Question about well water.

[JesBarthel]

Last week I got my first batch of chicks ever. They were all doing great until about 2 days ago when I noticed bloody poop and realized they'd contracted cocci. Out of the 6 I had, only two have survived and I'm keeping a very close eye on them. In the meantime, I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can for the remaining chicks, and future chicks to keep them healthy.

So my question is, is it safe to give chicks well water? I live in florida on a brackish lake, and the well water here has a very high iron content and smells of rust. Will this effect their health in anyway? Is it possible that it could effect how well the Corid ( for the Cocci ) works and is absorbed?

Thanks for any help!

 

[BunkyB]

Wow, poor chicks, poor you. I don't even like the description of the water but are familiar with people that live near it. I would definitely give bottled water a shot or spring water and see if that helps out. Heavy on the iron freaks me out a bit and brackish water...no salty taste for you in your well water?
That's as far as I can go with that one. I hope the other 2 chicks do well. I have a friend who owns and operates a wildlife sanctuary here in Eastern Canada. I will ask her whether or not the brackish water lake beside her sanctuary has that effect on her or whether she used spring water.
By the way her name is Hope Swinimer and she runs Hope For Wildlife sanctuary outside of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She is on the web and is involved in a now stopped TV series on wildlife from Oasis TV. I will ask her anyways. Now I am curious...
Hope there is someone here that can really answer your question.. Steve

 

[JesBarthel]

From what I've been able to look up, it seems as though well-water, even with high iron content, is okay. I've read multiple accounts of those who've given their flock this type of water and have had no troubles at all Definitely good to know.