# Water from regular garden hoses are not safe for chickens



## pioneerMan (Jun 26, 2021)

I bought a new rubber hose recently. Yes, it's all rubber, as opposed to other garden hoses made of various plastics. I read on the packaging that water coming from this hose is not safe to drink. But if it's not good for me, it's likely not good for my chickens.

Should we all be using those white water hoses that people use while living in a RV? It sure would be nice if we lived in a world where not everything kills us slowly.

Thanks!


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I think they've just taken all of this stuff too far. As a kid I drank out of hose on a regular basis. Probably all those of my age on the forum did the same. We're all still around. 

Think about it, if the hose is flushed or empty before using there is a low probability of leached chemicals.


----------



## pioneerMan (Jun 26, 2021)

The difference here, robin416, is that you likely "occasionally" drank from a garden hose, and even then it was probably during the summer time. But with the chickens, whenever they want a drink, it comes through a hose that actually has a chemical warning on it.... and the chickens drink this way Every. Single. Time. It would be foolish to not consider those toxins build up in their flesh and make their way into the eggs.


----------



## Animals45 (May 11, 2021)

Your chickens aren't gonna die drinking water from a rubber garden hose, hoses weren't invented to just water your garden.. Where else would you get the water from to give to your pet? I've been giving my chickens, horses, dogs, goats, ducks and cats water from a hose for years and it hasn't ever harmed them or made them sick. I got quite a few dogs and can't fill a 8 gallon bucket of water everyday from inside water and bring it out to them, I'm certainly not a big muscle man.
But I really don't care what you do since you probably only have chickens and it's easier.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Unless your birds are getting the water directly from the hose in some sort of watering system chances are extremely low that any chemicals have leached into the water. Almost all of us use some sort of container to water our birds, so they are not exposed to standing hose water.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I guess I should be dead by now.


----------



## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

What they said. Also, chickens live far less long than we do. Certain toxins would take much longer to build up to harmful levels for them or you. I’m not gonna say you should do x or y, it’s totally up to your own peace of mind. But honestly- when you water them, do you start with an empty hose or do you leave water in it all the time? Either way you probably spray it a tiny bit before filling, or use it to rinse the outside first- I know I do. 
Point is, that fraction of a minute it’s traveling through there to the waterer just isn’t long enough to leach much of anything. So you’re all good. Good luck deciding where your comfort level lies.


----------



## imnukensc (Dec 5, 2020)

If dawg should be dead by now, I'm pretty sure I'm writing this from the grave. Flush the hose for 15 or 30 seconds to get all the bad juju out. It ain't rocket surgery.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

imnukensc said:


> If dawg should be dead by now, I'm pretty sure I'm writing this from the grave. Flush the hose for 15 or 30 seconds to get all the bad juju out. It ain't rocket surgery.


I do the same with the kitchen faucet every morning when I get up before I drink a glass of water.


----------



## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

Yup! Just common sense and it tastes better and fresher that way anyway. 
I’m totally a hose drinker too, I kinda like that taste, reminds me of childhood no matter how much I enjoy it as an adult!


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

@pioneerMan we're not ganging up on you. We're just trying to set your mind at ease that using a hose to water your birds isn't as awful as they make it seem. Take a hose and leave water sitting in it, chemicals can leach. But water racing through the house has little chance for dangerous levels of contamination.

I'll give you an example on why it's not as awful as it seems. Many of my birds lived to be ten years old. One lived to be 14. If using a hose was so awful my birds never would have lived beyond what the average life span was.


----------



## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

Who likes drinking water from the hose or the tap like ew


----------



## danathome (Sep 14, 2020)

I do not like to drink water from the hose or tap; not because I think it unsafe, but because of the awful taste. I agree with OM, the speed at which water goes through a hose does not allow time for chemicals from the hose to diffuse into the water. If thirsty I would not hesitate to hose drink, but I certainly would not drink from streams and rivers and lakes these days; I would, literally, have to be dying of thirst to do so.


----------



## Hencackle (Apr 30, 2014)

There are better quality hoses such as Premium Drinking Water Safe Garden Hose
I used those from a different company for watering the garden and livestock from the well.


----------



## SilkieGirl (Apr 29, 2021)

robin416 said:


> As a kid I drank out of hose on a regular basis. Probably all those of my age on the forum did the same. We're all still around.


LOL. I drink from the hose all the time. Maybe not all the time but I do.


----------



## JediPat (Sep 19, 2018)

I may or may not have grown up pretending the irrigation ditch by my house was a forest stream...I lived thru that. The chickens will be just fine.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

OK, you're male. We know you did.


----------



## JediPat (Sep 19, 2018)

robin416 said:


> OK, you're male. We know you did.


I used to wrap strawberries and grapes in moss and stash them in there to keep them cool. Look at me now, LOL!!!


----------

