Thursday, September 24, 2009

Chicken Tonic


A number of you (Jen, Julie, Cindy, Penny, Christy) commented on my last post that you would like the recipe for the special carrot tonic I have been feeding my under-the-weather chickens.

So, here it is - just for you!

Carrot Water Tonic:

Ingredients:

6 carrots (leave the peel on)
1 clove garlic
Adult dose of Vitamin C
Adult dose of Echinacea
2 cups water

Blend this together with a couple cups of water, add to a gallon
waterer and add enough water to fill the waterer. Give it to the chickens and they will slurp it up. It boosts the immune system, helping them, in a natural way, over what ails them.

As my chicken mentor, Tonya, says:
"Carrot water can be given any time, as an immune booster or if you see something you want to try treating naturally, like watery eyes or sniffles. It is good for what ails chickens - and people too."

The above recipe has been floating around my online chicken-owners group for years. My modifications to it are:

--> I do not have a gallon waterer, only a 5-gallon galvanized waterer so I used this. Note: For a few days afterward, the waterer smelled like garlic. Be careful when putting it in plastic; the intense orange color of the fresh carrots will stain things.

--> I like garlic. The chickens like garlic. It's good for them. I add at least 3 cloves, but please note, this may affect egg flavor.

--> My echinacea also has goldenseal included in it. Searching online, I read a few people reference using it for improving their chickens digestion, so I felt ok about adding it.
--> "Adult dose" of Vitamin C, according to my online sources, equates to about 5 Vit C 1000 in a gallon of the mixture. I was nervous and only put in 3 tablets of the Vit C, as well as the Echinacea/ Goldenseal. It's up to you.
--> You should only keep this out for about 24 hours -- if you are going to use it for longer than 24 hours, mix up a new batch. (If it has been hot outside, I will not leave it out overnight and will make up a fresh batch for the next day.)

It is recommended that when feeding this, you should actually take away their other water sources so the only water they are drinking is this tonic. But don't forget to give them their water back when the tonic is gone!

Every time I make my chickens a new batch, they can't even wait for me to set it down before they are already slurping it up:

Yum. Even Roopert the rooster loves it:

13 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for sharing your tonic recipe and the tips. Very much appreciated. Have to get the Echinacae then am making the chickies the tonic. Thanks again.

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  2. Thank you Dani for offering this recipe. I am one who likes to be prepared. Being that I am new to the chicken world any words of wisdom and tried and true remedies are truly appreciated. Hope the girls are doing well and you too.

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  3. Thanks for posting that recipe. My one remaining hen is very picky. She won't drink straight carrot juice, but maybe she will like the garlic tonic version.

    I noticed your metal hen & chicks adorning your kitchen counter and smiled big.♥

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  4. Thank you for posting the recipe.
    I am keeping it for future reference. Although I did feed my chickens shredded carrots last winter and a pretty steady diet of cabbage and popped corn. I think I will start giving them this tonic every now and then just as a preventative.

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  5. Sweet! Thank you!

    I, too, love garlic and can't see anything wrong with it flavoring the eggs - just garlic I don't have to add to my omelette. ;)

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  6. Thank you for sharing the recipe! I think I'll try this as soon as I can get some carrots, just as a treat and to see how they react to it. Mine are not very picky. They even like their Avia Charge water, which smells like fish to me, so I suspect they'll like a carrot smoothie!

    I hope your hens are recovered and doing well now?

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  7. I am sorry your chickies are feeling poorly. I hope they get better very soon.

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  8. Oh thank you for the recipe! I too thought I asked for it, but perhaps I just thought and didn't do it!

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  9. It looks nice, but , OF COURSE, it needs Peanuts.

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  10. Cool! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

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  11. How are the girls doing? Feeling better, I hope!

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  12. Hi! I made a similar recipe today for my girls -- used yours as a starting point ... they love it! :) Read about it here: http://sweetmissdaisy.typepad.com/sassy_sweet_notes/2010/04/carrot-smoothie.html

    Cheers! -Anna.

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  13. Thank you so much for this. I just got a new Ninja kitchen food processor for Christmas from my dear sweet Mother, so this should be fun! I am using red, orange and yellow sweet bell peppers as a natural source or Vit C though. They pak a punch at 270% daily value per 85 grams of pepper that is 3 mini peppers. So away i go to treat the chickens with the new concoction! :)

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