I had an idea a couple of months ago for hens that pluck their chicks for sodium deficiency reasons. I was looking at the nutrition facts on the Gatorade bottle and I saw the sodium levels were pretty high. How would it work if you put some Gatorade in the hen's water?

That would supply some sodium and some sugar too (which might not be desirable). It's not a bad idea overall, but you'd need to provide an alternate supply of pure water so the birds have a choice.

What do you recommend to feed sodium deficiency hens?

I give them one of those salt spools made for rodents. The brown ones with other minerals included seem to be more desirable than the plain white ones. Here's one way to hang them up:


I do it differently - I put a screw with a wide head through the middle of the disk, with a flat washer and a nut on the outside of the cage to hold it in place. The salt disk is very hard and the birds have to use a lot of effort to get small amounts off of it, so it's good to have it anchored firmly in place.

That's a great idea. It also trims beaks which gives it a dual purpose!

I learned about using salt spools from Susanne, but I don't know who thought of it originally. It seems to be a pretty common practice with show breeders.

my parents love "Food should taste good" brand chips - multigrain and sweet potato. There is about 80mg of sodium in one serving - not very high but some