How to water your chickens

When raising chickens, there are so many options to consider.  Can they survive outside in different climates?  How should they be protected at night?  Should their food have antibiotics or should it be organic?  Here is another concern that many of us, don't consider.  Where do they get their water?



We all want to provide clean water for our chickens.  We change their water regularly.  We clean out their waterers and keep them sanitary.  But what about the water itself?  Where do you get it?  Do you fill it inside the house?  Do you use an outside gardening hose?  Most hoses today do not have the same drinking regulations as the pipes that go into the house.  So they are full of chemicals used to protect the life of the hose, not the life of the animals that drink from them.  Many hoses even contain BPA.  According to the Mayo Clinic: for humans, exposure to BPA is a concern because of possible health effects on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children.

If you are eating eggs from your chickens, here are some options:  you can fill water containers from inside the house; you can remove the hose and fill directly from the spigot; or a costlier option is to look for hoses that do not contain these harmful chemicals.

Just remember that what goes into your fine-feathered friends, also goes into you and your family.