Electrolytes for chickens overdone?

[LibbyR]

I brought my birds into fair today and I gave them Sav A Chick electrolytes as their only source of water for a while. I did not use the whole packet and it was very diluted. There isn’t a chance that I overdid it there?

 

[Chicken Whisperers]

Are they acting weird? That's all I can say cause I have no clue if overdoing electrolytes is a thing

 

[LibbyR]

Are they acting weird? That's all I can say cause I have no clue if overdoing electrolytes is a thing

Nope just concerned about it. I didn’t think so either but then you think about sodium intake.

 

[Chicken Whisperers]

Ooooh yea... I don't know, sorry. At first I thought it was no big deal but your right: I didn't think about if the sodium could harm them

 

[Lady of McCamley]

They should be fine. I once goofed and misread a packet label (of a LARGE packet) and put all of it in a quart jar. I gave it to them for several days to what was probably about 5 times too much.

No one was harmed. My daughter said consider it a loading dose of vitamins.

I then read my instructions more carefully.

So normal concentrated Chick Saver could be given daily with no harm.

LofMc

 

[Chicken Whisperers]

Hehe! What did you think it said?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Hehe! What did you think it said?

I *assumed* it meant the whole packet for the quart jar. It was a concentrated packet that was supposed to go into, I think a gallon? Or maybe it was even more.

I really overdosed them

Lofmc

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I'm really cautious with electrolytes, but I don't have much knowledge to back it up. Just observations.

I've noticed if I slightly overdose their water, they don't drink as much because they're bothered by the bright yellow color. Maybe they can't even see yellow, I don't know. But I've noticed this pretty consistently.

And one day, feeling like doing something stupid, I decided to try some chick electrolytes in a glass of water. It reminded me of Gatorade and looked tasty. I ended up jittery and wired and almost sick for hours. I also had an urge to roost.

They'll probably be fine. But all creatures have very specific balances of vitamins and minerals and other thingies to keep them stable and well. If they get less or more, it can cause problems. So, when it comes to additives, less is probably best.