[bacchus51]

I read somewhere that you should never use metal dishes to feed/water your birds. Surely stainless steel is OK, isn't it?

[Elcie]

I'm not sure I haven't heard this, but there are certainly galvanised steel feeders and drinkers available so this must be ok.

[GrannieAnnie]

My birds have galvanised drinkers and feeders, stainless steel dog bowls as drinkers, plastic water buckets, oh and plastic feeders and drinkers too!  They have never died from any of them as far as I know.  So don't worry about it! 

[joyfull]

metal are fine but dont put any apple cider vinegar in their drinkers.

[alisonwo]

Joyfull why not put cider vinegar in the drinkers?  I have been doing this thinking I was helping them

[carolbriar]

I think Joyfull meant don't put apple cider vinegar in a metal drinker.  It reacts with the metal.  I always put apple cider vinegar in my plastic drinkers.

[grumpydad]

apple cider vinegar is slighly acidic, the acid reacts with the galvanising metal eroding it, tainting the water and the drinker will then rust.

it is better in plastic, although it should be safe in a very good quality stainless steel

[cambssuz]

Can someone please explain the apple cider vinegar in drinkers.  Not the part about not putting it in metal dishes, I understand the science of that.  Why do you put apple cider vinegar into the water?  I am very new to keeping chickens and had not heard or read that anywhere.

[bacchus51]

Recommendation of no metal dishes came from NRM feed suppliers to poultry farmers.

[grumpydad]

theory is that the vinegar raises the acid levels of the gut, making it a more hostile enviroment for worms etc, which wont like to live there, hence less worms in the chucks

[wolverine]

How much vinegar do you put in ? I'd never heard of this either.

[joyfull]

25ml per litre and use for four weeks out of every 5, best to buy the stuff from horsey places rather than the supermarket stuff as the supermarket one will have been processed. 

[dizzylizzie]

How much vinegar do you put in ? I'd never heard of this either.

Remember, its not normal vinegar, its apple cider vinegar, like joy says you find it in the horse section of feed stores, although the last lot i bought actually had chickens on the label and was with all the life guard tonics and stuff like that