Wading pool in run? Flies??

[mgharris30]

This week we will be in the 90s but I expect triple digits soon. We tried adding a pink plastic pool in the run, but the birds wouldn’t go in it. We are thinking about adding pebbles to it, a small amount of water, and a frozen milk jug of water. We might even add a box fan on the outside of the run.
I don’t want algae or flies to grow in the water. With the pebbles added, I doubt I change the water much. Suggestions???
pic is just if some of the babies having watermelon.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Suggestion. Do NOT do it.

In hot temps, that pool is going to go green, VERY fast. Adding pebbles just increases the surface area for algae to grow on, ensuring that even if you do dump it out (heavy enough with water, worse with rocks), those pebbles/river gravel/whatever simply ensure your refill water is immediately presented with huge colonies of algae to re-green the water.

Here in FL, takes two days. The effort to empty, scrub the green off, and refill isn't worth it.

Better is to provide the chickens a dry area, shaded 24/7, where they can dig into the earth (world's largest heat sink) and dust bathe/shelter from the hot. My birds like digging under the raised coop, under the RV, and under a 4x8 trailer. All are shaded constantly, very dry underneath, and the soils have been transformed into fine sands by their constant scratching and digging.

/edit and keep doing the watermelon. Cold cucumbers are also a good treat when its blazing hot. (I left the Austin area two years ago, was present for the heat wave of 2011.)

 

[mgharris30]

Suggestion. Do NOT do it.

In hot temps, that pool is going to go green, VERY fast. Adding pebbles just increases the surface area for algae to grow on, ensuring that even if you do dump it out (heavy enough with water, worse with rocks), those pebbles/river gravel/whatever simply ensure your refill water is immediately presented with huge colonies of algae to re-green the water.

Here in FL, takes two days. The effort to empty, scrub the green off, and refill isn't worth it.

Better is to provide the chickens a dry area, shaded 24/7, where they can dig into the earth (world's largest heat sink) and dust bathe/shelter from the hot. My birds like digging under the raised coop, under the RV, and under a 4x8 trailer. All are shaded constantly, very dry underneath, and the soils have been transformed into fine sands by their constant scratching and digging.

/edit and keep doing the watermelon. Cold cucumbers are also a good treat when its blazing hot. (I left the Austin area two years ago, was present for the heat wave of 2011.)

I was thinking about adding apple cider vinegar to the water. Although, cinnamon would smell better . I’m just not sure cinnamon oil is safe for birds.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Altering the acidity of the water merely alters which algae will grow there. You could do the same with bleach. I don't think you've given appropriate consideration to how much cinnamon oil would be required. Illinois recognizes Cinnamon Oil as a Fungicide (but not an algaecide) at 4% concentration. If its a 25 gallon plastic pool, that's a gallon of cinnamon oil.

 

[mgharris30]

Altering the acidity of the water merely alters which algae will grow there. You could do the same with bleach. I don't think you've given appropriate consideration to how much cinnamon oil would be required. Illinois recognizes Cinnamon Oil as a Fungicide (but not an algaecide) at 4% concentration. If its a 25 gallon plastic pool, that's a gallon of cinnamon oil.

Nope. I had not. That’s a lot. I’m curious how others in hot climates do bucket waterers if algae grows so quickly. I’ll do some research, but if you have any helpful links, I’d appreciate it.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have 275 gallon "buckets". Actually, food grade totes, filled with rainwater. Arguably, FL is a "hot" climate, in that I'm routinely low 90s temps and high 80s humidity. The secret is a simple one.

Algae needs UV light to photosynthesize. Putting water in a dark bucket, with a lid, blocks most of the UV, algae can't thrive - it ends up producing more CO2 than O2, which acidifies the water. Eventually, it becomes acid enough that the more common algae don't like it (in theory - in practice, the water gets consumed and replaced faster than it acidifies). So a combination of nothing for the algae to feed on, and no UV to photosynthesize helps keep it in check. Once a year I dump the tote, bleach the shit out of it (harder to do than you might imagine thru a 6" or so hole in the top - hard to work a deck brush that way- then refill it).

In the case of my totes, they were painted with an elastomeric (stretchy) white primer. Took two cans to do three sides and the top (fourth is up against concrete board - no UV getting thru that. Then I did it again. Then I did it again. Would have been cheaper to use an $80 gallon of snowseal type paint, except for all the metal bars forming a cage around the tote. Wrapping with black plastic tarps is also popular as a way to block UV - but I wanted to reduce passive heat gain. If you go the plastic bucket route, darker is better. Reds and blues are best, intense is best. Orange and green, less so, yellow even less. Not sure why, I barely remember that physics.

 

[Sally PB]

Algae needs UV light to photosynthesize. Putting water in a dark bucket, with a lid, blocks most of the UV, algae can't thrive - it ends up producing more CO2 than O2, which acidifies the water. Eventually, it becomes acid enough that the more common algae don't like it (in theory - in practice, the water gets consumed and replaced faster than it acidifies). So a combination of nothing for the algae to feed on, and no UV to photosynthesize helps keep it in check.

I had an HN waterer that was clear plastic with a red plastic lid. It had 1.5-2 gallons of water in it, with a couple tablespoons of kombucha tea added to combat algae. It sat in partial sunshine and when I dumped/refilled it (a week...?) it had no slime. I thought it was the acidity from the kombucha, but maybe not, from what you state above. Interesting.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I had an HN waterer that was clear plastic with a red plastic lid. It had 1.5-2 gallons of water in it, with a couple tablespoons of kombucha tea added to combat algae. It sat in partial sunshine and when I dumped/refilled it (a week...?) it had no slime. I thought it was the acidity from the kombucha, but maybe not, from what you state above. Interesting.

Are you on city water, or well? That would determine whether the water is chlorinated or not.

Tea is only mildly acidic, typically. Kombucha tea is MUCH more acidic than the typical - but adding it to lots of water would have reduced that considerably. OTOH, Kombucha is a ferment process, meaning alcohol - and we all know alcohol is a rather effective generic antibiotic, antimicrobial, antiseptic type product.

 

[aart]

We tried adding a pink plastic pool in the run, but the birds wouldn’t go in it. We are thinking about adding pebbles to it, a small amount of water, and a frozen milk jug of water.

Just add a huge block of ice to empty pool(no added water needed).
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

 

[mgharris30]

Just add a huge block of ice to empty pool(no added water needed).
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

I was going to put a frozen gallon milk jug of water in the pool. I’m looking into how to create a large block of ice. I’ve never needed one before