Vitamins and Electrolytes from My pet chicken

[foxypoproxy]

I bought this package of water soluble vitamins and electrolytes from my pet chicken: http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Chicken-Health/Vitamins-and-Electrolytes-p179.aspx

Problem is, i don't know how much to use.
I don't have a giant flock.
I was only going to put some in these little waterers: http://building-a-chicken-coop.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/chicken-waterer.jpg
...can i just pinch a little and add it since its nearly impossible to figure out the exact measurement?
They saw put the 4oz bag into 128 gallons of water....thats alot of water and thats not ganna happen o_o.
i can't even figure out how much to put in 1 gallon.
If i accidentally put too much could it be dangerous?
I wanted to put it in the water for the chickens i had recently received.

 

[dragonlair]

I use something very similar, same stuff, different company.

I just add a 1/4 tsp (or tbls, which ever is in an average measuring set) to a gallon of water, just enough to make it change color.

 

[dragonlair]

BTW.....I don't think it would hurt them if you put too much in, the vitamins it contains are mostly water soluable and will pass right thru if they don't use it all. The worst that might happen is the girls will be really thirsty.

What I do is put the powder in one waterer, with plain water in another. Or, in the smaller pens, I put the medicated water in one day and plain water the next.

 

[silkiechicken]

Well... do you have a gram scale? 4 ounces in 128 gallons would be about .88 grams per gallon. In other words, the amount to add per gallon going by weight will be about 1/3 of the weight of a penny.

Unfortunately, it is hard to measure out a powder based on volume when only weight is given (we don't know it's density).

Really... your feed should have all the vits they need. Chickens, especially babies do not need all those extras... just clean pure water. One of the big mistakes or old time things to do is add antibiotics to medicate water... that is now known to be a GREAT way to make antibiotics useless as they are not cure-alls or preventatives.

 

[foxypoproxy]

Quote:
I don't have a gram scale.
They aren't really babies they are a few months old to a year.
To my knowledge there aren't any antibiotics or anything in there, i just thought the extra vitamins would help since they probably got stressed and weak from the shipping.

 

[dragonlair]

No, it does not contain medications such as antibiotics and the like. It's vitamins, electrolytes and I think a small amount of minerals.

I use it in the winter to keep the water liquid longer and to keep the girls hydrated. (My goats get it too) It contains Vitamin D and A, which is in limited supply up here in the winter months.

Even when fed their layer crumbles, my girls shells got very thin in the late fall, winter and early spring, even when fed eggs shells and crushed oyster shell. Once they started getting the Vitamin D in their water, the shells got stronger because they were able to use more of the calcium.

 

[silkiechicken]

I put the do not use antibiotics thing in because it is still a common additive that many "old timers" and "new and were told so" people use and may come across this thread.

Just put a pinch into their water and don't worry about it. As stated by dragonlair, most vitamins that do not get used are just secreted.

 

[Chris09]

Mix contents of pouch (4 oz.) in one gallon of water to prepare a stock solution. Mix one (1) fluid ounce of stock solution per gallon of drinking water. Prepare fresh stock solution daily.

Chris

 

[foxypoproxy]

Thank you everyone for your help!