Urgent - Has anyone on here successfully collected and used rainwater for their chickens/geese/guinea fowl/quail?

[U_Stormcrow]

Not sure how I missed this. Someone even @'d me. SORRY!

Yes, I do. No issues. I have a 42' gutter on one side of my barn, feeds a 275 gallon tote. 1" of rainfall basically fills it (that's also our average weekly rainfall) due to the width of the barn, so dealing with overflow is the problem, not filling it when it goes dry. Once a year, I completely empty it, assemble a scrub brush inside it (carefully) and give it a quick scrub with bleach (use a gallon of the cheap stuff) then a flush. Otherwise, the only efforts I make are several very thick coats of paint to prevent UV light from penetrating.

I will say that my barn is in the middle of the pasture, so I don't have an issue with leaves, etc getting into the water and bringing problems that way.

I have a much shorter (12') gutter on the back of my (much smaller) goat shed, feeding another 275 gallon poly tote. That has also never gone dry, though an inch of rainfall is only about 40 gallons there. Same process. Flush and scrub once yearly, thick coat of paint. a few more issues with leaves.

I can't find a good picture quickly. Biggest issue with the totes is that they have four "standard" fittings at the front, which can make hooking up to one a challenge, since they mostly look alike, but the threading differs.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

A warning: a friend on a Dutch forum used a big barrel with collected water for her chickens. One day they got sick and many died after a stupidity.

Her story translated by google:
I want to share what I've had in the past 2 weeks: no matter how long you have chickens, mistakes happen and the consequences of that, well, they are not always pleasant.
I have lost a large number of chickens due to a botulism infection.
Symptoms: diarrhoea, lethargy, decreased leg, sometimes combined with respiratory infection or twisted neck.
Cause: standing water in combination with hot and humid weather. In my case, the contamination came from the concrete pit in which I collect rainwater.
My chickens drink rainwater for a large part of the year, without any problems.
It just had to work out that in my haste in the morning or by my helpful husband who saw that the drinking bucket was empty, the well was quickly refilled. The water passes through a pump, which also filters, but apparently not all.
With disastrous consequences.
A total of 23 animals died as a result of the disease or its complications.
Through the Ver I got antibiotics that mainly works on the intestines, which has prevented worse.
The remaining ladies are recovering well, are pooping normally again and are happily wandering around.
The hens are happy again with their foster offspring, as their own chicks unfortunately also fell victim to this mistake.
Did I make a mistake? Yes. I am a human. Unfortunately that happens.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in hot weather it is important to check the drinking water quality and to regularly clean/disinfect the towers.
Especially for those who also depend on well water or rain barrels on the allotments.
It has been a hard lesson for me, that's why I share this with you.

Thank you all for your help. After reading this article @BDutch posted I will have to look into adding bleach do to the heat and humidity in my area right now. The well is doing better thankfully but could still run out without notice so I am going to try to collect rainwater for both the garden and flock. I am going to experiment with 5 gal buckets with a bit of added bleach and clean them regularly. I will give an update on this once it's in operating order.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

You may find this helpful

 

[fancyseggery101]

Our well is having trouble this summer and we need to find another way the water our garden and flock fast. I know you can use rainwater for the garden but has anyone had success on here with their flock? I can't find many people on here who do it, so I just want to make sure it's safe. And if you have had success, would you mind sharing how you collect/store the water and keep it clean? Thx,

wellWater trouble: we stagger between rain water & pond water. Birds are fine, drink eat peck away, scratch dig chase bugs etc. lay, exceptional ly, but I do add egg loafs to their water diet, as it seems to help. They will be fine !

 

[LizGio]

I keep planning on setting up a rain barrel water collection, but have yet to find an affordable barrel. With the AI going right now, I won't be collecting water for my chickens, but want it set up for plant watering and will work toward watering the gals with it too.

Have you looked on Facebook marketplace?

 

[Chickn Keaper]

Our well is having trouble this summer and we need to find another way the water our garden and flock fast. I know you can use rainwater for the garden but has anyone had success on here with their flock? I can't find many people on here who do it, so I just want to make sure it's safe. And if you have had success, would you mind sharing how you collect/store the water and keep it clean? Thx,

Very successful!!! A large galvanized stock tank. It should stay quite clean on its own. If leaf matter should get in it It could become tannic and brown but no danger.