counturchickens Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Is water from a water butt ok for the chickens? We have one handily placed near the run, as long as it's not stood for ages will it be ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Mine drink from all the dirty puddles they can find and often ignore their water bowls.. I reckon it would be fine .It will also have collected bugs etc., Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I don't see why not. Mine prefer to drink from the rankest puddles and have survived to tell the tale. I imagine the water in a but is no worse, as long as it hasn't been hanging around for too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HennyPenny59 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 As the rain water runs off a roof, I would consider the material the roof is made out of, otherwise I cant see any problems either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I discovered my chicken-sitter friend had been filling the drinker from the water-butt for some time, snf it doesn't seem to have done them any harm. I did scour the water-butt out this year as it had a thick layer of sludge at the bottom, but my hens really prefer to drink from the small, stagnant pond, given the opportunity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Just one word of caution - if your water but is one of those pseudo terracotta style ones then as these let some light through, you may find that it has toxic algae in there. I had ours tested and it did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken shack Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Before I moved last year I always used the garden tap. I now have to change the ducks water every two days and I also have eight chickens instead of the five I used to have. My water bill is now on a meter and it was so expensive, double what I used to pay. I now use the two water butts, infact I bought another today so I can use it of the studio. I am hoping this will reduce my water bill which was £900 for the year. I hope I don't make them sick. I think if I get one empty, if it stops raining I may give them a good clean inside. If I had to continue with tap water there is no way I could afford to keep the ducks. The chickens use less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counturchickens Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 It is dark green with a fitted lid, it looks ok. I know what you mean about drinking from puddles, so I am assuming they will be ok! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Before I moved last year I always used the garden tap. I now have to change the ducks water every two days and I also have eight chickens instead of the five I used to have. My water bill is now on a meter and it was so expensive, double what I used to pay. I now use the two water butts, infact I bought another today so I can use it of the studio. I am hoping this will reduce my water bill which was £900 for the year. I hope I don't make them sick. I think if I get one empty, if it stops raining I may give them a good clean inside. If I had to continue with tap water there is no way I could afford to keep the ducks. The chickens use less. I don't know if it is a piece of useless info or good to know, but I'm on a water meter and I found that using my dish washer and filling the duck bath every day takes exactly the same amount of water so OH and I have decided to stop using the dishwasher (there are just the two of us in the house) and chat to eachother lots as one washes up and the other dries. Emptying and re-filling the duck bath, however, is not such a communal activity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR666 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 We have always used water from a water butt for the chickens (2+ years now) and have never had a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
