Secondary Water safe?

[scrapmom5]

I have been feeding my ducks/hens tap water. This means we walk out to the back lot get the waterers bring them back to the house and wash and refill them and then return them to the hens/ducks. My DS decided this took too much time. He started to fill the waterers with the secondary water (irrigation water). It is not safe for humans to drink and yet see many people feed their dogs, cats, critters with it. Do you suppose it is safe??? Or should I inform my DS (who volunteers to take care of the critters) that house water is the only water.

My other thought was that the ducks drink water from the pond...the same pond that is full of duck yuck, fish yuck, and who knows what else yuck. My guess is the irrigation water would be an improvement. Just a thought.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Even though chickens and ducks peck around in yucky water, i think it's important that they have a constant supply of clean fresh water. Water that is not fit for human consumption is not going to be doing your ducks and chickens any good.

 

[warren]

Irrigation water could contain lots of fertilizer...but then so would poopy water. It's probably best not to risk it.

 

[Chirpy]

I figure .. if it's not good for us, it's not good for my animals. I know others will disagree but that's my opinion.

 

[panner123]

Here in Placer County we have N I D ditches running all over. Those with them running though the property fill ponds, water livestock abd a few even drink it. I have well water that I use for watering the animals. But there is a creek and a pond on the property. All the animals have access to these and they drink from them. I have not seen any ill affects from this. I guess if the chickens or animals started coming up sick, I would have to fence these off.

 

[BawkinOnTheBench]

My DH also wanted to use 2ndary water. I pointed out that who knows what runs into it, and did he really want to eat eggs that might be picking up all that from the water? That fixed the problem.

 

[simba49450]

hi

i agree with chirpy, if you wont eat or drink it dont give it to them. mine are pets and i am very careful on what they get. use normal tap water and everything will be okay.

 

[SewingDiva]

On the Easy Garden forum I posted some photos of our rain barrel collection system, and I think rain barrells could be used to collect water for chickens. In my case I couldn't do it because we collect runoff from our grage roof, but if you collected rainwater directly (e.g. not as run off) that might be be another option.

~Phyllis

 

[patvetzal]

I have found that different people(animals) respond to changes in drinking water in various ways. When "city" folk and their pets come to the country they often seem to get the "runs". When we go to the city, we can't stomach the taste of their water. It all depends on what the "flora" in your digestive system is used to. This is why we try to break our animals into new food gradually, mixing some old with the new.
In many cases its not that the water is NOT safe to drink, but rather that it hasn't been PROVEN safe for EVERYONE.
One small town here in Ontario had a drinking water problem some years back which resulted in a few deaths. The water plant operators have since admitted to falsifying the records but the province has brought in new laws which have caused millions of dollars to be spent for water treatment in an effort to prevent it from happening again. (unless someone falsifies the records)
I live in the country on a dug well. When in the bush on a hot day I often drink from clear flowing watersources with no ill effects but when I visit relatives in the city and spend a few days drinking their "pure" chlorinated, floridated water I have trouble.....

 

[Jilara]

What's funny is that here in the city, I worry about giving the chickens the city tap water. I KNOW it's not safe for fish (bad additives for purification), because they warn you not to use it for ponds, fish tanks, etc. So where does this leave small animals? We filter the house water, but I'm afraid the chickens are getting what comes out of the hose. At least we're not in the part of town where the wells are contaminated with leeching rocket fuel or industrial waste.