St. John's Wort

[CityChicker]

Quote:
Never get animal health care advice from someone that works at a health food store. Any information they have is going to be anecdotal at best, dangerous at worst (saying this as a former health food store employee). Not only that but, some natural remedies for humans sometimes have the OPPOSITE affect on animals. One quite common example of that would be catnip. It is a stimulant in some types of animals, but a sedative to humans. There is no substitute for veterinary advice from a professional (even if just online). If the oil works, the result is probably from the oil itself, not the St. John's Wort.

 

[IndigoPhish]

Hi, I have completed a diploma in Animal Homeopathy (but am not practicing) and I am the 'mother' of a Marek's survivor. At least, I think its Marek's. She limped on one leg, and kept tripping over herself as if she couldn't feel her feet, and she didn't want to eat or drink and was very thin (I could feel her keel). Then the other leg stopped working.

I tried Hypericum but I don't think it worked for her. In fact, I am fortunate to have 200+ remedies at my disposal. The difficulty with homeopathy is that you are treating symptoms, not a disease. So it didn't matter much to me whether she had Marek's disease because I was choosing my remedies based on the symptoms she was exhibiting. However, when your animal can't explain if there is pain, or what kind of pain or where, or concommitants (symptoms elsewhere in the body seemingly unrelated to the disease), or whether she feels better or worse by doing certain things (e.g. better for motion, worse for eating, better for warmth) - when your animal can't describe any of these, you are left with very few things to work with.

Hypericum is a leading homeopathic remedy for nerve problems (jam your fingers in the door, Hypericum would probably help) but it doesn't mean that it will 'cure' all birds that have paralysis of their extremities. There are in fact, many homeopathic remedies that can help with paralysis. Some for ascending paralysis, some for paralysis of one side of the body, etc. The difficulty is finding the right one.

Even with training, I tried probably 15-20 different Rxs over a period of several weeks and it was depressing. Especially when the second leg gave out. The only thing that stopped me from taking her to the vet to be put down (the vet had initially suggested Marek's when the limping began) was that I wanted to try a few more remedies before I admitted failure. Plus, after Tammy gave up on food and water in the beginning (I syringed stuff into her and gave her Rxs for depression), by the time she was 'legless', she was eating loads and preening herself. I've since decided preening might sometimes just be a way of appearing normal so you don't get picked off by a predator. I'm sure a chicken expert can confirm or deny this.

It is now 5 weeks since I first noticed her limping and she's walking slowly but is back to hanging out with my other 4 birds. After she showed signs of improving, I stopped giving the homeopathic Rxs but after a week without them, she stopped eating/drinking so I reinstated and she started eating again. I do not know whether she is over her limping problems but I am hopeful. Sometimes when you get a remedy close to the correct one, you have a initial improvement but the remedy can't 'hold' and the disease takes control again.

I would recommend to anyone with birds that have an 'incurable' disease as I understand Marek's to be, that they see an animal homoepath. I'm not suggesting you bypass your vet, but after they've told you its incurable and only have one answer (euthanasia).

Animal homeopaths probably don't have a lot of experience with poultry (I am only a Mother Hen of 6 months and know little about them myself) but if you observe your bird well before you see them, you might be able to give enough information for the AH to give the right rx. It might even turn out that there are 3-4 leading rxs for Marek's and Hypericum is one of them. This might explain why a number of you seem to have success with Hypericum despite not knowing much about homeopathy!

The remedy that I think helped my Rhode Islander, for what its worth, was Gelsemium. Keynotes of the Rx include trembling, weakness and drowsiness (eyes were heavy lidded) but that was about the only things I had to go on and it may not work for your bird. However, next time you have the flu and exhibit these symptoms, it might be the Rx for you

Homeopathic Rxs need to touch the mucous membranes but they are pretty robust. Some homeopaths report good results despite handling the pills, dropping them on the floor a couple of times and then putting them in a large trough of dirty water. For my hen, I put a pill in a small jar, banged the lidded jar on the table a couple of times (to make sure the rx energy is transferred to the water), then I aimed the syringe at my hens beak and she swallowed some of it down. I also poured it on her food to moisten the pellets.

I hope this helps some of you. There are plenty of people who think homeopathy is pure quackery (no pun) but the great thing about treating animals with it, is that you can't put it down to placebo effect. If there is no other reasonable explanation or serendipitous coincidence then maybe its those little sugar pills that you put in their water.

