Coconut Water for Chickens – The Perfect Electrolyte

To think that coconut water can be this beneficial to chickens is a miracle. Beginning from a chick’s first day, coconut water supplies just the essential nutrients to keep your day old chick lively and healthy. This wonderful electrolyte is ideal for broiler chicken and can restore ease to your stressed chickens in no time. In case the word electrolyte doesn’t sound familiar, let’s break it down right away.

What is an electrolyte?

Simply put, electrolytes are minerals found in the body with an electric charge. These minerals are found in the blood, tissues, urine, as well as other fluids in the body. Coconut water is suitable for chickens because of it’s electrolytes property.

Why are Electrolytes Important to your Chicken?

• Electrolytes overcome stress in chickens
• Electrolytes balance the amount of water in chickens
• They also maintain the chicken’s pH level
• Electrolytes are responsible for moving nutrients into a chicken’s cells
• They help to remove wastes out of a chicken’s cells
• Responsible for maintaining proper functioning of the chicken’s nerves, heart, brain, and muscles.

Some Facts About Coconut Water

• Coconut water is all natural
• It is free of fat
• It is low in sugar and calories
• Coconut water is very rich in vitamins and electrolytes such as calcium, potassium and magnesium.
• It is also known as dew from the heavens
• While you can use water from a young coconut with higher sugar levels, mature coconut water is richer in protein and has higher pH levels

There is a saying that no one knows how water gets into the coconut, and this explains how special it is. Coconut water is in fact so pure that it is transfused into the human body just like blood. So far, coconut water for chickens has been found to be only beneficial and not harmful. Let’s quickly consider some of the benefits of coconut water in poultry.

Benefits of Coconut Water to Day Old Chicks

Day old chicks are fragile and often need to be handled with care. When your chicks arrive, they have probably undergone a lot of stress from the hatchery and the transportation. Because of this, one of the best gifts you can offer your chicks is coconut water. It is a worthy anti-stress for that precious moment.

When Do I Need to Use Coconut Water?

• When you get your day-old chicks
• After too much handling, such as de-beaking, manual vaccination, etc.
• When you are taking your chickens on a journey. For example, transferring point of cage layers
• To compensate for temporary overcrowding
• During heat stress, especially in broiler chicken
• During mites or lice infestation
• When a predator agitates your chickens, e.g. snake in a layer pen
• During moulting in layers

READ ALSO: Before You Vaccinate Your Day-Old Chicks

With all these benefits, any poultry farmer who is yet to take advantage of this natural juice is cheating himself.

Dosage

For your information, your chicks can take as much as they can. You can decide to dilute it with water or simply serve the pure juice to your birds. One thing to note is that it is good to serve the fresh coconut water because it begins to lose its quality upon exposure to oxygen.

So, what are you waiting for? Your chicks and mature chickens deserve some coconut water treat.