Pond Water?

[Sylvie]

Does anyone give their chickens fresh pond water to drink? I have a quarter acre pond with some fish in it. No algae what so ever; it is a very healthy oxygenated pond. Can I just dip the bucket in and give to the chickens? They have been getting rain water from an in-ground cistern but the pond is closer to the coop and I'd like to use that. Would there be a reason not to?

 

[FarmGirl21]

My ducks free range all day & get their water from the creek & pond...mostly out of the creek i think though, the pond is pretty full of that clover-like thick water plant. doesn't seem to hurt them...the wild mallards do it and are surviving just fine!

 

[Akane]

If it's a clean pond it shouldn't hurt them. It actually kinda concerns me that you say no algae though. A healthy pond has some algae and plants to clean the water. Just like a healthy tank actually has some algae and isn't sterile. An algae filled container of water can be cleaner than a perfectly scrubbed container of water. It uses up the ammonia-nitrates and phosphates produced by the fish and any rotting organic material and helps clean out pollutants. Only excessive algae is a sign of poor water quality.

 

[Sylvie]

Quote:
There are lots of plants in the pond, water lilies, sedges, and a type of submerged ground cover that has been the pond oxygenator through the frozen winter months. No floating algae or watermeal and lots of life like frogs, dragonflies, newts, turtles. It is a very healthy living pond.
It isn't stagnant by any stretch of the imagination. We built it 10 years ago and have monitored it closely. Believe me, Perch will not survive in a sub par pond and we have had them multiply and achieve 10-12" each year. The submerged ground cover we utilized does not impact the perch because they lay ribbons of eggs on the vegetation that is edge submerged. This is not an ornamental Koi pond.
And it is because of all the diverse life in the pond that I asked the question. I would not drink directly any surface water without filtering it first and wondered if the chickens were hardier than people in this respect.