Herbal/Organic remedies against diseases in Backyard Poultry
Herbs may be given to hens in several different forms depending on what best suites the herb, the ailment, and the condition of the bird and/or flock. The following herbal preparations and treatment methods are used by many people in rural areas of India to cure back yard poultry from bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases. The method of herbal therapy is very cheap and readily available in the remote rural area besides organic farming.
NATURAL REMEDIES FOR BACKYARD POULTRY
Dried Herbs, Roots, Seeds, and Fruits
• Grind or crush and mix directly with feed for whole flock treatment.• Steep in boiling water as a tea and mix with drinking water for whole flock treatment.
• Crush herbs and form a small pill with water for treating individual birds.
• Mix herbs with hot water and apply externally with cotton bandages for a poultice.
Herbal Tinctures
• Dilute the appropriate number of drops in drinking water for whole flock treatment.• Place drops directly in mouth for individual birds.
Fresh Herbs, Fruits, Vegetables, or Forages
• Offer safe herbs free choice hanging in bunches or placed on top of feeders.
• For dangerous or strong herbs chop finely and mix thoroughly into moistened feed so no bird eats too much.
• Offer fruits and vegetables free choice in small amounts avoiding spoiled, moldy, or potentially poisonous items (raw potatoes).
• For strong, purgative vegetables (garlic, onions) chop finely and incorporate into moist feed after a brief (12-24 hours )fast.
Dusts and Powders
• Powders such as Diatomaceous Earth and Pyrethrum should be used sparingly alone. Remember your hens have to breathe them.
• Always wear a dust mask when using powders.
• For dust baths mix DE with litter, sand, wood ashes, or soil to reduce irritation to the hen’s lungs when dusting.
Homeopathy
• Keep your remedies isolated in a cabinet specifically for them. Don’t store them on the veterinary shelf in the barn next to the iodine.• 30C potency can effectively be used unless otherwise noted.
• For treating the whole flock dissolve 2-3 dozen pellets in their drinking water or in water that is used to moisten their feed.
• Many homeopathy practicing vets recommends 20ml of remedy mixed with 8 liters of water for 100 birds. This medicated water should be shaken well and put in drinkers accordingly.
• For individual birds give them 2-3 pellets by mouth and keep them calm.
It may also be given in the cloaca (vent) if it is moist.
• During homeopathic treatment keep the birds calm and reduce stress as much as possible. Expect a one-day drop in egg production.
• Be willing to wait 24 hours to allow the remedy to work. If there is not marked improvement after that, try something else.
• The successful use of homeopathic remedies requires keen observation of your birds, a well developed immune system, excellent overall management practices, and a willingness to carefully research the correct remedy.
Here is the herbal/homeopathic remedy of some important poultry diseases prevalent among backyard poultry. There is need of result documentation and scientific data collection for its proving so that we can show its authenticity. I request to poultry professional vets to try this remedy in backyard poultry and observe its result.
1.Chronic Respiratory Disease
Homeopathic Treatments
• If sneezing, coughing give–Antim trat, Belladona, Ars alb.
• If water from eyes give–Euphrasia, Arg nrt.
• If water from nose give–Allium cepa, Ars alb.
• If white diarrhea give–Calc carb.
• Combination remedy of Thuja200+Nat sulf200+Carbo veg200+Bryonia200, 5ml each in 8 liters of water for 100 birds for 3 days
2.Fowl cholera
Physical Treatments
• Give pulverized mixture of 2oz. Capsicum, 2oz. Asafetida, 1 oz. Rhubarb, 6 oz.Spanish brown, and 2 oz. Flowers of sulphur at 1 tsp./2 quarts mash 2 X day
• OTC (100-200 g/ton), Erythromycin, Sulfaquinoxaline and Ormetropin/Trimethoprim (0.125% + 0.0075%), and Sulfamethazine (0.49%) and Flumequine are effective.
