Apple Cider vinegar for algae control for horse troughs and how much?

[EileenC]

My friend and I have 3 mini's, 1 Shetland pony and 4 full size horses plus a wide variety of chickens, 2 ducks and 2 turkeys. They are all at my friends house and she has well water. Since it's been hot, we have noticed a lot of algae forming in their troughs and watering dishes. I have done some reading on using apple cider vinegar for algae control in the troughs but they don't mention the ratio of the vinegar per gallon of water. Does any one know the ration of vinegar per gallon of water to use for the troughs for algae control? I don't want to put too much in there to where the horses won't drink the water or get sick from too much but enough to control the algae.


I've read that the vinegar is beneficial for the digestion and provides a shine on the horses coats plus is also a good fly spray, which we have an overabundance of. Would the vinegar be okay for the poultry? Their water dishes and the small duck pool get full of algae too and it's a pain in the butt to have to scrub them on a constant basis along with the horse troughs. We do give them fresh water every day but the algae just keeps on growing making it hard to keep the water fresh for all of the animals. The smaller dishes of water are dumped out every day, cleaned, and filled with fresh water and the big horse troughs are completely dumped of water, cleaned, and filled with fresh water once a week. Any suggestions on natural algae control would be great [please don't suggest inorganic chemicals]. Thanks.

 

[pdirt]

1tbs per gallon of water will help reduce algal growth. Fine for your chickens. Any vinegar will do. If you also want digestive benefits, unpasteurized ACV is the way to go.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Make sure the troughs are plastic, do not use vinegar in galvanized metal troughs. The vinegar will strip the zinc off the metal.

My sister always had a goldfish or twelve in her water tank for the horses, along with a lillypad and a couple of water plants. One year she tried minnows - some leftovers from a fishing trip. It looks nice and the water seems to stay quite clean.

 

[pdirt]

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the no vinegar with galvanized metals thing.

Love the minnow idea!

 

[MaggieRae]

The fish in the trough idea works great... IF your trough isn't in the sun. One of my friends wasn't thinking and threw a bag of goldfish in the trough, but it had no shade. Summer heat and full sun meant dead fish and horses that wanted nothing to do with their water.

I add two cap-fulls of ACV with the "mother" to my chickens' 2 gallon waterers. Never added it to my horses' water but I've heard from friends who have. I've used it on their feet too to prevent thrush.