If you have spent some time at the club house, you most likely have heard the phrase “put some ACV in the water.” It’s an old trick that many pigeon racers swear by, and many others are in opposition to. The majority of the controversy is likely caused by the lack of knowledge surrounding the issue, so I would like to help clarify what ACV is and why I choose to use it.
Let’s start with the basics, what is ACV? Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is the product of apple fermentation by certain types of acetic acid producing bacteria (AAB). These bacteria have the ability to metabolize or oxidize products such as alcohol, sugars and cellulose into byproducts such as acetic acid or ethyl acetate. The vinegar used for racing pigeons is made through a genus of bacteria called Acetobacter that is often referred to as the “mother of vinegar” when referring to vinegar production. Fermentation with this bacteria usually produces a solution 3-10% acetic acid with a pH usually around 3.5-5, but can have a pH as low as 2. Because the word “acid” concerns some people, I would like to list some known pH levels of a few products you may be familiar with. First, gastric acid which is primarily responsible for the pH of your stomach is usually in the 1.5 to 3.5 range. Water is a neutral pH of 7. Tomato juice is a pH of 4 and lemon juice has a similar pH to vinegar at 2. Bleach has a very basic pH of 13. Anything with a pH less than 7 is considered acidic in nature, and as you can see, not all acids are something to be fearful of.
Now that we know what ACV is, I will next discuss why I use it and think it is appropriate to give to my pigeons. Firstly, stagnant water, such as the water in most pigeon watering systems is easily contaminated and a great environment for bacteria to multiply. If you are unlucky and one of the many GI pathogens such as Salmonella or Escherichia coli decide to make your waterer their home, you could soon have dehydrated birds with diarrhea or even birds with systemic bacterial infections. Acid, is a great way to slow the multiplication rate of these pathogens in your waterers. Most GI pathogens do not find an acidic environment a great place to multiply in. Vinegar, therefore, is a natural inhibitor of pathogen growth inside the waterer. This is not an excuse to be lazy, however, natural buffers can change the acidity over time and some pathogens do have the ability to tolerate acids. Thus, fresh water is still essential for healthy pigeons.
Secondly, we will talk about crop acidification. Crop acidification, of course, works through the vinegar present in the water. The acidic vinegar is consumed by the pigeon and first enters the crop. In the same way that it inhibits the growth of pathogens in the water system, it inhibits growth of pathogens in crop and thereafter in the stomach. The largest difference between “in vitro” and “in vivo” acidification is that in the pigeon’s body it also helps the growth of beneficial bacteria that are naturally present in the crop and GI tract. Many of these normal flora bacteria produce acid on their own, often in the form of lactic acid, which helps keep pathogens at bay just as the vinegar does. These bacteria, unlike most of the pathogens, are acid loving and find it a great environment to multiply in. Human probiotics are often very similar, Lactobacillus species are often marketed for human consumption as pills or in fermented products such as yogurt. Besides producing acids, these normal flora bacteria have a long list of benefits that they provide to their host (the pigeon). They out compete pathogens for nutrients, they synthesize certain vitamins that the pigeons need, they produce natural chemicals that act as both antibiotics and antifungals to the pathogens and they work together to keep your pigeons healthy while stimulating the immune system. Anything I can do to aid in the multiplication of these “good” bacteria, I will.
Thirdly, I would like to explain the other benefits of raw apple cider. As stated before, the mother of vinegar produces acetic acid as a byproduct of fermentation. Acetic acid, however, is not the only byproduct and Acetobacter is not the only microorganism responsible for making vinegar. Acetobacter, as well as the other bacteria and yeast present, all produce byproducts that provide nutrition to your pigeons. Other byproducts include potassium, B vitamins and amino acids, all of which are beneficial. You might have heard of brewers yeast being sprinkled over pigeon feed, that is the same concept, it is high in B vitamins and other byproducts of yeast growth. Vinegar goes through a similar process of growth, but without the risk of causing yeast infections due to inoculating your pigeons with a high colony count of yeast in the form of brewers yeast. This brings up the topic of purposefully inoculating your birds with beneficial bacteria by giving a “live” culture of bacteria to your birds. Though, not all of the bacteria involved in making vinegar will live and become part of the normal crop or GI flora, some of them may. Inoculating your pigeons with beneficial microbes is most commonly referred to as giving probiotics. Though, diluted apple cider vinegar does not provide a high colony count of probiotics, it does to some extent provide probiotics to your birds.
Lastly, I’d like to talk about what to look for when buying apple cider vinegar. First, it should be raw and unfiltered. Distilled vinegar is acidic and will provide an acidic environment, but it will not provide the nutrients of a raw, unfiltered vinegar with the “mother.” It should also be unpasteurized, as the pasteurization will kill destroy any probiotics available as well as some vitamins and enzymes. I use Bragg’s Raw Apple Cider Vinegar as it is found in most grocery stores and is raw, unfiltered and unpasteurized. Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of studies on this subject to give a proper dosage. I usually give 2 tblsp per gallon and it is given almost daily during race season. Daily dosing makes sense with ACV as it is used to maintain the acidic environment in the waterer as well as crop. On shipping day, however, I only provide fresh water, as I do not want any smell or taste present that might prevent a pigeon from fully hydrating itself.
Notes: In a laboratory setting, one thing that helps differentiate Acetobacter is its ability to grow on an agar plate containing up to 7% alcohol. It of course eats the ethanol leaving behind acetic acid as its byproduct of metabolism. I have also had fun experimenting with a different type of vinegar called Kombucha, which is fermented tea and sugar. Instead of a vinegar “mother” the Kombucha is fermented with a “SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria & yeast).” It is truly “alive” and upon moving to a new location I let mine sit months without feeding it. As a result, it went dormant, so over 6 months later I brewed a new batch of tea and sugar to try and awaken it from its slumber. I put it in my basement and within the first couple days, mold started to form on the surface. I let it go a few more days and noticed that the SCOBY was growing and surrounding the mold. A few days later, the mold disappeared. The byproducts of the SCOBY were enough to inhibit the growth of mold, even though there was plenty of nutrition left for the mold to eat. Competitive inhibition like this occurs in our bodies and our pigeons bodies, therefore, only use antibiotics as a last resort as you are destroying part of the immune system.