Nutritional Treatments
• Feed parch corn, or parched cracked corn, almost to coffee-color as a supplement.Homeopathic Treatments
• Dissolve 2 dozen to 1/2 vial of Veratrum alb. in drinking water or in water used to moisten feed for prevention or treatment.• Also good are Arsenicum or Arsenicum iod. 3 (iodide of arsenic), mix 2 drams of pellets with 2 pounds of feed.
• If hens have puffed faces, bright red color, and crouch give Nux vomica.
• If swelling of joints of legs and lameness give–Rhus tox, Sulphur.
• If difficult breathing and thick nasal discharge give–Calc flour+Hepar sulph, Kali bich.
• If greenish colored diarrhea–Pulsatilla, Sulphur; or combination of Calc Phos30+Ferum30+Kali sulph30, 5ml each in 16 liters of water for 100 birds, 4 times a day for 7 days.
3.Bumblefoot
Herbal Treatments
• Make a paste with:- 1 tablespoon turmeric powder,
- 1 clove of small Garlic and
- 1 or 2 black peppers.
Homeopathic Treatments
• Sulphur
• Silicea 6C
• Bathe foot in lotion of 1 part Calendula tincture to 5 parts water and bind up foot.
• Apply calendula cream (salve) to foot and keep bird on clean straw. Then give
Hepar sulph or Silicea
4.ASPERGILLOSIS
Physical Treatments
• Oxine (2% chlorine dioxide) non-activated fogged in brooder• Environmental spraying with effective antifungal antiseptic may help reduce challenge.
• Amphotericin B and Nystatin have been used in high-value birds.
• The treatment of avian aspergillosis is influenced by the lack of clinical diagnosis, for the symptoms are not specific and generally the peak of mortality has been passed before any therapeutic measures can be instituted. Because of this reports of successful treatment or even spontaneous recovery are doubtful.
• Various methods have been used in the direct treatment of individual birds. They include the inhalation of tar vapours (Otte, 1928), chlorine or sulphur dust, but so far no information is available concerning the use of iodide therapy which has been successfully employed in the experimental disease in rabbits and also in human cases.
Herbal Treatments
• Garlic Cloves – Give 2 tsp. of ground raw garlic mixed with vinegar 2X daily in 1/2 tsp. Doses.A popular and economical natural anti-fungal remedy for Aspergillus and other fungal infections is raw garlic cloves. Garlic was used as an antimicrobial, blood cleanser and general health tonic as far back as ancient Greek and Chinese times, according to “The Essential Book of Herbal Medicine.” The strong anti-fungal properties of garlic are mainly related to a compound called allicin, which destroys a wide spectrum of mold, fungus and other potential pathogens throughout the body, although it seems to safeguard the beneficial bacteria of the intestinal tract, as cited in “Biochemistry of Human Nutrition.” Garlic is eaten raw or consumed as non-odorous capsules and is able to travel to the infected areas via the bloodstream.
• Grapefruit seed extract
Grapefruit seed extract is effective at inhibiting a range of fungal strains including: Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae,
Homeopathic Treatments for Aspergillosis in chicken
• Ant. Tartrate 30C once daily X 3 days
• Drosera rotundfolia 30C once daily X 3 days
5.Worms
Physical Treatments
• Give a 2-grain pill of santonin to each bird followed by 2 tsp. of raw linseed oil.• For pinworms give a rectal injection of garlic, mustard, peppermint oil (1/2 tsp. oil/1 pint water), or eucalyptus (1/4 tsp./pint water) oil solution.
• Give Shakelee’s Basic H surfactant administered as a solution in water.
• Use Albomar 1ml for 1 kg body weight. This is available in India.
Nutritional Treatments
• Give a laxative diet: mash of pumpkin seeds and milk after a 12 hour fast, follow with a warm mash of bran, middlings, and milk.• Give finely chopped onions and garlic.
• Feed finely grated raw carrot, garlic, onions, and parsley.
• Feed mustard; squash or pumpkin seeds; carrot and fennel seeds.
• Add DE and charcoal to feed all preceded by a fast and followed by a laxative period.
