How to keep large barrel of water for the chickens sanitized?

[porters4]

Hi all,
I have a question that I could use a little help on with a chicken waterer I set up a couple weeks ago. I made an auto chicken waterer using a 40gal plastic barrel going to a set of chicken nipples the barrel is sealed off and has a screw on lid that is loosely on to allow the water to flow freely to the nipples... I have 9 chickens and its looking like a full barrel will last me probably a month and a half... I just realized that with the water sitting in that barrel for so long I could get bacteria or whatever growing in that water and I don't want to do anything to make the chickens sick... Anyone have any ideas on how to keep that water clean and safe for that long of a time? Thank you in advance for your help!!!

 

[glib]

vinegar.

 

[porters4]

Thanks for the response. I'll google up vinegar for dosage... I was thinking they were going to go threw a lot more water than they have with the nipples as I figured there would be a lot of wasted water that would not find the way into the beaks... I'm now wishing I would have used the 25gal barrel that we had....

 

[pdirt]

Bleach will work as well.

I once did a rafting trip where it was very hot. We had to drink about 2 gallons of water per person per day to stay safely hydrated. To filter that much water (long before small backcountry filters were common) would have been a real chore. So we used bleach to make the water safe enough to drink from bacteria. I don't recall the dosage, but it should be pretty easy to lookup online. After a while (I am guessing a week or so), you would probably want to treat the water again. You can also get test strips designed for pools that will tell you what concentration of chlorine is in the water.

I have used apple cider vinegar in our chicken's water before. While vinegar reduces the ph (lower ph makes it less hospitable to all the common "bad" bacteria), it can promote algae growth, which may or may not be harmful. I never tried it with white vinegar, not sure if that would make a difference or not. The algae never bothered me (nor the chickens) much as they have certainly drank from some nasty ponds and puddles full of all sorts of algae.

Keeping the water cool and out of direct sunlight will make a big difference, both in bacteria and algae.

You could also just fill it with enough water to last 2-3 weeks instead of 6-8 weeks. I would probably still treat the water with something, though.

If your water source is from a city water system, then it's already been treated with some sort of chlorine product. I would not treat it upon fill up, then treat it in a week or two. If the water gets warm, treat it sooner (in a week vs. 2 weeks).

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Try a "scientific" experiment. Put out a bowl full of of the purest Evian bottled water that money can buy, and an equal sized bowl of muddy water, preferably collected from the muddy hoof prints in a cattle feed lot. After a few days weigh each water bowl and see which water that your chickens prefer to drink.

A lot has been made about natural free range chicken keeping. In this "natural free range" setting, chickens drank from things like hog wallows or else the mud hole where the farmer's wife poured out her wash water. Now i don't recommend that you force your birds to drink this kind of water but they will drink it if you leave stale or dirty water out where they can get at it. I guess that you could add a little chlorine bleach to your barrel to keep algae from growing in it or only fill your 40 gallon barrel 1/2 or 1/4 way full. Everything works out if you will only let it.

 

[eviemethugh]

Our feed store sells a copper product that keeps the water "sanitary"
The directions are for a 500 gallon pond
But we are just using a little tiny fraction every few fill ups so it can empty out. Agree with the person who said to not fill it all the way.
I would designate a day every week as fill up day, because 6-8 weeks....I would forget to water them after so long of not checking every day! Wow! That's a big barrel!

 

[glib]

vinegar dosage varies. I have water with pH 9.2, for example, and you probably want to take it to about 3.5 to be safe. Vinegar is about 2.5, but with a much higher total acidity than the total alkalinity of water. Ratios should be in the neighborhood of 1/2 cup per gallon, but it could be 1 cup, or 1tbsp, depending on water. It is a lot of vinegar when you calculate it. Less is needed if it is wine vinegar, more if apple.

 

[donrae]

If you're on city water and the barrel is sealed, you really don't need to add anything to the water. If you sanitized the inside of the container and only use it for water, there shouldn't be anything growing in it, especially in a relatively short time.

I'm on a well and store water for disaster preparedness in 55 gallon barrels. I add bleach just to be on the safe side, because I'm immune suppressed. Standard ratio is 8 drops of bleach per gallon. I want to say my 55 gallon barrels took 1/4 cup each, but don't trust me on that, just google storing water long term or such to find the correct amount. A little more really won't hurt, the CDC says if you're drinking obviously contaminated or murky water to double the basic amount.

 

[porters4]

Wow! Thanks for all the replies guys! Yes I cleaned/sanitized the barrel very good before using it and I went out and looked again and its actually approximately 32-34 gallons and I'm right at 20 gallons now. It was filled full on the 5th of this month... The barrel is in the shade at all times and looking inside the barrel with a flashlight it still looks crystal clear. I am also on city water so yes its chlorinated from the city but I would imagine that all the chlorine would be gone at this point... I was always told that it dissipated in a short time but maybe that's wrong? I decided to try Braggs organic apple cider vinegar with "the mother" and see if that works. I figured I would start with 2 table spoons per gallon and see how it works... If that doesn't work I may give the bleach a shot but ACV sounds "friendlier" and maybe some good for the chickens also....
I included a pic of my setup to give you an idea of what I'm talking about... Again... THANK YOU!!!

 

[donrae]

My understanding is, if the container is sealed, the chlorine has no place to go. an open container will dissipate, but a closed system will retain it. For example, I chlorinate my water when storing it, but even a year plus later don't re-chlorinate it before drinking.