Garlic - what to do with it?

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Icemaiden

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One of my poultry books recommends putting a clove of garlic in the hens' drinker to boost their immune system.

1) Do you peel it, or just chuck it in as it is?
2) Do you crush it, or leave it whole?
3) Can you leave the same one in for several days, reusing it when you renew the water, or do you need a fresh clove every day?

I'm making my own ACV too (from windfall apples in the garden) but it still smells more like cider than vinegar at the moment. Don't want tipsy ex-batts; they're not very confident on the ramp out of the coop when they're sober :D
 
You crush and change each time you change water.They not need this every day so you can do this every other day.
 
Be careful with adding stuff to their water, especially for your girls, who have so much change in their lives at present to cope with. Hens usually dislike the taste of ACV and thus drink less, which isn't good, and many keepers have stopped using it as they feel its alleged benefits are unproven. If you put two drinkers in the run, one treated, one plain, they will always choose the untreated one. If you feel they really need it you could try adding a couple of drops to the water if you nake them a damp mash. But I would get some of the real stuff, from an agricultural store not Waitrose, as the formulation is different and the posh stuff doesn't have the same alleged effect. Not sure about the home brew, either!
 
Absolutely agree with Marigold and both are totally unproven. I've never seen any difference with or without. If they are so wonderful, why don't humans constantly have them in their drinking water.
Also take care not to give too much different things too early as they are just not used to it. Their diet may have been plain and monotonous but it was formulated to meet their needs.
 
The French eat a lot of garlic. They live longer than the English. So perhaps Garlic is a good tonic, but be careful of adding anything to the drinking water that puts them off drinking Icemaiden. That can be terribly counter-productive. We concentrate on providing constant clean water and don't add anything to it now. Our chickens are the happiest and healthiest they have ever been. Perhaps the smell of garlic in the air is enough!?!?
 
OK, I'll keep the garlic in the kitchen for now, & the apple cider / vinegar in the demijohn.
The girls have got clean mineral water (that's what comes out of the taps around here...) and layers' mash; they're munching their way through Millie's pellets too, so I shouldn't have any trouble switching them to pellets after their 20kg sack of mash. (I'll start blending the two together when I'm about 4/5 of the way through the sack.)

Now, what do I do with this morning's soft shelled egg?
 
I have to disagree. I use ACV one week in every month.. My girls happily drink it - the unfiltered stuff, not the supermarket one. I believe it helps to keep worms at bay (also use flubenvet), is good for keeping girls calm and also for general health. Humans so also drink ac - a spoonful in a cup of boiling water each morning with a spoon of honey is excellent for health.

I put powdered garlic in their mash each day - a pinch per bowl. Garlic is good to boost immunity, a good natural antibiotic and antifungal treatment. Garlic can be more effective than nystatin when dealing with sour crop.
 
I can believe that CornwallJo -Nystan is not very good. However by the time that fungal strain is diagnosed it has taken hold. The more common fungal infection responds eventually to Flagyl. Onions is good for preventing fungal infection apparently, if they will eat it.

We no longer use ACV. Can see no benefits at all. In theory it increases the acidity of the gut and causes shedding of worms , but if that happens they need worming properly with Flubenvet anyway.
 
I think actually the ACV increases the acidity of the gut so the worms can't colonise it. The guy at Castlefarmeggs uses it in the water from day one; he always checks the birds when he culls them and told me he has never seen worms. We had a similar situation with a cat very prone to cystitis becuase of an injury; a 50mg Vitamin C tablet every day altered the acidity of the urine so the bacteria couldn't breed. Taking her pill every evening was her party trick - used to totally amaze visitors.
 
I can't see the logic in altering the natural ph of the gut, especially over a prolonged period. Raised acidity in the human digestive system can be very uncomfortable !
 
From what I remember it's about 5ml in a litre of water so not very strong. It may be like homeopathic remedies that work better the more dilute they are. On the other hand maybe his land is just free of worms or something. Quite agree about raised acidity in humans - although that's usually the upper tract and we're talking lower tract here aren't we?
 
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