Herbal Treatments
• Give a course of garlic for ten days (1 clove/hen/day) and add to the diet bramble leaves, elder leaves, wormwood, wormseed, cotton-lavender, rue, hyssop,• Give powdered cayenne or senna after a fast.
• If tapeworms are very bad give 1/2 tsp. grated male fern root mixed with bran, castor oil and molasses daily.
• Give garlic (pills, powders, fresh, tinctures),wormwood (Artemisia spp.), wild ginger, snakeroot, goosefoot, conifers (pine, spruce, firs), fennel seeds, or pyrethrum all preceded by a fast and followed by a laxative period.
Homeopathic Treatments
• If worms in the nostrils or ears causes circling give Cina.• If affected birds lose weight, ruffled feathers, rapid breathing give–Aconite,
Santonite 3x, Tucrum merver.
• Head remedy–China, GNA.
6.Wounds
Physical Treatments
• Apply hydrogen peroxide to wounds.
Herbal Treatments
• Apply solution of 8 drops calendula tincture to 1 cup water and bathe wound 2-3 times daily.
Homeopathic Treatments
• Give Arnica 6C or Aconite 6C for early infections.
• Make Arnica lotion of 1 part Arnica tincture to 20 parts water and put a few drops in chickens mouth.
• Hypericum for crushing injuries to toes or wings.
7.Thrush
Physical Treatments
• Flush with molasses or Epson salts, followed by 1/2 tsp. copper sulfate (powdered bluestone) per gallon of drinking water every other day for 5 days served in a nonmetal waterer.
• Clean mouth sores with hydrogen peroxide.
• Treat with copper sulfate at a dilution of 1:2,000 in drinking water or mix gentian violet in feed.
Herbal Treatments
• Feed garlic at 2-5% in feed.Homeopathic Treatments
• Pulsatilla.
8.Scaly Leg Mites
Physical Treatments
• Soak feet in bichloride (1 to 1000) for 5-10 min., then cover with Vaseline .• Dunk feet in surgical spirits once a week three times.
• Apply ointment of kerosene/lard/and a little sulfuric acid to legs 3X/day.
• Scrub legs with soapy water and a little ammonia then rub in a solution of garlic, brew, cayenne and vinegar in equal parts 2X/day.
• Use ParasiteX citrus oil based product.
• Scrub legs with soapy water and a little ammonia then rub well 2X daily with a strong solution of garlic, cayenne, and vinegar.
• Apply tea tree oil to feet.
Nutritional Treatments
• Feed mineral supplement with vitamins, minerals, and probiotics.• Change feed to boost iron.
Homeopathic Treatments
• Give 12 pellets of Sulphur in drinking water and renew every day.
9.Pullorum Disease
Physical Treatment
Amoxycillin, poteniated sulponamide, tetracylines, fluoroquinolones, Sulphonamides, neomycin, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones.
Homeopathic Treatment
If birds huddle together & exhibit a White foamy diarrhoea give Calc carb+Cala phos
In Adult birds loss of appetite, weakness, greenish brown dirrhoea give Sulphur, Ipecac
10.Prolapse
Physical Treatments
• Massage the protruding organ with grease and carefully press it back into position.• Place a pad of cotton soaked with witch hazel and bind tightly.
• Wash the protruding organ in lukewarm water or milk, anoint with linseed oil or sweet oil and gently force it back into the body. Repeat several times.
Nutritional Treatments
• Fast for 1 day, then feed a very light diet of greens, bran mash, molasses and buttermilk. Stop feeding seaweed during treatment.Homeopathic Treatments
• Treat with a dose of Aconite if organ is put back in.• Treat with Pulsatilla or Nux vomica when external treatment is not used.
• Podophyllum if losts of straining
• Sepia or Silica
11.Pox
Homeopathic Treatments
• Alternate Arsenicum 3X and Rhus tox 3X (3 pellets every 2 hrs.).• If many are affected put 20 drops (pellets) of Arsenicum alb. 3X in 1 pint water and make a feed mash, follow with Rhus tox mash.
