Gatorade????

[JoeP]

I would stay away from gatorade, but electrolytes are a must.
Use pedilite that you would give kids. You can get it at most
super markets, or pharmacy/store. It works great and keeps the
birds fresh.

 

[buddy#2]

I started using 1/4 teespoon of apple cider vinigar to 1 quart of water. Really seems to help.

 

[MGFarm]

I guess there are pros and cons to both Gatorade and Durvet Vitamins and Electrolytes. Duravet has vitamins that Gatorade does not have, and no sugar, but it has an alarmingly high level of sodium when compared to Gatorade. 37% of an 8 oz packet of Durvet is sodium. That's 84 grams of sodium, or 84,000 mg of sodium. Gatorade has 100 mg of sodium and 5 grams of carbs (5,000 mg of carbs). So, I don't think the sugar content of Gatorade is as big of a deal as some are suggesting (considering one gram is the equivalent weight of a paperclip). If you throw out cracked corn occassionaly, you are giving your chickens the same amount of carbs (5 grams) as Gatorade. I personally consider 84,000 mg of sodium a bigger issue to be concerned about than than 5,000 mg of sugar. I think sodium is a cheap ingredient which is why Duravet has 37% of its product as sodium. Your chickens are already getting 68,000 mg of sodium from chicken feed, so if you give them Duravet on top of chicken feed, then your chickens are consuming 152,000 mg of sodium (152 grams, or about 1/3 pound of sodium). I personally think that is too much sodium--you might as well stick a salt block out there.

Duravet: 0 carb, 84,000 mg sodium
Gatorade: 5,000 mg carb, 100 mg sodium
Cracked corn: 5,000 mg carb, 23 mg of sodium
Purina Layena: 0 carb, 68,000 mg sodium

I guess someone could break the portion size down to what an individual chicken would receive, but I'll leave that up to someone else.

 

[Clay Mudd]

so if you give them Duravet on top of chicken feed, then your chickens are consuming 152,000 mg of sodium (152 grams, or about 1/3 pound of sodium). I personally think that is too much sodium--you might as well stick a salt block out there.

Duravet: 0 carb, 84,000 mg sodium
Gatorade: 5,000 mg carb, 100 mg sodium
Cracked corn: 5,000 mg carb, 23 mg of sodium
Purina Layena: 0 carb, 68,000 mg sodium

I guess someone could break the portion size down to what an individual chicken would receive, but I'll leave that up to someone else.

You're comparing apples to rutabagas here. Providing sodium is a major part of what an electrolyte supplement is for. And the total amount of sodium in the package is irrelevant -- the chickens don't get 152 grams of sodium all at once; it's closer to one gram per gallon of water.

 

[Chris09]

I guess there are pros and cons to both Gatorade and Durvet Vitamins and Electrolytes. Duravet has vitamins that Gatorade does not have, and no sugar, but it has an alarmingly high level of sodium when compared to Gatorade. 37% of an 8 oz packet of Durvet is sodium. That's 84 grams of sodium, or 84,000 mg of sodium. Gatorade has 100 mg of sodium and 5 grams of carbs (5,000 mg of carbs). So, I don't think the sugar content of Gatorade is as big of a deal as some are suggesting (considering one gram is the equivalent weight of a paperclip). If you throw out cracked corn occassionaly, you are giving your chickens the same amount of carbs (5 grams) as Gatorade. I personally consider 84,000 mg of sodium a bigger issue to be concerned about than than 5,000 mg of sugar. I think sodium is a cheap ingredient which is why Duravet has 37% of its product as sodium. Your chickens are already getting 68,000 mg of sodium from chicken feed, so if you give them Duravet on top of chicken feed, then your chickens are consuming 152,000 mg of sodium (152 grams, or about 1/3 pound of sodium). I personally think that is too much sodium--you might as well stick a salt block out there.

Duravet: 0 carb, 84,000 mg sodium
Gatorade: 5,000 mg carb, 100 mg sodium
Cracked corn: 5,000 mg carb, 23 mg of sodium
Purina Layena: 0 carb, 68,000 mg sodium

I guess someone could break the portion size down to what an individual chicken would receive, but I'll leave that up to someone else.

You might want to first find out just what Electrolytes are.

Electrolytes
Salts and minerals that can conduct electrical impulses in the body. Common human electrolytes are sodium chloride, potassium, calcium, and sodium bicarbonate. Electrolytes control the fluid balance of the body and are important in muscle contraction, energy generation, and almost every major biochemical reaction in the body.

Yes Durvet Vitamins and Electrolyte contains from 32 to 37% sodium per 8 oz packet but you might be forgetting that a 8 oz packet gets diluted into either water or feed. So the amount of sodium is then diluted.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chris[/FONT]

 

[MGFarm]

You're comparing apples to rutabagas here. Providing sodium is a major part of what an electrolyte supplement is for. And the total amount of sodium in the package is irrelevant -- the chickens don't get 152 grams of sodium all at once; it's closer to one gram per gallon of water.

