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

The Leading Online Pigeon Racing and Racing Pigeons Magazine – The Pigeon Insider

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107 thoughts on “The Miracles of Chlorine…NOT!

  1. Before I give anything to my birds I make sure of the pros and cons a certain substance can provide or cause to them… I personally treat them like my kids who is in need of TLC( Tender Love and Care).. About this Article!!! Common people it is used as Disinfectant!!! Certain what Chris have mentioned is 100% true it kills bad bacteria but along with it are the good bacteria that dies as well… Use Apple cider vinegar instead and check the wonders it can give your birds..

  2. This is an ongoing topic and I must say that there are arguments true to both sides.The only thing that I have to say on this is that surely it cant be good for any system to be fed this on a continual basis year round. If you need to destroy an organism causing your birds illness then by all means do something but then back off so that the birds can rebuild their natural flora.There are many wonderous remedies given to us by nature so use them to your advantage.Disinfect your drinkers on a daily basis if you wish but not your birds!!Keep them acid naturally and give them a big dose of Gods antibiotic every day. Its called OXYGEN and its Free!!!!!!It is the best. Most disease is caused by stress and mainly overcrowding, overworking,over medicating etc etc. You can never over oxygenate!!!No draughts on your birds obviously but Lots of oxygen. Keeps them well.I also have no problem giving the birds one drink only on return from a race after being in contact with other birds but that is that if you have all else right in the loft.Cancer thrives on anaerobic conditions and so do all other pathogens. Give the bad bugs plenty of oxygen and they die. Thanks for all the interesting comments they make you think. Cheers and good luck.

  3. I agree. It is still a good thing to give to the pigeons at a small amount the evenning after a race. The pigeons are in touch with hundreds of pigeons, which could be infected by certain deseases. I agree that a thing like bleach will destroy the good bacteria, but then put back the good bacteria the next day.I never have to stress about sick pigeons since 1988. It works for me.

    Thank you for all the good stuff. Go well

  4. Hi David thank you, to the info on the chlorine, I’ve got to say, chlorine is already in our drinking water so what I do, I leave the water standing a bucket over night and keep topping up when needed I don’t use bleach but I use Viadine 18 once, twice every two weeks on its own,I don’t mix. I was also told, when medicating for wormind – canker – cocci let the water stand over night as the chlorine kills,the mediction for what treatment given.
    once again Thankyou. I would like to wish you and your family A Happy and Healthy New Year.

  5. Bleach and chlorine are chemicals that should be used for disinfecting the loft.Chlorine only should be used to disinfect drinkers because once it has dried it won’t harm the birds if tiny drops remain on the surfaces.The old saying,would you drink your birds water is a good way of determining if you are doing right by your birds.I am no rocket scientist but you won’t catch me drinking bleach any time soon.I have heard of fanciers using bleach in the drinkers,but come on guy’s,haven’t we evolved a bit since those days.If you have to depend on such a backward approach then I think you are grasping at straws.I can only say to those fanciers “GOOD LUCK” because you obviously need it.

  6. I retired from running a municipal water system after 29 yrs. We used chlorine as a disinfectant for the municipal water supply which came from ground water wells. Chlorine works well as a disinfectant for bacteria as long as you have the correct proportions. As long as I was a water operator there was never a fatality or sickness in our town from drinking chlorinated water. When I retired I got back into pigeons several years ago, I did not add any bleach to the water in the water feeders since I felt the city water had enough chlorine in it already for disinfection but I did notice that my water feeders always smelled a bit when I opened them up for daily cleaning.It was at this point when I decided to add 6-8 drops of chlorine bleach to my 2 liter water feeders. It worked! No more stinky water feeders and my birds are doing just fine. Remember 6-8 drops /2 liters. It works. If you decide to use apple cider vinegar in the water as a treat for your birds, don’t use the bleach that day. Keep it simple but make it routine. Birds like a routine. Keep ’em healthy and fly’em! Later, Robert

  7. I’m licensed as a nurse and I have to agree with Chris here. To put chlorine or clorox in the drinkers as a matter of general course is not a good practice. If you have animals that are sick, they should be separated out and treated. To constantly dump clorox or chlorine into your birds system makes about as much sense as you or I taking it on a regular basis. The biggest reason birds get sick is because their lofts aren’t being kept clean. I’ve owned birds for many years and the single line item to healthy birds is clean living conditions and clean drinking water. Just imagine your home and no waste management. How long would it be until you got sick. As far as I am concerned, clorox and chlorine is closing the barn door after the horse has gone. The FIRST thing to be looking at is how clean is your loft and how clean are your drinkers? I read one woman’s blog and she said she washes her loft down regularly with some product they use to clean operating rooms in her hospital. She reports good results. I think this is the better way to go. Remember, chlorine and clorox are POISONS and you are putting these poisons into your otherwise healthy birds’ systems. Drugs/poisons always do two things: (1) one thing that they are supposed to do, and (2) something that they are not supposed to do. At a glance, I’d say that regularly poisoning your birds is going to shorten their life span. My suggestion is to back up the process and try to head off the bacteria in the loft before you have to address it in your birds. If you want to bleach something, bleach your drinkers. I put sheets of contractor’s plastic down. When it’s time to clean, I just lift up the edges and all of the droppings and bacteria get sent out with the trash; less work, cleaner results, no poisons, happy birds.

  8. I don,t see anything wrong with using chlorine.Its like anything,only a problem when you misuse it.I only give it during racing season at a dosage of 5ml to 5 lt.I give it only on one day per week. I then follow up with probiotics,applecider vinegar or yoghurt.APPLE CIDER VINEGAR is about the only thing i give during off season.I don,t even clean my waterbowls during off season ,so that the birds can build up immunity.I

  9. It doesnt work believe me, I tried it a year ago and lost half my young birds within the first two races and didnt even flew one position in the top 20. I stoped using it and 5 weeks later I started winning again. I won 4 out of 6 races in our union. So it is a load of crap.

  10. I had cellulitis in my leg about 5 yrs. ago due to a spider bite. They gave me “Cipro” to knock it out of my system. “Remember” Cipro?, the anthrax scare? same stuff they give our troops ’cause it kills everything!Afterwards I had to eat yogurt to put the “good bugs” back into my system so my digestive track would work right. I,d say your “right on the money” with the “birds with weak immune systems” idea!!Besides, that’s for the pro’s at water treatment plants. Not,for backyard pigeon racers! Use it to clean,rinse it out, period.

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