Apple cider
vinegar is a traditional tonic for hens. It's a good idea to add apple
cider vinegar to your hen's water for about a week in every month. The
recommended dilution is 2% so if you are using a 10 litre container of water you
would add 200 mls of apple cider vinegar to the water.
To make apple cider vinegar for the hens at
home next time you are using a good quantity of apples when baking or
cooking save the peels, cores, pips and any other apple scraps and let them sit
out in a bowl for half an hour or so to oxidize. Thereafter transfer them
to a large glass jar and half fill with the apple
scraps.
Cover the apple scraps with water to about the three-quarter mark of the jar. Dissolve 2 tablespoons of sugar in warm water for each litre of water covering the apples and stir in. You can use raw honey instead of sugar. Next take a piece of mutton cloth or cheese cloth and attach it over the lid of the jar firmly with twine or a large rubber band.
Put the jar somewhere warm and dark. The hot water cylinder cupboard is usually ideal. You need to stop the light getting in which will inhibit the growth of the bacteria. For the next week or so gently mix the contents with a wooden spoon once a day. If you can figure out a way to weigh the apples down with a glass container or plate or similar when you first put the contents in the jar you won't need to stir the mixture daily for the first week.
After a week or so, or at the point when the apples are staying at the bottom on their own, use a piece of mutton cloth or cheese cloth to strain the apple scraps out of the liquid. Discard the apple scraps. Wash the glass jar in which the apples have been fermenting and return the liquid to the jar. Re-cover with the mutton or cheese cloth and return the jar to the hot water cylinder cupboard or whatever dark, warm place you have chosen to brew your concoction.
In about 4 to 6 weeks or when the liquid has a vinegary, acidic aroma take out a little with an eye dropper or long handled spoon and taste. If it still has too much of an alcohol smell and flavour, leave it for another week and then re-check. If it seems to pack the right vinegar punch when you taste and smell it, the apple cider vinegar is ready to use as a tonic in water for your feathery friends.
Please note : An imperial quart and a metric litre are about the same amount.
Cover the apple scraps with water to about the three-quarter mark of the jar. Dissolve 2 tablespoons of sugar in warm water for each litre of water covering the apples and stir in. You can use raw honey instead of sugar. Next take a piece of mutton cloth or cheese cloth and attach it over the lid of the jar firmly with twine or a large rubber band.
Put the jar somewhere warm and dark. The hot water cylinder cupboard is usually ideal. You need to stop the light getting in which will inhibit the growth of the bacteria. For the next week or so gently mix the contents with a wooden spoon once a day. If you can figure out a way to weigh the apples down with a glass container or plate or similar when you first put the contents in the jar you won't need to stir the mixture daily for the first week.
After a week or so, or at the point when the apples are staying at the bottom on their own, use a piece of mutton cloth or cheese cloth to strain the apple scraps out of the liquid. Discard the apple scraps. Wash the glass jar in which the apples have been fermenting and return the liquid to the jar. Re-cover with the mutton or cheese cloth and return the jar to the hot water cylinder cupboard or whatever dark, warm place you have chosen to brew your concoction.
In about 4 to 6 weeks or when the liquid has a vinegary, acidic aroma take out a little with an eye dropper or long handled spoon and taste. If it still has too much of an alcohol smell and flavour, leave it for another week and then re-check. If it seems to pack the right vinegar punch when you taste and smell it, the apple cider vinegar is ready to use as a tonic in water for your feathery friends.
Please note : An imperial quart and a metric litre are about the same amount.
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