is my water going to hurt my chickens?

[TyrannosaurusChix]

Ive had them since april with no ill affects so far but i want a general consensus.

My water- has probably the highest iron content in the world(lol)
I have a water softener, my family does NOT use a reverse osmosis system. We go tot he local spring and refill 5 gallon water cooler jugs and use a water cooler.

This is not feasible for chickens. they use a lot of water.

So my question is when i DO have salt in my softener system( i routinely forget to buy it and fudge up my dishwasher and everything) will that hurt the cheekangs?


Thanks in advance for any input and/ or help.

 

[mickistoy]

just heard the song " I am IRON CHICKEN" (MAN)

sorry couldnt help it

 

[TyrannosaurusChix]

LOL.. thanks for that... something to do on my guitar now HAHAH

 

[woodmort]

Sounds like you live near my daughter north of Ithaca--she has the same problem as well as sulfur in her water. To allay your fears, she bought a house that has a barn whose upper story held chickens for years and the farmer watered his chickens with the well water. If the chickens drink it, it probably is ok--they drink out of almost any place when ranging so I doubt it will both them. In fact, it might be better for them than the salt laced softened water.

 

[TyrannosaurusChix]

Quote:
oh doh!! the hose spout was installed after the softener in the piping, so they are actually getting the salted water.

Yes i live north of ithaca, in fact there is a small sulfur smell but ive smelled worse before. My well water is from an artesian well( between two layers of rock) probably reason for all the iron!)

 

[woodmort]

I imagine there is a way to draw water off before it goes to the softener. In my days as a tropical fish hobbyist I knew lots of people that had softened water--which is a no no in an aquarium--and they got their water this way. Another thought that should allay your fears--there are a lot of backyard chicken people plus a few big poultry raisers in that area--one fairly large one used to be just east of Genoa on Rte 90--and they don't seem to be having any problems.

 

[MissJenny]

I don't know if the high iron content will harm your chickens, but have you ever looked into a rain barrel system. I know these systems can sometimes be very costly... or dirt cheap. I literally have a barrel purchased from a nearby winery, for $24, that we've set up to catch rain run-off from my garage. It happens to set very near my hen house.

Something like that might be feasible for you too.

Jenny

 

[sandiatonimarie]

Quote:
Great idea. I have rain barrels and if you want cheap, try a 55 gallon plastic garbage can or an old horse or stock watering tank. most of us have something laying around that we could use to catch water. In New York state, you would probably do great with rain catching - lot more water there than where I am in New Mexico and rain catching works quite well even for me!

 

[TyrannosaurusChix]

thank you for the replies, guys. i really appreciate it. There has been no ill affects that i have noticed so far, we have drank the water, i use it for our food and flavored drinks ( like tea, and koolaid, crystal light type stuff. not coffee cause i have to clean the coffeemaker out too much cause of the iron)


I have been looking into a rain solution but 1- i dont have gutters and 2- i have an annoying cottonwood tree that totally covers most of my yard with dandelion type fuzz most of the warm season , which i am mostly worried about the salt in the summer months with the heat. coincidentally the chickens love to toy with the grape like cotton clusters that fall off of it lol.

I guess it will take just a bit more tinkering with before i figure out a rain solution.

as for the sounding simple plumbing issue- im dealing with a probably 4th or 5th hand trailor with additions and many things done wrong.. it took me over a yr to get hubby to install the spigot. thanks chickens! they put a bug in his butt cause i got sick of carrying out 3 5 gallon pails of water that i had to fill in my tub lol.


If anyone has any red warning flares to send out abotu the softener salt please let me know, otherwise ill stop worrying about it for now.

 

[B'villechicken]

I live in the Syracuse area and have a water softener. My 8 Red Stars have done well for the past 1.5 years without problems. They should be OK. Most softeners have a bypass valve that you can turn to bypass the softener and allow unsoftened water to the hose bib (spigot). You could do that to fill your waterers then turn it back to softened water again. Personally, I wouldn't bother.

David