rain wAter for chickens

[CrazyTalk]

EVERYTHING is a carcinogen, or will kill you in the right quantity. The poison is in the dose.

If we avoided everything that might not be safe, we'd live in bubbles (except that the bubbles would be plastic.. and might leach chemicals... or steel, which we could hurt ourselves on ... or...)

 

[MeepBeep]

EVERYTHING is a carcinogen, or will kill you in the right quantity. The poison is in the dose. 

If we avoided everything that might not be safe, we'd live in bubbles (except that the bubbles would be plastic.. and might leach chemicals... or steel, which we could hurt ourselves on ... or...)

x2 except for the fact that not everything is technically a carcinogen, but everything can certainly be harmful depending on circumstances...

 

[pdirt]

Of course, I'm not advocating living in bubbles. But raw petroleum products like tar and asphalt are, in my book, not acceptable to ingest at any quantity, if it can be avoided. We have enough toxins in the world to deal with, I don't see any reason to consciously seek out adding to the mix.

Pure water, in high enough quantity, can be deadly, remember the radio contest from a few years ago?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-drinking-too-much-water-can-kill/

My point is not to fear monger, but like MeepBeep said, just about anything can be harmful, depending upon a whole slew of factors.

Perhaps if we were to ever live in MadMax or Dune worlds, where water was a super super premium, it might make sense to me to deal with the potential consequences of regularly drinking or feeding chickens petroleum-laced water. But we don't live there, or at least most of the world doesn't.

 

[Bs Peeps]

Wow. Here I am drawing my schematic for collected rain water from my just installed, asphalt-shingled coop roof and now I'm getting the impression my idea is not a good one - watering with rain water from that roof. I even considered screening to catch the gravel that will wash off the shingles. I can appreciate the concerns over toxins. As I write this I am thinking, how much toxin can be carried away with water that has very little contact with the material? It lands, it runs off. It's not 'soaking' up toxins. But still, I want to keep my flock healthy. I suppose the question to ask is this: Would I drink the water? I'll have to ponder that one.
Well, I will still collect the water for nearby watering needs in the garden. Or, I suppose my barrel can simply be a large reservior of water for the birds. Hmm. Re-thinking my project.

 

[MeepBeep]

Wow. Here I am drawing my schematic for collected rain water from my just installed, asphalt-shingled coop roof and now I'm getting the impression my idea is not a good one - watering with rain water from that roof. I even considered screening to catch the gravel that will wash off the shingles. I can appreciate the concerns over toxins. As I write this I am thinking, how much toxin can be carried away with water that has very little contact with the material? It lands, it runs off. It's not 'soaking' up toxins. But still, I want to keep my flock healthy. I suppose the question to ask is this: Would I drink the water? I'll have to ponder that one. 

Well, I will still collect the water for nearby watering needs in the garden. Or, I suppose my barrel can simply be a large reservior of water for the birds. Hmm. Re-thinking my project. 

Many municipal water systems worldwide still have in primary service coal-tar or asphalt internally coated water mains and/or holding tanks, it was the way it was done until the 70s when they started to develop better polymers and coverings... I could not find estimates for the US, but I found one estimate for the UK that said up to 60% of their water mains were still coal-tar/asphalt internally coated pipes...

I agree with you in the fact that a roof is 'shedding' water the contact time is very minimal... Also based on some studies (feel free to Google away) most of the contamination (even hydrocarbons) is from airborne partials or fecal waste settling on the roof no mater what type of roof construction is used, with urban areas having higher roof pollution then rural due to less airborne manufacturing and vehicle pollution... This is why many suggest a diverter that spills off the first few minutes of water before collection, and some even recommend a small hit of chlorine before use to kill of bacterial from the fecal matter...

Either way, if your chickens are anything like the ones I have observed my entire life, they will be drinking out of the roof run off puddles created by the rain anyway, and those puddles are usually in a fecal and mud covered run...

I doubt you will convince someone against it or for it to change their mind, pretty much like the GMO, Non-GMO, Organic, Free Range, Commercial Feed, Homemade Feed debates, do what works for you and you feel comfortable with...

