Does "regular" ACV also have health benefits?

[Sunny Side Up]

Yes, I know the raw apple cider vinegar with the floating mothers in it has all sorts of health-giving benefits for the chickens. However, it costs about 6X the amount as the regular ACV with no floating family members in it. These days, the humans in my household have to make do with less expensive groceries than I would prefer to buy, the generic & the non-organic brands. I'd like my chickens to do the same.

If my chickens can still obtain health benefits from regular ACV, then they'll have to make do with that. However, if there are really NO health benefits from it, then it would really be a waste of $$$, no matter how little it cost.

Those who know, please advise, thank you!

 

[Akane]

Yes most people I know and everyone on the livestock forums uses the cheap acv. This is one of the only sites I know where raw acv is that popular.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I think the difference between live ACV and pasteurized ACV that has had the culture killed, is similar to the difference between yogurt with live, active cultures in it and pasteurized yogurt that has had the culture killed.

The whole point in eating yogurt is to benefit from the live culture. You still get some protein and calcium in the dead yogurt, but it isn't any better for you than a lot of different foods would be.

If you're going to use pasteurized ACV, I would tend to skip it, if it was me. I'm sure you'll get a lot of different opinions. All the reading I've done has specified ACV with a live culture, for health benefits.

 

[Akane]

ACV still has many minerals that would not be destroyed. The acidity itself can have benefits including keeping the water cleaner and all the diabetic sites I've read that say it helps with diabetes do not specify that it has to be untreated.

If you really want fresh ACV without paying a high price you can make vinegar from hard apple cider. You pretty much just let it sit for 2 months and the alcohol will be converted to vinegar. It helps to add a little unpasteurized ACV to get it started but you could use 1 container to start many containers of fresh ACV so depending what you spend on the cider the cost would be lower.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Thank you, it's interesting to read the differing opinions. I usually give my flock ACV when I notice some weird poops in their pens. Right now I have a few hens who have dirty poopy feathers under their vents, so I thought some ACV might help make their poop firmer, less runny all down their backsides. Would the pasturized ACV be sufficient to help balance their intestinal climate, or do they need the raw ACV?

 

[HappyHatch'en]

Another interesting thread regarding slime and benefits of using AVC, which I'm not only learning to use but wonder how I would administer it to a automatic watering system?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

For intestinal issues, I would want to use the live culture. A yogurt with an active culture might be helpful for them, also. You can definitely use a purchased yogurt or ACV with the live culture as a starter, to make more of your own. There are posts on this forum, as well as a lot of sites on the internet, on how to do this. It's not hard, at all, and so much cheaper. That's a really good suggestion.