• Dissolve 1-3 dozen pellets of Arsenicum in the drinking water for three days. If no improvement change to Rhus tox, renewing each day.
• Belladonna for hot fever and Silicea if pustules break.
• If lesions on head and comb are wart-like give–Antim tart.
• If lesions in mouth are diptheric type give–Kali mure, Nat sulph.
• If lesions with fever give–Antim tart, Aconite.
• If lesions without fever give–Bryonia, Calc phos.
• Head remedy–Variolinum30 or 200.
• Combination remedy of Pulsatilla200+Thuja200+Nat sulph200, 5ml each in 8 liters of water for 100 birds.
12.Picking
Physical Treatments
• Apply Stockholm Tar to picked area.• Apply Bitter Apple, Listerine to picked area.
• Give 1-tsp. salt/gal drinking water in AM, then fresh PM and repeat three days later.
Nutritional Treatments
• Provide mangels, cabbage, lettuce, or burlap bags of barley hung from the ceiling.• Nail a piece of raw salt pork with a good rind on the wall.
• Hang cabbages or bunches of nettles.
• Scatter whole grains, bales of hay or corn stover in pens, alfalfa and hay in nets.
• Avoid large egg size by reducing levels of linoleic acid (flaxseed) and high energy when hens do not need it.
• Ensure hens are receiving enough lysine, methionine and threonine in diet.
• Increase fiber content of ration with oats, add manganese sulphate to ration, add vitamin pack to ration.
• Hang bagged leafy alfalfa.
Herbal Treatments
• Feed comfrey.Homeopathic Treatments
• Helleborus niger13.Pasted Vent
Physical Treatments
• Give 1-tsp. bicarbonate of soda/quart of drinking water, repeat every 4-5 days, and follow by cleaning housing.• Apply venetian red (red oxide of iron).
• Apply iodine on vent area.
Nutritional Treatments
• Give a laxative diet followed by garlic.Homeopathic Treatments
• For chicks give: Ipecauncha 3X alternated with Chamomilla 3X• If discharge is bloody or white give Merc. Sub Cor 2X (8 pellets/pint water) or Ars. Iod 3X.
• Silicea
• Give Carbo veg.
14.Paratyphoid
Nutritional Treatments
• Give apple cider vinegar in drinking water and increase acidity of feed with organic acids.Herbal Treatments
• Fast birds then feed garlic, 1/2 tsp. lemon juice diluted with sage tea 2X daily.• Also add finely chopped rue and/or sage to a bran/molasses mash.
15.Newcastle Disease
Management Treatments
• Keep hens warm and well fed.Physical Treatments
• Wash out the beaks with diluted eucalyptus (1-drop eucalyptus oil, 1-tsp. tepid water, and a little salt).
Nutritional Treatments
• Give 1 tsp. of olive oil or honey given AM and PM.Herbal Treatments
• Give 2 tsp. of ground raw garlic mixed with vinegar 2X daily in 1/2 tsp. Doses.Homeopathic Treatments For Newcastle Disease or Ranikhet Disease
• If difficult breathing, opens beak and gasps for breath give–Aconite, Ars alb.
• If rattling noise and coughing give–Antim trat.
• If trembling legs leads to partial or complete paralysis give–Kali phos, Calc phos, Gelsemium.
• If twisting neck (torticolis) is main symptom give–Mag phos, Sulphur, Cicuta vir.
• Combination remedy of Carbo veg30+Veratum alb30+Belladonna30+Kali phos30, 5ml of each in 8 liters of water for 100 birds. This medicated water is repeated after every alternate day.
16.Molt
Physical Treatments
• Rub lotion of burdock brew (2 parts) and castor oil (1 part) on exposed areas.• Other plumage tonics are: foliage of wild daffodils, rosemary brew with a little vinegar, and southernwood brew.
Nutritional Treatments
• Feed sunflower seed mash with milk.• Feed calcified seaweed with grit.
• Feed linseed meal.
