The Miracles of Chlorine…NOT!

**Before reading this article I would like to tell you that I DO NOT AGREE! with putting chlorine, bleach or any other chemical like that into your birds drinking water. These chemicals are toxic to the birds, in the article below you will notice that Dr. Marx states that after using the chlorine in his loft his loft was essentially disease free. I have no doubt that Dr. Marx’s birds were disease free because the chlorine will kill all bad bacterias in the birds however along with killing the “bad” bacteria the “Good” bacteria in the birds will also be destroyed which in turn will destroy the birds immune system and natural immunity to disease. Let me give you a little scenario lets say you chlorinate your birds drinking water in your loft yes your birds seem to be disease free but after drinking the chlorinated water your birds immune system becomes weak. Now lets say you ship your birds to a race and now your birds are kept in a loft that doesnt chlorinate their water. Without the chlorine acting as an artificial immune system in the birds your birds own weakened immune system will be bombarded by normal bacteria from both the new loft and the new birds that they come in contact with. Now your birds are highly subseptable to new disease that normally the chlorine would have killed and so on and so fourth. My opinion when keeping pigeons is to only medicate when absoluetly necessary. Some fanciers in my opinion go overboard and weaken the natural immunity of their birds with artificial supplements. The reason why I posted the below article was to show you different ideas and opinions that fanciers have. Again I DO NOT agree with chlorinating your birds drinking water, in my opinion please use it for what is was meant for; a cleaning solution and a cleaning solution only.**

Thanks -Chris

The Miracles of Chlorine

The addition of common household bleach to the drinking water does, indeed, have beneficial effects on pigeon health.

This seems a little weird since the drinking of cholrinated water has negative implications in human health, especially with suggestions that it may be incriminated in the increased rate of cancer.

Chlorine is a strong chemical which binds to most organic molecules and can change their chemical identity, making some non-toxic compounds become toxic.

Personally, I use a filter on my drinking water which removes chlorine; but my pigeons drink a lot of it with what I percieve as beneficial effects. NEVER PUT ANYTHING ELSE IN THE DRINKING WATER AT THE SAME TIME AS CHLORINE.

The ususal method of treating the drinking water is to add 1 to 2 teaspoonsful of common household bleach, such as Clorox or Purex, to each gallon of water. The amount varies depending on the temperature. When it is hot the chlorine leaves the water faster, so use more; when it is cold, it leaves the water slowly so use less.

Chlorine is a very strong disinfectant and keeps the water-transmission of disease organisms to a minimum. Most diseases of pigeons can be spread via the drinking water, so the judicious use of a disinfectant can prevent some of the things that our pigeons may be exposed to.

There may be a hidden benefit as well: the increased consumption of chlorine, which in turn is eliminated by the kidneys, produces a more acid urine. The urine is excreted along with the feces.(it is the white cap on the feces) This net result is a more acidic dropping. Salmonella, and other bacteria, dislikes an acidic environment.

This may decrease the environmental proliferation of the bacteria, making it less likely for pigeons to contract an infective dose. This is theory, and not proven scientific fact, so thake it for what it is worth. I have given it a lot of thought and concluded that this is why lofts that deal with paratyphoid do better after treatment, if the birds are kept on this chlorinated water.

I handled convention race birds this last spring/summer. The only thing that I did for the birds was to keep them on chlorinated water. Mine was the only loft that experienced no sick pigeons. Is that coincidence? I think it probably isn’t.

I also theorize that drinking this chlorinated water has a negative influence on the trichomonads in the oral cavity. I need to do some simple research to confirm this but, in my mind, it should have some effect on the numbers of these organisms. It at least will minimize the water transmission of trichomonas; and this is the main route of spread.

Remember: NEVER PUT ANYTHING ELSE IN THE WATER AT THE SAME TIME AS CHLORINE. IT WILL PROBABLY NEUTRALIZE THESE COMPOUNDS OR RENDER THEM TOXIC TO THE BIRDS . When wanting to give vitamins or a treatment for coccicia, worms, or trichomonas, etc., simply leave out the chlorine for those days and then resume when the dosing is completed.

Household bleach should not be considered a treatment, but only a preventive measure.

The Miracles of Chlorine by Dr. David E. Marx DVM

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