Rain Barrel waterer

[msmeg26]

Would it be necessary to have the rain barrel water filtering or constantly moving to avoid being stagnant and algae growth??

 

[Shadowfire]

I would not use rainwater for flock hydration. If you are using faucet water it should be fine. Algae is caused by sunlight so you would need a secure cover. Good luck!

 

[Ghosty]

I would not use rainwater for flock hydration. If you are using faucet water it should be fine. Algae is caused by sunlight so you would need a secure cover. Good luck!

This. I wouldn't give them water I wouldn't drink.

 

[1cock2hens]

i dont see why you wouldnt use rainwater? I would drink rainwater. it's often times cleaner then water from the county/city

 

[imnukensc]

Absolutely nothing wrong with using rain water. It is essentially distilled water---the same you would buy in the grocery store. To answer the OP, I would probably filter it before it goes in the catchment. Collecting in darkened vessels with covers will help alleviate any algae growth. Lots of videos out there on catchment systems and filters. Here's a pretty good one showing a prefilter system.

 

[Shadowfire]

i dont see why you wouldnt use rainwater? I would drink rainwater. it's often times cleaner then water from the county/city

Rain barrels sometimes have bloodworms and other parasites that can infect animals.

 

[1cock2hens]

i suppose if a person neglects there system anything is possible. I very much doubt that a person who is concerned about stagnancy, algae growth, and filtration will let there rain barrel get to that state.. I live in a tiny house in the ozarks, i regularly uses rain water for everything and we are all thriving.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We use rain water all summer for my bantams and turkeys. We originally used a wooden rain barrel which we dumped occasionally. We bought a covered plastic rain barrel a few years ago with a screen top so bugs can't get in it and it's much better.

You do not need to filter the water, but it's good to dump it if it gets nasty. Animals don't have the problems humans do with drinking water. Most chickens will choose that nasty looking puddle water over fresh. Perhaps it tastes better.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

I use fresh rain water that drips into 5 gallon buckets. As long as there is no algae in it, it is fine!

 

[Chickenaddition]

My 2 cents on rainwater.

I would use rainwater on my garden (i will use it when I create a collection system). Using it for livestock can open issues. A wild bird pooping on the roof would introduce potential issues to the live stock. Is the risk small.... yes, but is it still a risk... yes. The question then becomes do you want to add a risk vs the reward?

I would say personally the amount of money the water would cost... (I get my water from a well so no cost for me, but even back when on city water... the cost is fairly negligible). For me the risk/reward is small. I get why people do it as some consider it a fair saving to labor.

I personally would simply save it for gardens and trees. However if you go with it the more filtration the better, but then the cost savings gets cut down.