Sunday, June 26, 2011

Re: [CHICKENS-101] Keeping a plastic chicken waterer clean in summer

 

Well, I'll tell you how I do my watering, and maybe it will provide a springboard to ideas you can use. 

All my waterers are the white plastic bells with red bases made by Harris Farms and purchased at Tractor Supply.  The bells are filled with water, the bases put on and they are then flipped over so they can be hung by their wire handles in the chicken pens.  Right now I have 14 of them and as of this moment that is 5 more than are in daily use.

Water is changed daily.  No options there.  My chickens kick shavings and dirt into their waterers.  I empty the waterer onto the ground outside the pen and take it to my outdoor sink station, fed by a potable hose.  I scrub the red base with a stiff brush, then run my hands over all the surfaces to remove any remaining slimy areas and I always have slimy areas after 24 hours of use.  Next I scrub the outside of the bell with the brush, then run my hands over the inside, again to make sure the water holding part is free of any slimy residue that's grown.  Then I rinse and fill the bell, screw on the base, flip it over and hang it in a pen. 

I love my big No Crank Outdoor Sink Station, but when the company changed hands that item was dropped from the inventory.  I got mine on eBay and I'd gladly pay twice the price for another one.  A washing area can be constructed with an outdoor table, a basic hose with an adjustable nozzle, and a sturdy dish washing brush from Dollar Tree.  We really need proper tools to do a good cleaning job.  On anything. 

I'm also a stickler about tasks being assigned to people being done, and done right.  I've hauled kids out of bed at midnight to do what they failed to do during the day.  I'm really a 'Take no prisoners, show no mercy' kind of person when it comes to what is expected. 

Georgia






--- On Mon, 6/27/11, Rob Mc Coll <morningstarlearning@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Rob Mc Coll <morningstarlearning@gmail.com>
Subject: [CHICKENS-101] Keeping a plastic chicken waterer clean in summer
To: CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, June 27, 2011, 1:04 AM

Hi All,

I have a plastic chicken waterer that seems to work pretty well in spring and fall, but in summer I have a hard time keeping green then blackish algae from growing on it.  I've tried vinegar, but I'm not sure the chickens like that in their water.  So I stopped.  If I go back to vinegar should I use white or apple cider?

Granted, I CAN scrub it every three days, but my kids are supposed to do the chicken water job and though I ask them to wash it thoroughly, and they try, they never get all the places the algae grows.  And then I find it all overgrown.

Do they make a metal automatic chicken waterer?  Would this work better than plastic?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks so much!

Truly,

Britta in WI




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