My solution to getting dirty chicken water pans clean is to find a pine cone that is a bit soft and weathered and use it to scrub out the pan.It is amazing how dirty the pans can get over night. I leave the pans fairly clean at night and full of water.
In the morning the water is gone and dirt has dried hard in the pan. It won't come out with just rinsing.
Since these pans are outside the chicken pen I think the local wildlife come by at night and make themselves at home.
Some of the animals probably just want a drink, but I'll blame the raccoons for getting the pans all messy. They like to wash their food in water.
Sometimes the pans are knocked over, but most of the time the pans are just empty. Except for the dirt.
This is a neat little video of raccoons eating and washing their food.
Peek at the Past
(September 6, 2009)
[3 eggs today]
~:>
Smiles
7 comments:
Hopefully this is fixed and your chicks will have clean water.
I just nealry gag at the thought of drinking dirty water. Yucj]k!
What a wonderful post! I will try the scrubby idea, know the problem well and will also use it on a larger scale with the horses water bath too.
I loved the Raccoons, what delightful little creatures they are.
Best wishes
Diane
xx
My Husband just killed a raccoon last week. It was running our new chicks that we had just put into the coop. My chickens like to wash their feet in their drinking water. I am going to have to break down and go get a waterer with a lid on it before winter. Good Luck with your water bowls.
Careful, Coons love chickens too. As cute as the animals are they are a major predator of the feathered friends.
~~Matt~~
coons kill chickens...nasty things. They like to grab them by the neck and pop thier heads off.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
You mean the chickens would be a nice snack for the raccoons! Good thing Morgan is around. We use a toilet brush here for scrubbing water pans.
Teresa
I like the idea of a pine cone scrubby!
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