Gatorade

[warren shiver]

I had some of my Cream Leg Bars and Swedish Flowering Hens standing with their heads drooped almost to the ground and I though they would surely die. I called the Lady that I bought them from and she suggested I give them Gatorade because the weather was 103 heat index. I had some in the fridge that was red. I think it was cherry. I gave each pen of chickens ,10 hens an 1 rooster, a 12 oz bottle undiluted and they drank it within 20 min. I gave it to them for 8 days and now they seemed to have fully recovered. My question is should I give it to them once a week as a treat and to prevent them from getting exhausted again? Thanks! Warren.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If you make plain cool water available in addition to the electrolytes (Gatorade) then I would think it should be fine to offer it once a week.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

Welcome to the site!
Probably won't hurt..Few questions tho. Do they have adequate shade and space in their pen? Lots of fresh water? Do you add vitamins?
Also, you can offer frozen veggies for a snack and it helps keep them cool.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Less expensive and without the corn syrup are packets of dry vitamin with electrolytes at your local farm and garden store. Small packets linked together like yeast packets are for one gallon mix and usually sold as chick saver. Larger bags will be in the livestock section. I've a large bag that will last me years as there are few summers with high heat up North. We rarely use it for heat, mostly for first watering of spring hatches.

Being your in the South with HOT summers I'd get the larger bag. It's very inexpensive that way. Mix rate is 4 oz. to 50 gallons. That's close enough to half a teaspoon per gallon of water.

Here's an 8 oz bag at TSC for less than $6.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/durvet-vit-elect-8-oz?cm_vc=-10005

 

[Egghead_Jr]

For that matter you could add a sweetener to make your own Gatoraid for less than a buck a gallon. Assuming the amount of sweetener is less than 45 cents per gallon mix.

 

[LittleBird123]

You should not give your chickens Gatorade, it is filled with sugar, corn syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and artificial dyes. It really is not even good for people. Like Egghead_Jr said it would be best if you bought electrolytes to put in their water.

 

[warren shiver]

Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate all of you sharing your experences with me. Warren.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Both the Durvet and Sav-A-Chick contain dextrose as well.
So, it looks like any electrolyte you purchase would have some type of "sugar". Even the "homemade" recipes have some type of sweetener/sugar added - whether it's table sugar, honey, molasses, sucrose, etc. Granted, not all sweeteners are created equal and some are healthier than others, it's up to each individual to determine what product is right for them after some research/reading.

With any electrolytes offered, it's always best to make sure that plain fresh water is available and limit the amount that is consumed.

Just my thoughts