hannahb Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Hi - I just wondered what type of water you all used for your chickens? I have a number of water butts and thought (maybe wrongly) that they would prefer that, more natural with bugs etc but 2 of my hens went off laying and i was getting concerned but know that they are back on tap water the layng has increased and there doesnt seem so many "runny" poo's, could this be linked? Can they get worms from rain water? (I've recently wormed them) Sorry for the questions!!! Hannah x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol U Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Mine hate tap water as they don't like the chlorine, so I always fill their water bowls from the water butt. However, their very favourite places to drink are really dirty, muddy puddles (preferably with poo in). I would doubt if there's a connection between the tap water and the increased laying, but you could always clean out your water butt and start again, just in case. I find a net bag full of barley straw keeps the water sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Mine prefer muddy puddles too. I do fill up their drinkers with tap water, but I full a watering can, and let it stand for 24 hours before dishing it up. They seem to prefer it sans chlorine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve. Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Mine get theirs through the hosepipe Am I a bad man? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Mine get theirs through the hosepipe Am I a bad man? When I say mine get tap water...I mean outside tap via hosepipe. So if you are a bad man...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 I wouldn't use my water butt contents for hens, because my roof is dirty. Don't worry about tap water looking too clean: they will soon customize it to their preferred brown. In fact, it probably doesn't matter what you give them: they can eat and drink almost anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HENthusiastic Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 worried now mine have water out of the water butt which collects rainwater from my garage roof. I assume my garage roof is dirty...... I've lived there 4 years and certainly never cleaned it. But then they are okay so far....... and the best water is always puddles, or out of the old watering can thats been standing for ages. Ive always given them 'garden' water since I first got them. I'll be interested to hear what others do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffie Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Can water butts be contaminated by wild bird droppings etc. I use fresh outside tap water Buffie x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HENthusiastic Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 mine can be contaminated by anything that drops onto my garage roof! wild bird droppings........ wild birds.......... cat pooh........I dread to think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chooklady Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 When my run is complete we are going to put a piece of guttering along the back and a water butt to catch the rain from the roof of the chicken run. The Chlorine in tap water disperses after 24 hours also depending where you live the nitrate levels are quite high in tap water too. Rain water is much softer. I collect rainwater for my tropical fish, so I am going to do the same for the chickens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJuff Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 I was thinking about fitting a taurpaulin drain to the roof of the run and have it directed straight into the new super glug when it arrives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choppish Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 my 2 love tea! i loked dow nnd both were drinking it as fast as they possible could! not sure how good it is for them. Yorkshire tea, milk no sugar. i supose they are definately english hens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HENthusiastic Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Buttercup likes earl grey. Milk, no sugar. (We dont give it to her..... she helped herself once and looked like she loved it!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flo Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Mine love tea too! I put my cup down to pick something up out of the flower bed, turned around and Mabel had her head in my cup! Needless to say I didn't finish it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