Actually, I am comparing apples to apples. I was comparing the sodium content of Duravet to sodium content of Gatorade because people were talking about both products. So comparing sodium content of the two products would apples to apples. If I compared the sodium content of Duravet to the potassium content of Gatorade, then that would be apples to rutabegas. Second, I never stated in my post that sodium is not a major part of what an electrolyte is; what I inferred was that the product Duravet may simply contain far more sodium than required simply because it is an inexpensive ingredient. Do your research on sodium vs. potassium to see which is the better electrolyte. Third, I never stated that a single chicken is consuming 152 grams of sodium all at once; what I specifically said was that unless you figure out a per chicken portion, you cannot tell how much they are consuming. Lastly, (and what I presumed everyone on here would know) is that percent content is percent content is percent content. It is irrelevant how much you dilute the product. If the product contains 37% sodium and you dilute it to 1 part per gallon or 10 parts per gallon, the solution is still going to contain 37% sodium by volume (basic high school chemistry). So the real question that has gone unanswered here is how much sodium does a chicken need in its diet. Whatever that magic number, that's what you have to replace in an electrolyte supplement if the chicken has reduced feeding because of the heat. There is no reason to give the chicken 37% sodium in an electrolyte if the normal sodium intake for a chicken is 8%, for example.

 

[MGFarm]

You might want to first find out just what Electrolytes are.

Electrolytes
Salts and minerals that can conduct electrical impulses in the body. Common human electrolytes are sodium chloride, potassium, calcium, and sodium bicarbonate. Electrolytes control the fluid balance of the body and are important in muscle contraction, energy generation, and almost every major biochemical reaction in the body.

Yes Durvet Vitamins and Electrolyte contains from 32 to 37% sodium per 8 oz packet but you might be forgetting that a 8 oz packet gets diluted into either water or feed. So the amount of sodium is then diluted.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chris[/FONT]

Actually, I have a Masters in Agriculture, did 21 years in the Infantry where hydration was a requirement and raised 5 kids where increased electrolytes was required routinely. So, I think I know what an electrolyte is. You might first want to review the definition of a solution, review what a percent of a solution is and maybe brush up on the concept of molecular weight as it pertains to volume/moles in a solution. 37% sodium in an 8 oz package is still 37% sodium if you measured out only 2 oz of product. Sort of like the concept of a flat income tax. 10% tax on $12,000/year is the same rate as 10% on $1M/year.

 

[Red Barn Farms]

Save-A-Chick electrolytes brand is probably the most often used product. It's available at most farm supply stores for $1.99 as a three pack. Each pack treats one gallon of water.

 

[Chris09]

Actually, I have a Masters in Agriculture, did 21 years in the Infantry where hydration was a requirement and raised 5 kids where increased electrolytes was required routinely. So, I think I know what an electrolyte is. You might first want to review the definition of a solution, review what a percent of a solution is and maybe brush up on the concept of molecular weight as it pertains to volume/moles in a solution. 37% sodium in an 8 oz package is still 37% sodium if you measured out only 2 oz of product. Sort of like the concept of a flat income tax. 10% tax on $12,000/year is the same rate as 10% on $1M/year.

If you take Duvet that has 37% sodium and add it to 500 gallons of water then it is DILUTED. It is no longer no longer in it's concentrated state and no longer 37% sodium..


It like if you were feeding a 16% protein feed and you add 10 lbs of corn per every 90 lbs of feed, that 16% feed is no longer 16% protein it is in fact a 15% feed. Why because it was diluted...

It don't take a Masters in Ag. or 21 in the Infantry to figure out how things get diluted.

Chris

 

[MGFarm]

Duravet mixed by the instructions provides 84 grams of sodium in solution. Gatorade provides 0.11 grams of sodium in solution. So from an economical standpoint, Duravet is less expensive.

Here is another way to look at it as well: My experience is that our chickens reduce feed down to a 1/4 lb feed per chicken in the heat (pastured hens). There are 200 quarter-pound servings in a 50 lb bag of Purina Layena. A 50 lb bag of Layena has 1816 g of sodium. A 1/4 lb ration per chick would have 9 g of sodium in a daily ration. Presuming a chicken will drink 8 oz of water in a heat wave, you are giving your chickens 933% more sodium than Purina recommends in a day. Back to my original opine that maybe 84 grams of sodium in a solution may be unnecessary in an electrolyte for chickens.

We have done an observational study (non-scientific) between Duravet and plain old apple cider vinegar without any observable differences other than the chickens prefer the water treated with apple cider vinegar when compared to water treated with Duravet.

To each his/her own. Have an enjoyable week.