Herbal Treatments
• Give dill, anise, fennel, seaweed, kelp, bladderwrack, dulse, maidenhair fern, nettle, cleavers, onion, or garlic.Homeopathic Treatments
• Give Calcarea carb 3X and Phosphate of Iron in water.
• Give Gelsemium 6c for calming.
• If arrested growth of pullets during adult feathering give Calcarea carb.
• If there is foul discharge during adult feathering give Chamomilla.
• If the pullets look scruffy and mangy during adult feathering give Hepar.
• If there is restlessness, crying, and a general feverish condition in the pullets during adult feathering give Aconite.
• If there is a raw corroding fluid among the feathers give Natrum muriaticum.
• All remedies 12 or more pellets dissolved in drinking water or water for feed mash.
17.Lice and Mites
Physical Treatments
• Dust birds with tabacco.• For chicks rub eucalyptus oil on the head.
• Mix 1 oz. of cedar oil mixed with 1 pint of other oil and apply to the neck and back.
• For young chicks mix 2 parts glycerin with 1 part carbolic acid mix together and add to 5 parts water; add to sprouting feathers.
18.MAREK’S DISEASE
Herbal Treatments
- Scurrula oortiana (Tea Mistletoe) Stem Extract to reduce the viral activity
- Regular garlic Allium sativum L. can play a significant role in reducing malignant disease. Evidence points to the ability of allyl sulfides to suppress tumour development. The preventive use of garlic for its anticarcinogenic properties may therefore have value for minimising the effects of poultry disease in which tumour development is a symptom eg. Marek’s Disease.
Dosage for Small Animals: - Fresh garlic: 1 clove (approx 3-4g) per 20-25 kg as a guide has not resulted in anemia in Wynn & Fougere’s experience.
Dried herb: 15-20mg/kg, divided daily (optimally, TID[3 times daily]).
Tincture: (usually in 25%-40% ethanol): 1:2-1:3:0.5mL per 10kg, divided daily (optimally, TID[3 times daily]) and diluted or combined with other herbs.
So, a clove of fresh garlic each day for a pen of half a dozen laying birds would be about what is being described, depending on their weight.
If paralysis, birds unable to stand and walk give—Causticum.
• If skin thickened by tumors, feather follicles thickened and leathery give–Calc flour,
Calc carb.
• If iris effected and white appearance give–Arg nit, Euphrasia.
• If sciatic nerve is enlarged give–Kali phos 6x, Kali sulph 6x.
Special Homeopathic Treatments:
There is a cure for Marek’s Disease. It is a homeopathic remedy called “Hypericum.” Hypericum is a small creeping herb that, when used hollistically, numbs nerves and dulls pain. When given to a bird suffering from the symptoms of Marek’s Disease, it will cure the bird by working on the theory that “like cures like,” in other words, by giving the bird the symptoms it will take the symptoms away. I’ve used this herb with great success to fully cure birds of Marek’s Disease. You can fnd Hypericum at health food stores, $8 for 100 tablets. Hypericum must be diluted before it can be used:
- 1 tablespoon of DISTILLED water per tablet Hypericum (must be distilled water, tap water is ionized and will deactivate the Hypericum)
- MUST be mixed in a GLASS or PLASTIC bowl (metal with react with the water and herb)
- drip 5-10 drops (bantam) or 10-15 drops (large fowl) on the afflicted bird’s tongue. Be sure the bird rubs its beak together because the Hypericum MUST touch the sinuses (located on the roof of the mouth) in order to work
- treat every 12 hours (morning and night) with a fresh batch
- recovery may be as quick as 1 day or as slow as several months
The treatment works best if you begin treating early. If you delay treatment, the Hypericum may not work or it may be a very slow recovery. IF YOU OVERDOSE YOUR BIRDS ON HYPERICUM, don’t worry. The bird will exhibit extreme symptoms, and make a drastic improvment within a 24 hours. Hypericum is also helpful for pain. Only treat birds that are showing symptoms
19.Infectious Laryngotracheitis
Physical Treatments
• Bathe eyes, insides of beaks and nostrils with a weak garlic solution.
