Someone mentioned giving their chickens unfiltered vinegar in their water as a tonic. My little chicks are just recovering from pasty butt after their journey from Ohio. I would like to get them used to vinegar, but I'm not sure of the dosage. Right now their water is in a1 gallon dispenser. What would the right amount to add to it be? And should I work up to it slowly? I've heard they may not like the taste at first.
Vinegar Dosage?
It doesn't take much... try a teaspoon for a gallon. . It should NOT be used in METAL waterers, and a typical dose is 1-2 tsp/gallon.
Typically I don't start vinegar until they are roaming with the flock...out of the brooder.
Julie =0)
Thanks so much! Now I have something to shoot for---.
I thought the Apple cider vinegar was to help calcium absorbtion when the chicks were old enough to begin laying....? Is there another reason for giving it to them?
I use the vinegar for calcium absorption which is why mine don't get it until they are in the run with the big girls....lol.
There are many who believe acv benefits overall and general well being both in animals and people. It is good stuff and I don't see that it would hurt giving it to chicks.....but it's not my practice at this time.
Julie =0)
it also works to keep smell down and helps control bacterial infections.
Wow, I did not realize it did all that!! So cool. I will keep that in mind! Thanks ya'll !!
You can also put cayanne pepper in their water (not with vinegar) Cayanne pepper is really good if you have sickly chickens. My sister gave it to her rooster who was almost dead from fowl pox and he pulled out of it and lived.
We gave it to our bantam rooster that got a little cold chill and was hoarse and couldn't crow, he sounded like he had a head cold. By the next day he was crowing like normal.
Also buttermilk is good to give young chicks, it builds their immune system. (learned these from my brother, he studied growing poultry organic)
So is cooked egg yolk! It is good for chicks, as it has everything that a chick needs to grow in the egg!
( although of course you wouldn't feed just yolk to the chicks)
I add cayenne to the food, sprinkle it on top. I put garlic cloves in the water, but not on the same days I use the vinegar...lol.
Julie =0)
the garlic is antifungal, so not only good for the immune system, and anti-parasitic, but helps to keep down the green gunk buildup in the waterers. garlic can lose its properties quickly, and you preserve them by infusing the minced or chopped garlice immediatly in the ACV [Bragg is our fav]. and they love picking the pieces out to eat!
tf
Learning something new everyday here. Thanks for the info, TF, I love garlic, too.
Don't know about drinking ACV, but maybe. (chuckle)
well, when you are desperate, one TBSP ACV & i TBSP honey in very warm water...
Sounds like a hot toddy used for a cold. Do we add rum to it?
Oh, how fluffy this is....
once, when i didn't think i could stand the taste, my husband made it WORSE with whiskey. but it still worked. think i'll take it without the whiskey OR rum...
i am just preening now...
made me want a hot toddie!! ahum, I think I might feel a cold coming on,
Nip it in the bud!!
Kel, are you sure it ain't a case of the fluffies coming on? Just a thought.
cayenne works for worms and poor circulation also. i used it for my hen when she had frostbite. she has to have both feet amputated and it helped her alot. i think it helped her feavers too. it's been mths now and she is doing great. my only prob is she is handicapped but she sure tries. she is my sweety pie i'd not trade her for the world though.
silkie
Oh, silkie, I am so sorry about the frostbite and the consequences of it. I do remember my brother saying cayenne being good for birds. He had quite a flock of various birds and used to send me boxes of whole cayenne peppers when he had too many. He told me that some birds really love them. I will have to start giving my kids crushed peppers, but I don't know about the garlic. It would probably get eaten before it got out of the house. (by me...chuckle).
I don't think I will give them the peppers too often, they may start to lay "hot" eggs.
DH says if they do, you wouldn't have to add pepper to your breakfast eggs.
yeah, and the vinegar will give us pre-pickled eggs! LOL
thanks, me too. we had to take waterers out so we put pans of fresh water in and she decided to take a bath i guess in about 2 degree weather. her feet froze solid in a block of ice. it was horrible and she is still mending but getting there she now uses her wings for balance and tries to walk some. i'm thankful everyday she is still with us. i don't give it to them often but yes the pepper is good for them. yep garlic is good for them also.
Silkie, That is so sad!!
But at the same time so encouraging, Such a strong will to survive and keep going.
I know several people that can take a lesson from your hen!!
awe thanks. we where told we should cull her but she is one of my exhibition silkies and a family pet. she fought so hard and was a mth later before we knew she was in trouble by then it was too late. she fought so hard i didn't have the heart to d that. we love her too much so now she is a house chookie for life so i get to spoil her all the time. she bunks with a splash sizzle to keep her company and she mothers the sizzle who is young yet so she has a buddy to keep her company also.
You know, silkie, we can all learn from the pluck of your hen. It takes a lot of guts to keep on going in the face of adversity and it sounds like she has all she needs.
BTW, does she have a name? If she is going to be a "house chookie" then she should at least be named. Let us know what it is. Please.
