Help! Moldy Water!

[Ms.tiamaria]

I read that adding ACV to the chicken waterer would prevent things from growing in it. I filled the waterer (it is a nipple waterer) about a month ago with a splash of raw ACV. When I went to clean and refill it last night the inside was covered in black mold. I feel HORRIBLE! My poor chickens have been drinking moldy water for weeks. I thoroughly washed and bleached the waterer, and will be doing that regularly, but what do I do about my chickens? They act fine, which surprises me after drinking that disgusting water for who knows how long. Is there something I can do for them or give to them in case they have become sick from it?

 

[DobieLover]

I read that adding ACV to the chicken waterer would prevent things from growing in it. I filled the waterer (it is a nipple waterer) about a month ago with a splash of raw ACV. When I went to clean and refill it last night the inside was covered in black mold. I feel HORRIBLE! My poor chickens have been drinking moldy water for weeks. I thoroughly washed and bleached the waterer, and will be doing that regularly, but what do I do about my chickens? They act fine, which surprises me after drinking that disgusting water for who knows how long. Is there something I can do for them or give to them in case they have become sick from it?

If they haven't gotten sick yet, they likely won't.
Moral of the story: change the water in your waterer way more often than monthly!
ACV will not stop slime/mold from growing.

 

[SueT]

Maybe it has something to do w the ACV? I would experiment, try a month without. I have not had black mold in my nipple buckets but after a while the water may get slightly green. I change it out every month or so. I don't put ACV in it. The buckets are white food grade buckets.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I clean my Galvanized fount kept in the coop weekly. Under coop and pen water pails get dumped nightly and refilled in the morning.
All get scrubbed clean weekly with a dedicated toilet brush, bought new and used only to clean waterer and pails. GC

 

[Helloworld]

I don’t use the nipples but my chicken farmer friend has to run weak bleach through his weekly to keep mold away.

You worry about chickens but go to any fast food place and look up inside ice chamber..
It is caused from difference in temps. It is cold at the opening but when someone pushes that thing to get ice out, warm air enters and creates mold. Same as a leaky strip around a fridge door.

If you are using a 5 gallon bucket with nipples under, those chickens should be drinking more than that a month. I have 7 hens in one coop. They drink 3- 4 gallons a week. The mold tends to block the holes and if you live on well water, rust bacteria... that weird looking pink stuff you see in your water, is not good either. I have a 3 gallon waterer and it gets changed every other day even if water still available. A larger bucket is so that they have plenty of water until you can get back to them, not to avoid water chores. WATER is a BIG carrier of disease for poultry.

 

[Ms.tiamaria]

I'm concerned about their health. If something like this were to make a chicken sick, what signs would you see, and what would you do to remedy her? The only thing weird that I've noticed is that one of the chickens has had some unformed poops with a small amount of fluid. And she doesn't poop at all over night when she's on the roost, but releases a huge poop when she hops down in the morning.

Also, an off topic question: if a chicken were to be sick with something (coccidiosis, parasites etc.) would all of her droppings show signs or could she have some normal poops with intermittent symptomatic poops?

 

[JanetMarie]

I've had chickens who didn't like to poop in their "bed" at night and would wait until morning. It's normal to have occasional unformed poops.

 

[Helloworld]

I'm concerned about their health. If something like this were to make a chicken sick, what signs would you see, and what would you do to remedy her? The only thing weird that I've noticed is that one of the chickens has had some unformed poops with a small amount of fluid. And she doesn't poop at all over night when she's on the roost, but releases a huge poop when she hops down in the morning.

Also, an off topic question: if a chicken were to be sick with something (coccidiosis, parasites etc.) would all of her droppings show signs or could she have some normal poops with intermittent symptomatic poops?

coccidiosis... poop yes
Parasites... feathers, weight, poop eventually.

Search on here for stages of poop in poultry. It has many stages and most are normal. As for at night, I don’t poop either because I am sleeping. Sometimes, it is when I get off the roost and sometimes later lol just messn!

 

[Ms.tiamaria]

I don’t use the nipples but my chicken farmer friend has to run weak bleach through his weekly to keep mold away.

You worry about chickens but go to any fast food place and look up inside ice chamber..
It is caused from difference in temps. It is cold at the opening but when someone pushes that thing to get ice out, warm air enters and creates mold. Same as a leaky strip around a fridge door.

If you are using a 5 gallon bucket with nipples under, those chickens should be drinking more than that a month. I have 7 hens in one coop. They drink 3- 4 gallons a week. The mold tends to block the holes and if you live on well water, rust bacteria... that weird looking pink stuff you see in your water, is not good either. I have a 3 gallon waterer and it gets changed every other day even if water still available. A larger bucket is so that they have plenty of water until you can get back to them, not to avoid water chores. WATER is a BIG carrier of disease for poultry.

I have 2 silkie bantams. They don't drink much at all. I have a one quart waterer and that lasts them for weeks (although I will be cleaning and refilling it weekly now). At first this concerned me, as I read chickens drink much more than that. But they seem fine, and I figured it's because they are so much smaller than standard breeds. I am a first time chicken mama so I'm learning as I go.

 

[1cock2hens]

I have always been taught its best to clean and fill any water source daily.