Good luck.

 

[chickbird]

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what is splayed leg ? if the hypericum is good for pain, what behavior might a chicken have if hypericum is used for this.. the yellow flower sin the yard? are you talking about dandelion flowers???? a wine is made from those, also jelly.

 

[chickbird]

Quote:
what do you recommendfor improving a chicken's appetite?

 

[doxielover]

Bless you MoodyChicken for posting this information. I am a firm believer in homeopathic remedies. Four years ago my young mini dachshund showed up paralyzed. His entire hind quarters were dragging, and he couldn't even lift his tail. He was diagnosed with spinal disc disease and we were told at Tufts here in Mass that he would need surgery or be paralyzed the rest of his life. A $3,ooo surgery with no guarantees for success. I said no thank you and took him home. My chiropractor came every day for a week to gently work on him, and we then took him to a homeopathic vet, who prescribed a fresh meat diet, vitamins, and homeopathic remedies. We also did water therapy every night in the tub. It was a slow process, but he came around completely and when I took him back to our regular vet, he had tears in his eyes when he saw him completely healed. We have to take precautions as far as no stairs or jumping etc. but he is great. I also cured my Dad's old pekineese of a large cancerous tumor on her nose just by giving her bovine colostrum from New Zealand. It is a super immune booster that will shrink tumors. Nature can heal. My question is how much of the remedy do you give daily? I have a 6 month old barred rock rooster with Marek's. He has not been diagnosed by a vet, but a couple of knowledgeable breeders suspect that is what it is ,based on the fact that as a 5 week old chick, out of the blue I noticed that he was favoring one of his legs, then it seemed to clear up for a while and then it started up again and got worse. He has one leg in front, and one to the back. His eyes are heatlhy and he eats and drinks well. He is separated from all the others in a large wire dog crate outside during the day and I bring him in at night to the basement. I have him completely protected. The breeder lives next door, and he has no chickens with Mareks. I started giving him the Bovine colostrum a little over a week ago and within a few days, we noticed that his legs were beginning to get stronger and he was flapping his wings. I would like to purchase the homeopathic remedy and try it. I want to save this bird if I can.


sharing my life with 5 barred rocks, 5 java chicks, 3 dachshunds, 3 cats, and 1 dwarf/lionhead bunny, and of course my husband.

 

[doxielover]

AHappyChick,

Could you please explain how you made the sling for your chicken with the Marek's ? I have a six month old with it and I was thinking along the same line of making some kind of sling but have no idea as to how to do it. I am a newbie (only been raising chickens for 6 months) so I am still learning the ropes. Do you have a photo of your bird in the sling? I really would appreciate any info on this. Thanks

doxielover at [email protected]

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

I need to know this also and a pic would be very helpful!! Thank you!

 

[doxielover]

MoodyChicken,

I recently started treating my two roosters with the hypercium as per the method posted. I do have a question though. When I was treating my two dogs with homeopathics, one for paralysis and one with a cancerous tumor, my homeopathic vet instructed us to give the remedies on an empty stomach, and withold food and water for 1/2 hour after administering the remedy, but I am not sure if that would apply with chickens. Any thoughts?

 

[doxielover]

Just thought I would let everyone know that I finally found something that my sussex roo would eat. I tried cottage cheese and yogurt last night but he just has not been interested in eating since he came down with the Marek's. Last night out of desperation, I put some plain cheerios in his dish. Well, as soon as I put the dish in front of him, he started gobbling them up. He hadn't eaten anything since I hospitalized him with his brother. I am going to add some vitamins to his water as well. Anyone have any suggestions as to what the best kind are to use? I want to get the right ones.

 

[IndigoPhish]

Quote:
Well, a whole bunch of remedies could do it but the right one really depends on the bird. I chose a remedy called Natrum muriaticum because as well as being a rx for depression and sadness, it suited my bird who is at the bottom in the pecking order and Nat Mur's can be a bit shy and retiring. I don't know whether it was the reason she started eating again.

The other option you could consider is flower essences. They work predominantly at a mental/emotional level. If you can get Bach Flower Remedies where ever you are, then Gentian is recommended for despondency and lack of interest in food. If you have Rescue Remedy on hand, you could try that. My book on Bach Flower Rx for Animals (Helen Graham/Gregory Vlamis) actually mentions paralysis as a physical it could help.

cheers