Rain barrel- How can I keep the water clean?

[Hawgon]

Fresh from a well or tap water. Tap water is not "fresh". Not here any way. My plants like rain much better than tap water and so do my chickens. I and my chickens love my rain water collection system and we have no shortage of rain here. They will still bypass any human source and find the nearest mud puddle no matter what you do.

 

[supaflyz]

I hook mine up to the carbon cylinder that my cousin gave me. THe water is pretty clean.

 

[aggiemae]

ACV is great but adding a screen is still a good idea.

 

[stark2187]

How much acv should you add to a 55 gal drum if rain water to keep clean and safe for chickens to drink?

 

[mumofsix]

The apple cider vinegar that you are wanting is in the organic section of the grocery store. It has the "mother" in it. That's the good stuff that is lost when regular vinegar is pasturized and all. You can also put goldfish in your barrell to keep the water clean.

Question :can I use both @ once? I used city water before

 

[EMTgirl1821]

I have done it for about 8 yrs now. I do put ACV in my water.. so the drum stays clean the bugs don't like it and its a good sanitzer and healthy for the birds.

How much ACV do you add? I have a 50 gal rain barrel, would you think the whole bottle?

 

[Estebanmartinez1]

The apple cider vinegar that you are wanting is in the organic section of the grocery store. It has the "mother" in it. That's the good stuff that is lost when regular vinegar is pasturized and all. You can also put goldfish in your barrell to keep the water clean.

Goldfish? Really? Does that really work? I want to try it. How is it working out for you?

 

[Logar]

Goldfish? Really? Does that really work? I want to try it. How is it working out for you?

Don’t do it. It is extremely bad for both the chickens and the goldfish. The goldfish will produce tons of waste making the water toxic which is bad for the chickens but will also kill the fish causing even more ammonia to develop. Just because it keeps the water clean looking doesn’t mean it is actually clean at all.