Apple Cider Vinegar...How Much to Add to Water?

[Gracefulspice]

My hen has a cold. How much do you mix with a gal of water? Or just leave it in a bowl by itself? I added electrolites with vitiamins to the water already. I thought I'd try this method first since I can't find VetRx yet.
Or any other ideas would be great. Thanks

 

[4H kids and mom]

Add one capfull of ACV to each gallon of water when you are just using it for vitamin replacment. Add 2 capfulls to every gallon if you need a stronger concentration to help kill off mites, fleas, or to help an older or sick chicken.

ACV is also good for your domestic pets, and for YOU! Use the same concentrations as above.

 

[cookinmom]

Another suggestion is to mash up a clove of garlic and put it their water, or put it in a little bit of yogurt or cottage cheese (low sodium). Garlic is a natural antibiotic and will knock out a cold in no time. I've heard you should not mix it with ACV in the water though, just use one or the other, but I don't know why.

 

[4H kids and mom]

cookinmom, I think its an acid and base thing. I had heard the same thing, but no one ever says WHY you shouldn't do it! lol

Garlic is also great at keeping fleas and ticks off chickens, and other animals.

 

[kico166]

Hi new here - but a word of caution:
I've heard you don't want to keep the eggs if you give garlic (if it's not toxic????) - it will affect the taste. I'm sorry, I don't recall just where I saw that - burning the candle at both ends lately.

I'm rather new to chickens - but found some wonderful information through Poultry One.com. Someone had a link to a very informative site http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/

Click on the Poultry Health and read away. She has 3 seperate articles covering the 3 main Upper Respiratory infections chickens can catch.

She highly recommends a product called Oxine as a preventive and used in a fogger - if done soon enough will fix the girls right up. I found some at Amazon - best price. (I ordered today.) She also recommends a few preventives (vitamin - probiotics type stuff alternated every other day with Oxine in the water.)

She even has an article entitled "Chicken First Aid Kit"!

Here's hoping your girl recovers!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Just wanted to say that garlic is in no way, shape, or form toxic . . . unless, of course, you are the size of a common bacterium. My guess is that garlic could very well change the taste of the eggs. I've heard that if you let ducks eat fish, their eggs will taste fishy.

 

[dlhunicorn]

DO NOT MIX ELECTROYTES AND ACV IN THE SAME WATERER
(give a good supplement like aviacharge 2000 if your birds are poorly as malabsorption of nutrients >even if they are eating enough< will occur...it is a complete supplement providing the menimum NRC recommendations which the feed formulations are based on in the correct ratio to each other and can be purchased through McMurry or Strombergs)
In a pinch you can also add three drops of POLYVISOL (in their beak) and this will provide also the vitamin A which a deficiency of such will also cause runny eyes and nares etc.