Eggstaticmom- I’m late to the game commenting on your Chlorine Dioxide water treatment question, but I’ve used it since we first brought home chickens and had great success. This year we have around 30 chickens + a goose and while I’m still fairly new (this is our second year) to having chickens, I can say that we have never lost one to sickness or disease.
I buy the components from
https://kvlab.com/chlorine-dioxide-products/
and mix it when I refill water. We were doing a 5 gallon bucket with a smaller flock, but have increased to a 27 gallon tank that we probably only fill to 22-25 gallons. We never have a problem with biofilm or slime in the tank- in fact I use it in a much higher amt in the goose’s pool just to keep it from getting too gross. There are a lot of commercial poultry, or livestock articles on the benefits of health related to its use. I’d highly encourage it!
I’ve used the same bottles of chemicals for almost 2 yrs… just bought new and it was around $250 for the largest bottles (32 oz), but there are certainly smaller versions available. It’s mixed in a 1:1 format and I’ve titrated them up to 3mL of each per 5 gallons of water, so at 960 mL in a 32 oz bottle, that would get you 320 treatments for a 5 gallon bucket, or more if you use less. There are a lot of videos out there, but it does give off a gas when mixed, so definitely do it in a well ventilated area.
Let me know if you have any other questions.