ACV

I just added some acv to my chickens water this week. Think I may try once a week and see how they do. Slowly add a second day if they do well and show any positive effects.

Lorraine Perth said:

How much ACV do I put into the hens water? I have a 20Litre nipple water system

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I googled the conversion for you,20 liters = just over 5 gallons so I'd have to give it a guess and say that at about 1-2 tbsp/gallon so say about 5 tbsp for your 20 liter jug. Hope this helps, will be trying out the ACV myself once my little chickies get here. How do the nipple waterers work? Have you had good luck with them?

aart said:

Not sure you'd want to use ACV in a nipple system......the acidity of the ACV will degrade most metals.

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I think the metal in all nipples is stainless steel which isn't affected by ACV.

realsis said:

I think adding a good Probotic can be more beneficial to the bird than ACV. Rather than making the gut acidic a good Probotic can add Benifical bacteria that once colonize can actually fight off bad bacteria. ACV can be good for the minerals given in moderation at one week a month.more than that in my opinion is too much. But if your wanting to be if it the bird I think a good Probotic can serve to be very Benifical.

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A probiotic powder can clog nipples causing them to leak.

johnlogan said:

Has it been answered? The question was asked in liters, the answer was given in gallons. Now the OP has to convert. I'm sure if they wanted to do any research they would have just searched for the answer to the original question instead of asking on a discussion forum.

But in all seriousness I would agree with realsis, a probiotic would be more beneficial than ACV.

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A liter is approximately a quart, so roughly 4 liters to the gallon.

Camp Leader said:

I just added some acv to my chickens water this week. Think I may try once a week and see how they do. Slowly add a second day if they do well and show any positive effects.

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IMO you really won't SEE any effects from giving or not giving raw ACV.
It's faith that their health could be improved.

Hi
Thanks for the conversion. I have been using the nipple watering system for about 3 months now, the 20 litres lasts about 3 weeks for my 5 chickens, which is great as it's hot here at the moment and before I would have had to give them water every day and worry they would tip it over in the heat and have nothing till I got home. It's also very clean and they "got it" within hours when I took all other water away. My husband made the system for me which was very easy, I just bought the nipples off ebay for a few dollars. I googled how to make them and there is lots of youtube stuff to look at on making them. Would not go back to the old system.

Lorraine Perth said:

How much ACV do I put into the hens water? I have a 20Litre nipple water system

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Yes I have the exact same question. I also use the same watering system.

CountryGal517 said:

I googled the conversion for you,20 liters = just over 5 gallons so I'd have to give it a guess and say that at about 1-2 tbsp/gallon so say about 5 tbsp for your 20 liter jug. Hope this helps, will be trying out the ACV myself once my little chickies get here. How do the nipple waterers work? Have you had good luck with them?

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BEST way to provide fresh water hassle free. No more contaminated water. What a relief!! Hey thanks for answering the dosage in litres.

Hi I'm just new to chickens and this forum, I'm very interesting in trying out ACV in my hens water. I have 7 young ladies at point of lay (had grand total of 2 eggs so far in the last 2 weeks), we have a nipple water system, which runs off a 30 litre water drum.
My question is if we put ACV in the water source will it be ok, running through a metal pipe, and through the nipples; or should we try some other water system when giving them ACV? Not keen to go back to buckets of water after using the nipples, it is so much cleaner and want them to keep using them also, not revert to a bucket again.
thanks in advance!

Suze Victoria said:

Hi I'm just new to chickens and this forum, I'm very interesting in trying out ACV in my hens water. I have 7 young ladies at point of lay (had grand total of 2 eggs so far in the last 2 weeks), we have a nipple water system, which runs off a 30 litre water drum.
My question is if we put ACV in the water source will it be ok, running through a metal pipe, and through the nipples; or should we try some other water system when giving them ACV? Not keen to go back to buckets of water after using the nipples, it is so much cleaner and want them to keep using them also, not revert to a bucket again.
thanks in advance!

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Welcome to BYC!

Benefits of ACV is a subjective subject....
....not sure of your climate/location(putting your location in your profile can help folks give better answers/suggestions),
but ACV in extreme heat can be detrimental to vitamin/mineral uptake......

The acidity can indeed corrode metals, and may release toxic components of galvanization.
Nipple pins are probably some grade of stainless steel(there are many) so rate of corrosion could vary.
Any corrosion would affect the functionality of vertical nipples more than horizontal nipples due to the 'valving' differences.

I would suggest that if you want to 'dose' your birds occasionally with ACV to do so in mild temps with a plastic waterer.

X2 on the above statement about never using ACV with metal containers, tubing and other parts in your watering system. ACV causes metal to corrode and release all kinds of other metals into the water you don't want the birds getting into. So ALWAYS use plastic containers.

ACV can help raise the PH of the birds body over time and help the bird ward of nasty pathogens, bacteria's and virus's. ACV helps to sour up the intestinal tract which keeps a healthy balance of good yeasts and E.coli levels as well.

1/2 to 1 tablespoon ACV per gallon of water is plenty. As stated above, I wouldn't use it on birds in the summer if they have never drank water with ACV in it. The birds may not drink enough water and of course this will cause it's own issues. Once they are accustom to the taste, once a week for 24 hours is enough ACV for health benefits.

thanks very much to both of you for your comments. I didn't know where to put my location but have now figured it out. I'm in Australia, state of Victoria, so in the middle of winter right now. Not overly cold though compared to some. low of 6 deg Celsius and average of around 14 deg Celsius during the day. Our summers can get very hot, some days up to 40 deg Celsius so that will be a challenge to prepare for.

I will do as suggested and have a separate plastic container with ACV when I dose it, that way they have a choice also to just use the plain water in the nipple water system.
Looking forward to learning more about caring for these wonderful creatures, already wonder why I didn't get them years ago.