Also, why did you have to remove the waterers? We put a heater under ours. We did have one last year, but the waterer leaked and shorted out the heater, so we had to buy another this year. It also helps keep the henhouse warm in our sub-zero weather.
her name is snow white,lol. we've always called her snow since she is a pure white silkie. the waterers are the 1 gal flip overs. i live in town so i can only have 12 layers here but had probs with my ignorant neighbers so we moved them all to my friends outside of town.
just before winter hit they had a prob with the electric box catching on fire so there is no electric there now as it was shut off. i can't run heated water bases anymore for them or brooder lights. water was removed cause they froze solid. i bring them back home and run hot water to unthaw them and then an hour later run them back over. that night we got hit with a bad storm took me almost a day before i could get back to them with the self waterers. we have never used open water for them before. never thought one would be dumb and sit to take a bath in it during winter. we found her laying there and thought she was dead and when picked up she had a block of ice from the pan on both feet solid ice.
this isn't a very good pic cause the flash makes her look yellow,lol but this is our snow. after the frostbite happened. we used the pepper in her feed along with antibiotics and vitamins and meds in her water and asprin. we used bag balm in her bandages but i think the pepper helped alot with keeping sirculation going for her. we had to amputate about half inch above her one foot she lost from their down and her other foot we managed to save 2 of her 5 toes and half her foot. she is still a sweetheart last night she layed and watched tv on my chest with me while i played with her crest feathers,lol. she coed and fell asleep on me it was so cute!!
Ohhhhh, that is so sad. But, at least you were able to save her life. She may eventually learn to walk pretty good on the stump and the other foot. Who knows, she may surprise you with what she can do.
Poor little thing. Funny how we become so attatched to chickens. They become part of the family. Each has their own personality.
We recently lost a hen to a dog or a coon, (not sure what it was, all we found was feathers) but she was our sassy little hen (her name was Richew). She loved to help me dig in the garden but she also loved to peck your feet and fuss. We had another hen (Chick) that got part of her upper leg chomped out the same day Richew got killed. I think Richew saved her life because that is just something she would have done, gone after whatever was attacking Chick.
we are hopeing after she heals all the way to try to figue out how to make her a fake leg and part of a shoe for the other fot so she hopefully can walk again. it's gonna be very hard but the way we see it is we love her and if she is willing to give it all she's got then we should too ta help her. the wort that can happen is it won't work but never now till ya try.
from the description i'd say it was a coon. we had that prob here also before and they masacred my quail till we trapped the family of coons out. yes they do grow on ya,lol. they are each like my kid's. i have a large flock but i know most by name if not i know them by look or how they act. it's funny most people would say they where just chickens but i can tell every one apart in some way or another. now my cockatiels i have 16 now and can't tell all them apart, rotfl. i have some that look identical, i'm trying to learn who is who and name them all though.
Oh Silkie, what about a Sulky Clay shoe.. you can form it to fit perfect, just like they do for artificial legs (saw it on "Hows that made") then bake it hard.. I don't think it would be too heavy.. and she could have a shoe for every occasion.
oh, dear sounds like you found your new hobby frans...
do u mean fimo clay or sculpey clay? or that clay that ya bake in the oven that turns like wooden beads? heck i never thought of that. we saw pics online to take the pumkin scoops and use a blowtorch to melt and form them a plastic duck like foot but i wasn't sure how to get it to hook to her leg. i just had a thought if we take that stuff ya mold handprints with and uses my clean legged salmon favorolle roo we can mold a foot for her and cast it with the clay. do ya think that should work??? how could we hook it to her to stay on???
Yes, I ment FIMO or scupley.. in real life they stay on by suction.. I ill have to think about a chicken..
Tamara, how would I advertise that? Artificial Limbs for chickens??? or shall I just include all game birds?
better limit it to bantams for now. till you get it just right, then move to standards.
big birds have big feet, like my buckeyes and Jersey Giants, and cochins... that would take a LOT of fimo!
and, do you give the guy back his spurs?
i do have a guinea with a broken foot...
There was a show, I think on AnimalPlanet, about a Cockatoo who had her legs chewed off by a dog (I think) and they built her little legs with feet that were like round lily pads. She got around pretty well---
lily pads.... sound sperfect for a duck too!
oh, most of my flock are bantam sorry. i didn't think of the spurs i was thinking clean legged so it wouldn't pull feathers when removeing the mold from the other bird. i got lots of females so don't have to worry about the spur thing, duh can't believe i forgot about that,lol.
i was origionally thinking one of her sisters since about same size and breed but dh said um they have to much feathering u might hurt them removeing it,lol. so the favs are another 5 toed breed that's why we where thinking them but i have girls too. next time i go to joane's i'll check it out and see what i can find. that would be so awesome if we could get her to walk again and live a normal life. thanks so much for all ur guy's help it really means alot to us and snow!!
A VERY long time ago (1994) I asked someone.. "what is cut & paste?"..
so now I ask,
what is the purpose of a spur?
When I originally read spur, I pigion holed it into a "dewclaw' catagory. Just there to hurt the enemy.. or get caught on things and drive your Mom crazy and allow the vet to get rich.
they are like a dew claw they are there for breeding purposes to hold onto the female but in chickens it's also there for diffence(sp?).
you mean like capt hook...? cave man style.. their women don't stand still.. hehe.. sorry didn't mean to go x rated.. just caught my funny bone.. very interesting.. it is so much easier to ask than try to read... and you guys spark my interest into reading more.. what a circle..