colloidal silver question with another update

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried using colloidal silver in the water for their chicks to treat them? I love how it works for my family why not the chicks.

Plz splain colloidal silver...

colloidal silver is silver suspended in small amounts in liquid. Silver is a natural antibiotic, anti fungal, anti viral. Silver is a natural antimicrobial agent. you can find it at drug stores, health food stores, and even grocery stores. Studies have even shown the colloidal silver is as good as or even better than antibiotics.

I don't know but I have had the same thought

I would not give this to my chickens, since it might have the same effect on them that it has on people:

"Colloidal silver is a suspension of submicroscopic metallic silver particles in a colloidal base. Long-term use of silver preparations can lead to argyria, a condition in which silver salts deposit in the skin, eyes, and internal organs, and the skin turns ashen-gray. Many cases of argyria occurred during the pre-antibiotic era when silver was a common ingredient in nosedrops. When the cause became apparent, doctors stopped recommending their use, and reputable manufacturers stopped producing them. The official drug guidebooks (United States Pharmacopeia and National Formulary) have not listed colloidal silver products since 1975." Stephen Barrett, M.D.

Hi all,
For once, I actually have some knowledge on this topic. I'm a graduate student and am doing some research on silver in the environment - about how to detect and understand what form silver might be in the environment - but anyway...

I can't understand the popularity of colloidal silver. Yes, it certainly has anitmicrobial properties. But it's also extremely toxic to humans and other animals. You can find its toxicological data here:
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~R49Pnx:3

Silver is more toxic in the dissolved form than in the nanoparticulate (colloidal) form. One commercially available product I've done testing on actually contains some dissolved silver as well as colloidal silver. Another worry about people taking colloidal silver is that larger particles may accumulate in the body and act as a source of dissolved silver.

As for chickens, they are much smaller than us, so the amount of silver needed to cause argyria or a toxic response is much less than what we would need. Although species can really vary in their toxic responses, a general rule of thumb is that toxicities are measured in mg dose per kg of body weight. So if a chicken weighs 5 pounds, or 1 thirtieth of a 150 lb adult, for whom doses are typically calculated for, then you should only give a chicken a thirtieth of the dose called for, if you are going to try this.

It's certainly true that people are not keeling over and dying because of colloidal silver. But, my guess is that long term chronic exposure could do real harm to organs, though I haven't done the research to back this up. But in my mind it makes sense that the body is harmed by a metal it doesn't normally have to deal with.

We also spent a lot of effort time and money trying to get chemical, mineral, and photo companies, like Kodak, to clean up their act and prevent and treat silver releases to the environment. Now maybe thousands or millions of ordinary consumers are buying 10 ppm colloidal silver suspensions, and all of that silver goes somewhere ... your wastewater treatment plant is not designed to remove silver from wastewater, so much of it is released to the environment.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

-Emily

Thank you Kitty&Eva. I second your answer.

Ditto...

I appreciate your replies and respect your opinion but must also stand on my soap box. I have read several studies that leads to the contrary. One in particular was done at Brigham Young University. This study tested the effectiveness against antibiotics ( Tetracyclines, flourinated quinolones (ofloxacin), the peniciliins, the cephalosporins and the macrolides (Erythromycin). Both antibiotics and the silver were tested on many differents microorganisms, including streptococcuses, E. coli, salmonella, shigella and many more. The study concludes that the silver exhibits an EQUAL or even broader spectrum effectiveness against said microorganisms. THe study even went as far as to say that with the LOW TOXICITY of silver that it may be effectively used as an alternative to antibiotics. It can treat both gram positive and gram negative organisms.

The UCLA School of Medicine has stated that "there is no known disease-causing organism that can live in the presence of even minute traces of simple metallic silver. Based on lab tests, destructive bacteria, virus, and fungus are killed within minutes of contact".

I also know that in the news lately there has been people with the ashen blue skin caused from the colloidal silver. This is caused by the microns being to high and not useable in the body. I use the silver between .001 - .002 microns (when needed and not daily) and have NO ill effects. In fact it has helped with an absessed tooth, warts, ear infections and for me personally, Shingles. This is one thing that really helps me prevent another onslaught of that nasty virus.

I hope this gives you all something to think about. With the right microns and taken in the right way Colloidal Silver is safe and effective.

I will now step down off of my soap box.

Quote:
I don't think anyone is suggesting it won't kill bacteria or viruses, but saftey studies are what you should be looking at when determining the safety in animals. I would probably use it topically instead of ingesting it, for chickens.