Natural Antibiotics

[kjfrogster41]

I recently read that oregano and cinnamon will act as natural antibiotics for chickens.
Has any one tried either with their birds and, if so, do they work?

I would assume you would mix the spices in with their feed?

Thanks for feedback on this topic.

 

[AVintageLife]

I have heard this as well. I use dried oregano in the winter and fresh in the summer. I sprinkle some on their breakfast every other morning. Once in a while I sprinkle cinnamon and several times a week I add some cayenne pepper (natural dewormer and they can't taste the heat). I also add ground flax seed/chia seed mix; we always have it on hand for our smoothies. They also get chopped garlic several times a week. I only have five pullets at the moment, so it's not alot of work. They eat as healthy as my family does.

 

[MachekChickens]

I have read some similar posts/articles about this. This directly relates to our situation as we have a sick 13 wk old Buff that I believe has pneumonia, and I'm thinking of treating her with oregano. One chicken owner I read about puts a drop of oregano oil in their chicken's water every day for immune support. In my own personal research looking for natural antimicrobial oils to use in my housecleaning routine, I found many different oils (oregano included) that have been scientifically proved to posses strong antimicrobial properties (on a separate note, I wrote about it in our family's blog http://www.intentionallivingblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/cleaning-your-home-with-natural.html ). I would do some research or use common sense to select which oil is suitable for chickens to consume. I've decided to get my hands on some oregano oil and adopt the "one drop a day," routine myself. Also feeding it to them directly in their scratch, dried or fresh, couldn't hurt. After all, prevention is the best medicine!

 

[Rooey5]

AVintageLIfe, what amounts do you use for oregano, cinnamon and cayenne? One of my chooks has what I think is a respiratory illness and I'd prefer to treat her naturally.

Thanks!

 

[AVintageLife]

AVintageLIfe, what amounts do you use for oregano, cinnamon and cayenne? One of my chooks has what I think is a respiratory illness and I'd prefer to treat her naturally.

Thanks!

I don't really measure but I would say with dried oregano, it's a good heaping tablespoon (dried). Cinnamon and cayenne (ginger is good too), would be a few good shakes over the food. If you haven't already done so, I'd remove your hen from the others for observation and to keep anything from spreading. Good luck.

 

[Rooey5]

Thank you!

 

[Tracei]

Just thought I'd share this information. I am a chicken novice, my father in law and husband do most of the chicken stuff and they are still learning too. Their solution was an axe, so this is where I stepped in. At first I thought my chicken was egg bound, but after some more research was pretty sure there wasn't an egg there, so put her symptoms down to peritonitis. She had all the symptoms except for the laboured breath. She seemed to be swollen further back (was bigger and spongy) so I guess it wasn't putting pressure on her lungs. Her tail was down, could hardly walk and definitely had the penguin waddle with legs splayed when she did. Very lethargic, literally collapsing into a sit after a few steps and closing her eyes. Her comb was pale and blotchy. The fact that I could approach and pick her up without any protest was a definite sign, I could roll her onto her side to examin her and she'd just lay there. However I still had hope as her eyes were clear and alert and curious in between wanting to sleep (which was alot). Day one consisted of lost of warm baths, cleaning up her rear and and massaging and keeping her inside (box in the bathtub with towels and a warm pad when not being held and loved on). After deciding it was peritonitis I couldn't find duramycin 10 anywhere near where I lived so found some posts on natural alternatives I could do myself. I came across this article on oregano and cinnamon as being natural antibiotics. I only had dried oregano and cinnamon sticks so made up a tea. Boiled about a tablespoon of dried oregano and half a stick in about a 3/4 small saucepan of water for about 15 minutes, then scooped out the stick and the bulk of the leaves (just did this by hand) and poored the mixture into about the same quantity of water. I gave her this to drink only (which she seemed to really like, shes been drinking quite a bit of it). So far so good, its about day 2 since she started drinking and day 3 since I noticed her symptions. Her poop has lost its yellow color (though now the solid part is green, guessing that's from the oregano). She has lost her penguin waddle and is standing normally. She is eating just fine, walking and pecking around the yard. Her tail is still droopy but she's stopped collapsing into a sit. I let her out into the yard today brought her in for the hottest part of the day. I am still going to keep her inside at night until tail is back up (I've now put a piece of wood on the box so she can roost in there at night since I dont have a separate section in the coup and pen to keep her isolated and away from our other hens very virile young roosters). She has also been receiving ALOT of TLC, sitting in my lap watching tv, being stroked. Think shes getting used to it, shes never been handled before this and is soaking it up. She seems to be well on the way to a full recovery.

 

[Rusty's Ranch]

Oregano and cinnamon are very effective - we've also had success with Olive Leaf Extract.

This is great info ... perhaps the originator could share this on the disease/cures board. Just noticed a couple posts over there that could really use this info

 

[michelle65a]

I have started giving liquid oregano oil this past month to 30+ hens. I am concerned because they have stopped laying...I am getting maybe 4 eggs a day for the last week. Any thoughts on whether this could factor?

 

[Kimberly4403]

I ferment my feed and add dried oregano, cayenne and tumeric to there feed..