 

[jtn42248]

Wow. Here I am drawing my schematic for collected rain water from my just installed, asphalt-shingled coop roof and now I'm getting the impression my idea is not a good one - watering with rain water from that roof. I even considered screening to catch the gravel that will wash off the shingles. I can appreciate the concerns over toxins. As I write this I am thinking, how much toxin can be carried away with water that has very little contact with the material? It lands, it runs off. It's not 'soaking' up toxins. But still, I want to keep my flock healthy. I suppose the question to ask is this: Would I drink the water? I'll have to ponder that one.
Well, I will still collect the water for nearby watering needs in the garden. Or, I suppose my barrel can simply be a large reservior of water for the birds. Hmm. Re-thinking my project.

This is an interesting article about the issue of rainwater off roofs. Particularly interesting it the section from the University of Minnesota in 2006.

http://www.tylertork.com/diyrainbarrels/safety.html

I have considered doing the same thing here since in West Texas we have an extreme drought condition ongoing. But it does still rain and when it does there are gallons of water running off my roofs. However, after reading this article, I think I will err on the side of caution and not do it.

 

[pdirt]

This is an interesting article about the issue of rainwater off roofs. Particularly interesting it the section from the University of Minnesota in 2006.

http://www.tylertork.com/diyrainbarrels/safety.html

I have considered doing the same thing here since in West Texas we have an extreme drought condition ongoing. But it does still rain and when it does there are gallons of water running off my roofs. However, after reading this article, I think I will err on the side of caution and not do it.

Thanks for the link. It's nothing very conclusive, but it's the sort of information that can encourage someone to err on the side of caution.

If you really want to do it though, AFIK, I think a solid carbon block filter would be enough to filter out these sort of contaminants. It wouldn't make it safe enough for human drinking water (due to potential viruses in the water), but for chickens, it would be fine.

But MeepBeep has a good point...if your chickens are ALREADY drinking the muddy pool of water that has drained off your asphalt-tiled roof, then maybe it just doesn't matter. Me, I'd put up some gutters to keep that water off the ground anyways and filter the rain-barrel water. Decide what feels best and makes the most sense to you, these are just my two cents.

 

[Bs Peeps]

This is an interesting article about the issue of rainwater off roofs. Particularly interesting it the section from the University of Minnesota in 2006.

http://www.tylertork.com/diyrainbarrels/safety.html

I have considered doing the same thing here since in West Texas we have an extreme drought condition ongoing. But it does still rain and when it does there are gallons of water running off my roofs. However, after reading this article, I think I will err on the side of caution and not do it.

Wow. That's a very informative bit of information. Thanks for providing the link. Many things I had not considered and will do so, now. I had planned on setting up a number of rain barrels for the various gardens located on my property, in addition for watering the chickens. Much to think about and do further research on. Thanks again for the link.

 

[Bs Peeps]

Thanks for the link. It's nothing very conclusive, but it's the sort of information that can encourage someone to err on the side of caution.

If you really want to do it though, AFIK, I think a solid carbon block filter would be enough to filter out these sort of contaminants. It wouldn't make it safe enough for human drinking water (due to potential viruses in the water), but for chickens, it would be fine.

But MeepBeep has a good point...if your chickens are ALREADY drinking the muddy pool of water that has drained off your asphalt-tiled roof, then maybe it just doesn't matter. Me, I'd put up some gutters to keep that water off the ground anyways and filter the rain-barrel water. Decide what feels best and makes the most sense to you, these are just my two cents.

I agree - about not letting the water puddle. I will still install a gutter if, for nothing else, to reduce erosion from the cascade of water hitting the ground behind the coop, and to protect the very-close-by fence behind the coop; in each circumstance, letting it cascade will just cause a mess from splashing on the fence and all over the chickens enclosure. The water shall be diverted away for natural infiltration.

 

[vader]

I decided to make a slow sand filtration system. Also screened the gutters and the intake to cut down on any contaminants