confused: compost piles

[TheMainException]

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Great post. Do your eggs taste any different because of the garlic? I've heard things like onions can cause eggs to taste a bit "off."

 

[crossedwires]

yes if you add garlic you can taste it in the eggs slightly for a few days, but it isnt a prob only doing it for a couple of days a month, we have a fairly complex feeding regiem but all the birds generaly get garlic and kelp for a couple of days each month, and as mad as it sounds we dont eat our eggs!!! all the eggs we eat we buy in lol this is because we are a breeding farm and hatchery so we incubate the eggs we have. is more cost effective to buy in eggs to eat

 

[coldinnh]

I think that there is a tonic posted on here somewhere which is used to deal with worms. It uses 3 gloves of garlic ad I think some hot peppers. I thought that giving ACV everyday was a preventive measure? My girls are roaming on about 2 acres of former organic veggie and herb and pot belly pig, goat farm (we didn't plant this year). So nettles will need to be planted next year as will thyme.
I agree with alot of the sentiment that worming is an as needed treatment. But don't chickens eat fleas and isnt that how cats usually get worms?
Funny I just got a thing in the mail for garlic powder for fly and other pest suppression. What about Brewer's Yeast?? I put that in the girls last baby cakes.

 

[crossedwires]

actualy there are many herbs etc that contain chemicals that will to a greater or lesser exstent kill internal parasites, both in humans and chcikens and other animals, infact most modern drugs come from compounds first isolated from plants etc. now i should state i am not a organic crusader! i use some herbs because they grow in abundance on our farm but i also use chemicals like flubenvet, for me it isnt a choice of natural or chemical, i use chemical if i have a problem but i try and have herbs growing that act as a preventitive.
as seen in this thread most reactions are to not do anything untill a problem occurs and in some ways that includes me. however growing herbs with anitiparasitical properties and letting the chicken feed upon them as and when they want does no harm.

so for any that are interested here is a small list of herbs/plants and what the active chemical is. its not a exhaustive list by any means but is just an example of what is in herbs and why they work. obviously you cant grow all theese but most should be avaliable if you want to experiment. if enough people are interested i will post a list at some point of the more common stuff you probaly already have growing in the garden or localy in hedgrows.


i have mentioned thyme nettle and garlic so will leave those off this list


Wormwood!

its been called that since before Noah took up woodwork, and it gets its name because................ it kills worms! wormwood is infact a name given to a few plants of the genus Artemisia, but the most potent one is also the well known Artemisia absinthium, witch if you look at the name also gives a clue to what else this plant was used to make (absinthe!) if your a painter i would stay well clear of it

theres mystical reason why this plant is so good at killing parasites and particularly worms, its effective simply because it contains good levels of thujone and isothujone, both of theese are very very toxic to parasites and some medicines for worm control in humans use synthesized versions of them. it also contains santonin wich is also fairly toxic to some internal parasites. its other main antiparasitical chemical thats of interest to us are the sesquiterpene lactones group, theese arnt toxic to parasite in the same way but they weaken the parasite membranes in a simillar way to say peroxide would by breaking down the protein layer.
as a side note wormwood is probaly one of the most bitter herbs you will EVER taste!!

the next one i debated wether or not to mention as although its great for parasites i wouldnt give it to my birds for that. i would however give it when they have a cold (along with garlic) but i will include it anyway as its an important natural herb (ok its a spice) in its own right.

CLOVE!
now the cloves claim to fame is as a very highly potent anti microbial agent eugenol wich is the one most often than noted that gets raved about in cloves, however it also contains caryophyllene witch is also a powerful anti microbial. of interest to note with theese chemicals is they kill all known strains of Staph and Strep bacteria even the ones that are antibiotic resistant. so if your chciken has a infected wound you cant clear up give it a tray, just powder a clove and mix it in the feed with a little olive oil. dont put it on the wound as it acts best when its absorbed by the body and acting fromwithin the blood stream.


