Is it bad if the waterer is rusty?

[LynneP]

We have a lot of iron, too. I use a plastic dog bowl with a plug and it seems to work well. Haven't tried the plastic waterers that are electric, seems like a great idea. So, mac, you think your iron is from the well, not corrosion and leaching of zinc? That's a different thing altogether- iron from the iron bacteria in a well may stain things, but is not metabolized by mammals or birds. We use a filter, too. Other than that the water tests fine. Sulfur in that situation comes from iron pyrite and there is a different type of conditioner for that. Not sure what it involes or how expensive...but our fire hall uses one and is pleased.


OUR SHADOWS ARE RADIOACTIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!? argh

 

[fowlmood]

I sure hope a little rust isn't bad for them. If so, please don't tell my birds. They use it daily. I suppose once it gets too bad I'll replace it just in case though. Good question.

 

[EweSheep]

I had an old waterer that I bought from Farm and Fleet back in late 1980's and mind you they did not rust like this new metal waterer did. They were both from LG company I believe. They must have changed ingredients of the galv. metal coating and it was rather unsightly and sometimes you can see kaliescope of marbling in the water surface which I was doubting whats in it. So I got rid of it and turned into those rubber tubs.

I do not like plastic because they would break over time from UV's, birds jumping on it, rodents gnawing on it, etc. And you can not put a base heater no matter what the supplier or distributer says, they do give off some chemicals in the water. Do you like to drink out of your bottled water that been sitting in your car on a hot day? Bleech!

So time for chicken folks to find some alternatives.

 

[ScrambledGreg]

I had a galvanized water can that stayed pretty clean for about a year then it started to rust. If I changed the water in the can daily, the water quality was unaffected by the rust, but if I let it go a couple days, the water would get that horrid red color in no time. I switched to the plastic water jug just to be on the safe side.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
Yep mine get that red about 24 hours later. Yck!

 

[MEA]

Mine is totally rusted on the bottom…these are sold at every farm store and keep the water clean otherwise because it’s gravity fed. It wasn’t a cheap waterer.

Can I treat it with something? Every time I fill it the water washes some of the rust away…I could scrub it off but that seems futile.

 

[user651618]

Sounds like there's a market for a stainless steel chicken waterer.