Probios with municipal water

[Bkaye]

Long story short I’ve had a lot of issues with my flock and want them as healthy as possible. I want to start issuing Probios a couple times a week to help kee a good gut balance but I’m on municipal water and it has Chloramine. I’ve been doing a lot of research on ro systems and the like but I’ve seen conflicting stuff on if it actually removed Chloramine.

I’ve done buttermilk and rice for
My flock but they drink the drink the water daily so it feels like I cancel out what I do.

I guess my question is does anyone remove the Chloramine from their water and if so how?

 

[Debbie292d]

I would get a water test to see how much Chloramine and chlorine is in your water first, unless your municipality is telling you how much it is. I still would test it myself.

Both are disinfectants for our drinking water and can also be harmful to the chickens but a small amount wouldn't bother them.

Getting rid of chlorine is a lot easier than chloramine as removing the latter, a charcoal water filter system is about the best way, but pricey. I know UV light kills it too but sitting a bucket of water out in the sun every day doesn't seem practical or safe.

We have hard water (well water) but a water softener for half of our house, yet for chicks I only used bottled water. It's like a buck or so for a gallon. The adults get the well water. If we had to spend a few hundred to filter ours, I think I'd research buying bottled water in bulk as our 5-gallon nipple waterer only needs filling once every 5-6 weeks or so.

I guess I'd wait to see the concentration amount first, then decide if it's worth buying a filtration system for one of your spigots.

 

[Bkaye]

I would get a water test to see how much Chloramine and chlorine is in your water first, unless your municipality is telling you how much it is. I still would test it myself.

Both are disinfectants for our drinking water and can also be harmful to the chickens but a small amount wouldn't bother them.

Getting rid of chlorine is a lot easier than chloramine as removing the latter, a charcoal water filter system is about the best way, but pricey. I know UV light kills it too but sitting a bucket of water out in the sun every day doesn't seem practical or safe.

We have hard water (well water) but a water softener for half of our house, yet for chicks I only used bottled water. It's like a buck or so for a gallon. The adults get the well water. If we had to spend a few hundred to filter ours, I think I'd research buying bottled water in bulk as our 5-gallon nipple waterer only needs filling once every 5-6 weeks or so.

I guess I'd wait to see the concentration amount first, then decide if it's worth buying a filtration system for one of your spigots.

Our town publishes the test results of how many ppm it is. I have included a pic of the last annual reading. If it was just chlorine it wouldn’t be an issue but I know Chloramine is a lot harder to get ride of and it would have to set out in the sun for weeks to get rid of the Chloramine. Boiling would take hours and it’s not practical especially for the amount of birds I have.

The problem I have is my birds have Mareks and it seems like i’m always fighting coccidiosis, enteritis or some other intestinal infection. I’d like to be able to use probiotics to help get the gut regulated but if any probiotics I add to the water instantly gets killed no point in doing it.

I’ve looked into the rv filters that hook directly to a water hose but it doesn’t look like those filter out Chloramine.

Also buying bottled water is not an option. We have an old well that was on the property before county water was ran. We do plan to eventually get it back up and running. However we need to fix the well pipe before we can do that and we haven’t had the time to do that.

 

[Debbie292d]

Have you thought of setting up a rain barrel to catch the rainwater?

I found a helpful article from Lowes.
https://www.lowes.com/n/how-to/buying-installing-and-using-a-rain-barrel

It'd be cheaper than a filtration system and doesn't need replacing ever. At least it could buy you some time until you get your well fixed.

 

[Bkaye]

I have not considered that. I really don't think we would get enough rain to be able to keep a constant supply of water though. We can go weeks without rain. It seems like we either get to much rain or not enough. I think we have a chance of rain come Friday so I may give it a go.

 

[Bkaye]

Rain isn’t going to work. The rain we got over the weekend didn’t even come up to .10” and that was the first rain we have had in a while. Seems like we are either drowning in rain or not getting anything at all.

 

[Penpal]

For probiotics, have you tried kefir? Once you get it started, you don't have to buy it you just keep adding milk and it takes care of itself. The kefir will separate the milk, even if it is homogenized. The whey has probiotics, so you can skim that off for them. I don't know if they will eat the curds, but you just stir it a bit and add more milk.

The kefir uses the lactose, so you don't have to worry about that. Give it to them separately and don't worry about the chloramine.

When I had fish in the house I found that there is a product that takes care of the chloramine in a fish tank. If it is safe enough to live in the water with this additive, I'm sure it would be safe for the chickens to drink. A pet store would have it.

 

[Bkaye]

For probiotics, have you tried kefir? Once you get it started, you don't have to buy it you just keep adding milk and it takes care of itself. The kefir will separate the milk, even if it is homogenized. The whey has probiotics, so you can skim that off for them. I don't know if they will eat the curds, but you just stir it a bit and add more milk.

The kefir uses the lactose, so you don't have to worry about that. Give it to them separately and don't worry about the chloramine.

When I had fish in the house I found that there is a product that takes care of the chloramine in a fish tank. If it is safe enough to live in the water with this additive, I'm sure it would be safe for the chickens to drink. A pet store would have it.

I have not tried kefir. My concern with something like that or even the buttermilk and rice like I’ve done is them constantly drinking the water. Seems it would be a constant battle of the water constantly stripping away any gut flora they develop.

I’ve looked into the stuff from the pet stores. A lot of the stuff looks like it has stuff added as a water conditioner such as aloe and I really don’t know about that.

I’ve started to do some research on fermented feeds, may try that on a small scale to see if it helps any. I’ve seen a lot of ppl say they do ff with municipal water and they can’t tell a difference.

 

[Debbie292d]

I have not tried kefir. My concern with something like that or even the buttermilk and rice like I’ve done is them constantly drinking the water. Seems it would be a constant battle of the water constantly stripping away any gut flora they develop.

I’ve looked into the stuff from the pet stores. A lot of the stuff looks like it has stuff added as a water conditioner such as aloe and I really don’t know about that.

I’ve started to do some research on fermented feeds, may try that on a small scale to see if it helps any. I’ve seen a lot of ppl say they do ff with municipal water and they can’t tell a difference.

I ferment grains every three days until winter, then every day. I put a tablespoon of Chia seeds in it for great probiotics and prebiotics in addition to what the ferment already has. If you get some, do not put too much in it as the first time I had ferment running all over my counter.

 

[Penpal]

Some people grow kefir in water. I do not, I use milk. I use whole milk because that is what I put in my tea, but you can use whatever is cheapest. Even mix up powdered milk. It's good for you, and good for the chooks.