PUMPKIN SEEDS

theese are great wormers, and my birds love them as a treat anyway, the main bits in the seed that are of interest are the group of fats and oils they contain witch include a small group of the omega 3's theese are toxic to the worm eggs, but they also contain Curcurbitin, now this chemical dosnt kill worms but it does paralyse them so they fall off the instinal wall, as thyme is a purgative when used in conjunction with pumkin seeds its very effective,

the next and final one on this short list (i wont do a bigger list unless there is any real interest) is a chemical known as Ellagic acid (Ellagitannin) you can buy this online but normaly its ridiculously exspensive, however there is a little secret regarding this chemical. do you make jam?? or do you grow raspberrys? i ask because Ellagitannin comes from raspberry seeds, but they have to be crushed or broken up or they will pass straight thru, easiest way to collect them to use is to make jam and squash the berries thru a fine sive then the seeds and junk left in the sieve are put in a blender and given a quick wizz then you simply throw it to the birds and watch them scrable for it

.
Ellagitannin is good generaly but is also a very powerful anti parasitical.

anyway thats a list to get started on for now. i am not a herbalist however i do have a masters degree in biology, but i found out about herbs and plants for chickens a long time ago from my grandfather and grandmother etc who have used herbs and kept chickens for generations on our farm, but as i said at the start with the number of birds we have (>5000) i tend to reach for the flubenvet when needed as i dont have time always to faff about.

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
More ... More....

Thanks for the info...
It is appreciated.
ON

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you think squash seeds or maybe gourd seeds would work the same as pumpkin seeds? I think many more of us have squash this time of year than pumpkin.

Is Ellagitannin only in Raspberry seeds? I've got this great patch of blackberries ripe about now. If Ellagitannin is so powerful, is there any withdrawal period for eating the eggs? I guess meat too while we are at it.

TIA

 

[chikeemomma25]

I would like to give a bi thanks to everyone. I am new to all of this so I read a lot and as much as I pick up I can't believe how much more their is! It's never ending! Great posts!

 

[crossedwires]

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pumpkins and gourds are all part of the same familly, squash and gourds have slightly lower concentrations than pumpkins (we are talking miniscule difference) but should be just as good. i used pumkin seeds as the example because if you dont grow them but still want to use them then pumpkin seeds are readilly availiable.

Ellagitannin is found in blackberrys as well (lower levels) and pomegranents although i personaly wouldnt feed pomegranet seeds to chickens, allthough i have read no scientific papers that indicate not to feed pomegranite the seeds do contain trace amounts of a chemical known to be avian toxic. red raspberrys were used as the example again because of availiabillty and they have the higest concentration.
there is NO WITHDRAWL , its just a chemical that some parasites find lethal in tiny amounts. there is also no taint to eggs or flesh unlike using garlic

 

[crossedwires]

there is also a plant that has caught my attention lately as i have recently read some unpublished papers on it that are part of a research study being done at my old uni for a large global feed company, it is being looked at for inclusion in chciken feed as so far the studies being done indicate it may be very effective in the controll of the coccidia parasite! the reasearch was started in response to a paper that was published a while back about the plant and its common use in parts of africa.
i am reluctant at this point to give information on it as i want to wait till the study is complete before i decide if its as good as its being claimed to be. however if anyone is interested the african paper that started the study is readilly availiable online, so you can have a read of that and see what you think. some of the claims being made in it i found startling and i fully exspected to end up totaly debunking it. but i have to admit that after reading the unpublished papers (they are being published later this year) its looking more likely that there is truth in the african paper, the study being done in the UK is by a very respected team at a top university. i cant see who or which at this point as the study isnt complete and proffesional curtesy prevents me from doing so.

the link for a copy of the african paper is here http://jarvm.com/articles/Vol3Iss2/MWALE.pdf

 

[kannm]

crossedwires: thanks for the information!! I would love to hear more.