Apple cider vinegar - dosage suggestion

[rose]

I know that it's quite common for people to put apple cider vinegar (ideally the unpasteurised kind - 'with the mother', whatever the hell that's supposed to mean ) in budgies' water every day to help stave off crop infections.

As Ian's had quite a lot of trouble in this area over the past few months, I've been consulting with the wonderful Charlotte of The Birdcare Company (http://birdcareco-shop.com/) about supplementation, and she agreed that, because I can't put their Potent Brew in the water every day ongoing (makes budgies too randy!), it would be a good idea to continue adding ACV on the days I don't use Potent Brew.

I told her that I've been using ACV at a rate of 4 drops per 100ml, and she very kindly consulted with a budgerigar breeder on my behalf and came back with the following advice:

His answer was to aim for between 2 and 5ml per litre of water. So for a 100ml you should need between 0.2 to 0.5ml per day. So at the moment you are on quite a low dose of ACV, so I would say that there would be no harm in at least doubling what you are already putting in. It may just help in between using the potent Brew.

Thought it would be worth posting this, in case of it's of use to other similarly infection-inclined budgies.

[Hezz]

rose, the 3-4 drops per 100mls of water is only a preventative dose. If there are issues, as with Ian, this can be increased up to 10-fold if the situation warrants it. I am not sure how they stomach it so strong, but maybe they just know that it is good for them. So yes, I agree with the advice that you have been given.

[rose]

Thank you, Hezz - that's great to know ! It's just as well they don't have teeth: my dentist has warned me to be very very careful with my daily dose of ACV and honey!

[yellowfacedviolet]

May 25, 2017 19:45:59 GMT rose said:

I know that it's quite common for people to put apple cider vinegar (ideally the unpasteurised kind - 'with the mother', whatever the hell that's supposed to mean ) in budgies' water every day to help stave off crop infections.

It isn't 'ideally,' it's necessary that the acv be the unfiltered  kind 'with the mother' which is normally stated clearly on the label. Filtered acv won't have the same positive benefit. 'The mother' is a colony of beneficial bacteria necessary for the fermentation process. These bacteria, among other things, have positive probiotic properties.

Your dentist's caution is because for some folks the acidity of the acv has an effect on tooth enamel. For those folks, it's recommended that they drink it through a straw. But since budgies have no teeth...