clucker1 Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 is it ok for the chickens to drink water from the water butt? Can't think of any reason why not, they like drinking from puddles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Mine prefer it ..I am sure there are extra bugs in there for them to nibble. If you think about it there are probably more germs from our taps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counturchickens Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 I asked this question a while back, and ours have been on water butt water for months now, no ill effects! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken shack Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Mine have been on water butt water since we moved here 18 months ago. I have ducks also and have to change their bathing water every other day and could not afford to use the tap as we are on a meter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Mine drink from the boot washing tray , and have suffered no ill effects so far. I think they actually prefer water that they find, it is like treasure to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 All of my field chickens have drinkers filled from rainwater tanks. They love it. I do have to clean the drinkers out more often than the garden ones though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckfest Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 This is a very interesting post for me at the moment. I lost Hannah to what I believe was coccidiosis on New Year's Eve, having switched from tap water to rain butt water a couple of months before as their winter quarters are adjacent to the water butt. She died before I could take her to the vet, but had been losing weight for a while. Buffy started with the same symptoms a couple of weeks ago (white runny poo) so we went to the vet immediately, who after a faecal lab test reported that she had cocciodosis. Causes of this range from poor husbandry, to catching it from wild birds, transfer on clothes from other premises. As I live on a modern development, I am fastidious about cleanliness as I don't want the neighbours complaining about smells and I often think I would be happy to live in their so don't think I caused it that way. Buffy has responded to antibiotics and seems to be fine now. I don't have contact with other chicken keepers, so presume the infection has been caught from wild birds. We live near a pond and ducks/pidgeons/blackbirds etc. perch on our roof. As the water in the butt is washed down from the roof, I can only think this is the source of infection, and am no longer using rain butt water in their drinkers. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlina Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Interesting, and perhaps very useful info cluckfest I'm not giving mine any more water from the butt! I note that some breeders vaccinate for this, and some don't - my new girls (according to the list on the website) haven't been. Is this something important that we should be looking out for when buying hens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckfest Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I think the hybrids are more likely to have been vaccinated, but the purebreds including the bantams tend not to be as the vaccines are sold in massive quantities and not suitable for small breeders. All of mine have been on medication in their drinking water for 7 days, and we are having to throw away their eggs for at least three weeks, which is such a great shame as they only started laying regularly last month, and we have still not got over the miracle of it all. It may not have been the water butt water but I won't be taking any chances with it in future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gongladosh Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Mine get water from a water butt off the shed roof - it's riskier than tap water but in the wild, hens would naturally prefer a puddle to chlorinated tap water which (when you think about it) isn't really natural for a hen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckfest Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I suspect that "puddle" water would not contain concentrated faecal matter from other birds in the same way that water collected over time from a roof would, or be stored at temperatures (especially in milder weather) long enough to multiply bacteria in sufficient quantities to overwhelm the hen's immune system. I agree that chlorinated water is not natural for a hen, but neither is apple cider vinegar, garlic and most of the other supplements we give our chooks to keep them healthy. The antibiotics I've had to force down poor Buffy's throat wasn't very natural either and I would rather not have to put her through that again or risk losing her like I did with Hannah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
