPVC pipe they ran galvanized pipes for water they would rust in time people and animals drank the water and all were fine..

Chris

 

[Mac in Wisco]

You should see the iron that comes out of our well. When we moved here in the spring the well water was so foul with sulfur and iron bacteria that it stunk up the whole house every time somebody took a shower. The previous owner had the well remediated when he built this new house here eight years ago, but told me he never knew what to do with it after the sulfur smell returned. He let it go for eight years. His wife constantly burned candles and had Glade air fresheners plugged in every room. The neighbors have told me they could actually smell all the air fresheners when they drove by the place. It took a month for all the fragrance to go away in the house and I shocked the well three times over an 8 week period. The house water conditioner removes most of the iron for the house, but as soon as it runs out of salt the fixtures start turning brown. The water for the layer barn isn't conditioned, but I have a 5 micron filter to take out any suspended iron. If the iron in our water doesn't bother our birds then I doubt a small rust spot in a waterer is of concern.