Skip to main content

ACV, Water, and Chickens' Health

Those of us who try to stay organic and antibiotic-free as much as possible when raising chickens rely on Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) for cleaning as well as a nutrient supplement for chicks and chickens.  A wonderful article that has the research compiled as an easy to understand resource is "Apple Cider Vinegar: are the benefits for chickens as valuable as people claim."

After reading the article, if you decide that you too want to use ACV for your chickens, the next question is how to convert the dosage from UK in to US. The quanity amounts recommended are in metric/litre and for those of us in the US, well, we are the ounces, quarts and gallons type of measurers.  So the amount for young chicks at 0.5% of ACV to water (in plastic or ceramic containers - not metal or galvanized) is about 1 teaspoon of ACV per quart of water and to be added to the water for about one week per month. 

As the chicks grow (about six to eight+ weeks of age), using 1% ACV, you might increase it to 2 teaspoons of ACV per quart of water or a little under three tablespoons of ACV per gallon of water. 

For adult chickens, (after 15 to 20 weeks of age) and using 2% ACV, you can increase it to 3.75 teaspoons of ACV per quart of water or 5 tablespoons of ACV per gallon of water.  Again, never add ACV to water in metal containers of any kind.  

As mentioned in the article, the Apple Cider Vinegar needs to have the mother, whether that is homemade Apple Cider Vinegar or Bragg's Organic Apple Cider Vinegar that still has that cloudy appearance and some of the mother in the bottle.  Apple Cider Vinegar that is not cloudy is pasteurized, and the nutrients of the mother are missing.  It's still tastes about the same, but pasteurized ACV is missing that important nutrient component when it was bottled. 

Now that you know the type and the dosage of ACV, you might want some clarification about how often to use ACV in your chickens' water. The recommendation is to use it in their water for one week, then switch back to clear water for three or four weeks before adding ACV to their water again. They do not need ACV in their water all the time, and mostly what they need is clear fresh room temperature water. Not too warm. 

Young chicks need water temps a about 77°F (25°C). This is considered to be an ideal water temperature for chicks to help them survive (based on research), while pullets older than 6 weeks and adult chickens do better on cooler water at about 55°F (12°C). Chickens of all ages are hesitant to drink water that is more than 85°F (30°C).  Regardless of outdoor temps, if the water is too warm chickens won't drink it, adding to dehydration symptoms. 

If you are using city/chlorinated water, you may want to consider "resting" it for a day in an open bucket or spare container before giving it to your chicks or chickens. But those are subjects for another day. 

Make your own ACV! 

DIY Apple Cider Vinegar - image from reusegrowenjoy.com


Resources: 

https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/

https://reusegrowenjoy.com/

https://afs.ca.uky.edu/poultry/chapter-12-water-temperature

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where We Started

We started like many backyard farmers with a small flock of four chickens.  We chose the Russian Orloff. They are a beautiful bird that will lay about 100 to 150 medium-sized light brown eggs in the first year. They are quite hearty for cold regions which I can attest to that when we had many weeks of subfreezing weather that first year we started the flock. However, they do not do so well in the very hot summers which we have started experiencing year after year the past few years. 3-week Russian Orloff Pullet Because we live in an area that is renowned for predatory animals, we built an A-framed coop and run with a footprint that was just big enough for four hens. It was so sturdy, that we couldn't move it without a tractor!  First Chicken Coop The first coop had all the fancy bells and whistles, like an auto feeder and watering cups, electricity to it for lighting, and insulated. Like I said, all the bells and whistles....
Post a Comment
Read more

2023 Testing with a Few Different Breeds

This year, we will have a few traditional breeds of chickens, but also some that we have never raised before.  The breeds that we have the most experience with are the Heritage Breeds of Rhode Island Red and the Barred Plymouth Rock.  Last year, we also had the Silver Laced Wyandotte, the Easter Eggers, Black Australorp, and the Lavender Orpington, but we didn't get a chance to raise any of them into layers since they were so popular that we sold all of them as young pullets. So, while these breeds are repeats from last year, the hope is to be able to keep some for our flock.  The Splash Laced Wyandotte and the Cuckoo Marans are totally new to us. Also, we picked up a few special order chicks for a family that we may get to try out. The Cream Legbar and the Olive Egger. We only picked up one extra of each of these last two breeds, so health, gender, and survival will be the key to  us having the opportunity to try them out in our flock.  At the moment, the only ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Summer 2022 Batch

This summer, we pre-ordered 20 chicks with 15 of those chicks being a "mystery" from the hatchery. We think we have the mystery chicks all identified. Rhode Island Reds, Barred Plymouth Rock, and Golden Comets. The hope is to sell most of these before needing to merge them into the flock. However, if we need to merge in order to winter over until they start laying in January, we can do that. We have done it before and have plenty of room in the main coop. 
Post a Comment
Read more