Natural Stream Watering?

[roosterhavoc]

Most people don’t even keep their waterers and bowls as clean as they should. Drinking out of a stream would probably be better.

 

[Folly's place]

My tested well water starts out clean and parasite free, unlike that creek water. People who drink out of 'wild' water are potentially exposing themselves to some nasty diseases and parasites, which is why sensible hikers carry their own water, or treat the water before drinking!
Good livestock management (and chickens are livestock!) includes keeping them out of waterways, regardless of how folks did it in those 'good old days'.
Mary

 

[hillbilly91]

My tested well water starts out clean and parasite free, unlike that creek water. People who drink out of 'wild' water are potentially exposing themselves to some nasty diseases and parasites, which is why sensible hikers carry their own water, or treat the water before drinking!
Good livestock management (and chickens are livestock!) includes keeping them out of waterways, regardless of how folks did it in those 'good old days'.
Mary

I will take the good ol days over city ignorance any day

 

[Folly's place]

WOW!
Mary

 

[HH.Wench]

I slapped together a quick Paint since I wasnt clear in the OP.

~I only keep a small flock of 6 adults atm
~I am on a mountain that is heavily forested
~This is not an area where people spray Roundup like in a subdivision or crop land
~My water source is popping out of an underground spring that originates in the center of my new run. Everything coming out of it has filtered through the ground very far.
~The coop is at the top of a hill close to the house and I have never seen a racoon, but we do have a pair of nesting owls. Yesterday I found bear scat 1/4 acre back beyond the main stream.
~Bears in this area are not tame and do not come up to houses
~The main stream everything dumps into is at the bottom of a mountain gully.
~All homes in the forest along the stream sit on acreage and elevation far up above the stream
~Water in the stream and all run-off feeders is being filtered through soil, rock, forest, and the sand bottom.

My main concern was that pullets may drown, but the water is slow and low. Growing up my father had free range birds on 150 acres with a deep stream going right by the coop, but they were almost 100% free range and I was too small to remember if young ones drowned.

My neighbors have 50 + chickens and they lose some to predators, but they have dozens of pullets running all over in the spring, so I think the predators are going over to their buffet. I also have terriers that run the main fence line along the stream and chicken run.

Thanks for all of the advice. Sounds like there should be no issues.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Yeah, y'all are worried about whether the water is clean enough for the chickens to drink from, pollution and stuff that might be upstream, but have any of you given a thought about what is going to be downstream once that water has passed through the chicken pen?

Yes, chicken poop is biodegradable and great for the soil once it has been properly "processed", however that takes time and running the stream right through it fresh from your pen's floor is not going to be very healthy for that stream.

Just sayin.....

Actually... I was thinking exactly this yesterday afternoon.. that I am conscious about what I do because I care about clean water and such, Not just for myself but the wildlife and my neighbors.

YES, I had my well tested. Yes, as a "back yarder" (er um mom and pop) I have had in excess of 100 birds on my ONE acre... plus 3 medium dogs and two large goats... and 3-5 people crapping in my septic system... which is set 50- 100 feet away by law, and now a pig. My water table is about 25 feet deep and we get 40-80 inches of rain per year. I'm sure some poo would would wash into a stream if I had one nearby. But our soil is set for things to wash through it pretty well.

Hikers KNOW they need to poop at least 50 ft from a stream and preferably bury it. They won't actively drink from a stream because regardless of whether or not it supports what think of as perceivable life.. it STILL carries bacteria and pathogens that can be harmful... and even if not deadly make you wish you were dead.

Yes... I allow algae in my water dishes sometimes. That is NOT the same as contaminated.

Now I do agree that your impact on the stream depends on your stock load... and I NEVER presume small flock after being on BYC for a few years now... as I am FAR from the craziest most adventurous of animal keepers on here.

While poo may be degraded by the rocks in the stream... what about things like Marek's?

I also thought about the sleuth idea as being a possibility as a viable alternative with LESS (not no) risk.

I THINK.. if my stock load were reasonable... I MIGHT consider watering at the stream...

I'm glad when I get to consider things I might not have before.. as I will be a little more prepared if or when I face them in the future. Thank you for sharing and opening yourself up all of our thoughts as well. I love to see the discussion and consider things I might not have in the past.

 

[HH.Wench]

My tested well water starts out clean and parasite free, unlike that creek water. People who drink out of 'wild' water are potentially exposing themselves to some nasty diseases and parasites, which is why sensible hikers carry their own water, or treat the water before drinking!
Good livestock management (and chickens are livestock!) includes keeping them out of waterways, regardless of how folks did it in those 'good old days'.
Mary

We are on "clean" city water and it reeks of chlorine. I was shocked last year when I cleaned out my large koi pond, refilled it, and woke up to an absolute massacre of the entire pond filled with dead fish, tadpoles, salamanders and floating frogs. It took me an hour to scoop out all the floating bodies. Couldnt believe the water we drink each day is toxic enough to slaughter every living thing in a pond.

I bought a stainless ProPur filtration system that removes everything including chlorine and flouride. Water smells crystal clear now - highly recommend.

The last property, I had a well, but was surrounded by crop fields being dumped heavily with Roundup, nitrogen, etc each year. The property before that in Michigan had so much deep, ancient layers of mustard grass in the ground that all the water and homes in the region smelled like rotten sulfur eggs.

 

[Folly's place]

Chlorine that's safe for mammals to drink is not safe for all those poor fish and amphibians who died that day; so sorry! I killed the goldfish in my stock tanks twice before realizing that the 'tiny bits' of Ivermectin on the horses' chins would be enough to kill those fish.
We do live and learn, sometime the hard way.
Water purification in the house is wonderful!
I have 'pre-chlorinated water' teeth, not so wonderful.
And, my father remembered the cholera and typhoid (typhus?) episodes when he was young. Also not wonderful.
Mary

 

[centrarchid]

In most situations, a stream that supports a healthy and diverse population of aquatic organisms is suitable for chickens to drink. Parasites may sometimes be an issue, although I have yet to notice with birds in the Midwestern US. We used to use streams and ponds to water livestock but had erosion issue. Same water was diverted to a watering tank away from source where the tank was on ground that was not as prone to erosion or degrading the water source itself.

 

[HH.Wench]

I have 'pre-chlorinated water' teeth, not so wonderful.

Mary

I've always been told that was from a certain antibiotic that shouldn't be given to children?