• Give inhalations of eucalyptus, pine, or elecampane.
Herbal Treatments
• Give very high doses of garlic and drops of honey.
Homeopathic Treatments
• If coughing with blood stained mucous from trachea give–Aconite, Ipecac, or Millefolium.
• If difficulty breathing and head extended to breathe give–Antim tart, Bryonia.
• Cuprum
- Infectious Bursal Disease
Homeopathic Treatments
• If birds inactive, reduced appetite, feathers ruffled give–Alfa alfa, China, Gelsemium.
• If watery feces with high urine content give–Kali phos+Calc phos.
• If swelling of kidneys marked enlargement of bursa of fabricius give–Berg vulg, Canharis, Lachesis.
• Combination remedy of Gelsemium30+Acid phos30+Calc phos30, 10ml each in 8 liters of water for 100 birds.
21.Infectious Bronchitis
Homeopathic Treatments
• For chronic form give Ipecacauh 3X, Antimonim tart 3X, Senega 3X, or Ammoniacum 3X.
• If nasal discharge give–Allium cepa, Kali bich.
• If coughing and sneezing give–Anti trat, Aconite.
• If damage to oviduct (false layer) give–Kali phos, Calc phos.
22.Lice and Mites
Physical Treatments
• Dust birds with tabacco.
• For chicks rub eucalyptus oil on the head.
• Mix 1 oz. of cedar oil mixed with 1 pint of other oil and apply to the neck and back.
• For young chicks mix 2 parts glycerin with 1 part carbolic acid mix together and add to 5 parts water; add to sprouting feathers.
Herbal Treatments
• Feed garlic.
23.Egg Eating
Homeopathic Treatments• Calc Carb 30C or Sil 30C (20)
24.Egg Drop Syndrome
Homeopathic Treatments
• Calcarea carb 3X (3) for poorly shaped eggs.
• Pulsatilla 3X for bloody shelled eggs.
25.Egg Bound
Herbal Treatments• Give a dose of a pinch of ginger in 1-tsp. Castor oil.
Homeopathic Treatments
• Pulsatilla 3X
• Silicea 6C
• Nux vomica
26.Diarrhea
Physical Treatments• Add charcoal to mash (1 oz./quart of feed).
• Give electrolytes and sugar water (10 oz/gal) in drinking water.
Nutritional Treatments
• Feed mash of ground oats, wheat bran, and corn meal.
• For chicks feed raisins, grated raw apples, and dried or fresh bilberries.
Herbal Treatments
• For hens give warm milk with powdered slippery elm bark and honey 3X daily.
• For chicks fast ½ day then feed diet of milk, honey, slippery elm, dill, and arrowroot for 1 ½ days.
Homeopathic Treatments
• Ipecac 12 pellets in drinking water or wet mash
• If due to bad food give Arsenicum or Chamomilla. (2) or Nux Vomica (20)
• For pasty white discharge give Carbo veg.
27.Crop Impaction
Physical Treatments
• Give olive oil.• Pour oil or melted lard down the throat and massage the crop.
• Cut open crop, remove the contents, sprinkle crop walls with 1-tsp. Black pepper, and sew it up.
• Follow with diet of finely chopped hedge garlic, garlic, and rue.
• Anoint the cut with Calendula cerate or Arnica mixed with water.
• Treat with 3g of Epsom salts per 100 birds per day plus 10-15 ml of molasses per bird fed as a wet mash for 4 days.
• Administer approx. ½ a tumbler of warm water to birds with a syringe then upend the bird and gently massage the crop.
Nutritional Treatments
• Follow any surgical removal with diet of finely chopped hedge garlic, garlic, and rue.
Herbal Treatments
• Make of brew of ½ tsp. Powdered gentian root in a small cupful of water; add 1 T milk, 2-tsp. Olive oil and give twice.
28.Conjunctivitis
Herbal Treatments
• Euphrasia tea or eyedrops (NOT TINCTURE) applied topically (20)
Homeopathic Treatments
• Euphrasia 6C• If yellow discharge try Pulsatilla 30C