Homemade Worming Treatment! (Maybe?)

[HuskerHens18]

Well I think your experiment is neat and makes for some very happy birds! There's nothing wrong with trying out something for yourself and sharing what you find.
I'm sorry about the way some people jumped on you like that, your thread is completely fine in my book.

 

[Kusanar]

My issue is, what type of "pumpkin" are we talking about??
There are a LOT of different things called pumpkins. Not all are the same. There is a difference between carving pumpkins, baking or pie pumpkins, giant pumpkins, strictly ornamental ones...

I assume that the ones being used here are carving pumpkins, but, who's to say that it's not a different type who's seed works?

Actually, it seems more likely to me that it would be the pie pumpkins that would be where this theory got it's start as those tend to be heirloom varietys and therefore are older and more likely to be the ones that inspired the old wives tale (true or not, I'm not judging that). Plus, I find it unlikely that a homesteader would spend the time, energy, and space on a huge plant that makes greatly substandard food and it's only real claim to fame is making a decoration that rots on your porch. It would be much more likely (in my mind anyway) that a housewife making a pumpkin pie or otherwise preparing a pumpkin for cooking, would scoop the seeds and give some to the chickens in the yard.

Maybe, someone had a bag of pumpkin seeds set aside for planting in the spring and the chickens broke in and ate a ton of them, then they expelled worms to an extent that would have been noticed.

Something started this rumor or theory (whatever you want to call it), most things like this don't come completely out of the blue, but, I seriously doubt that the event that caused this information to be passed down was caused by a carving pumpkin.

 

[aart]

My issue is, what type of "pumpkin" are we talking about??
There are a LOT of different things called pumpkins. Not all are the same. There is a difference between carving pumpkins, baking or pie pumpkins, giant pumpkins, strictly ornamental ones...

This is something I remember from the studies I mentioned, it did discuss different types of cucurbits and the marked difference of the effective compound amongst them.

 

[Morrigan]

This is something I remember from the studies I mentioned, it did discuss different types of cucurbits and the marked difference of the effective compound amongst them.

Too much Cucurbiticin can actually be toxic, to humans at least. I would think a chicken could be harmed as well. https://ascientificcuriosity.wordpr...ucumbers-and-melons-can-cause-food-poisoning/

My chickens have always had access to a lot of squash in the summer and fall, but it's always a free-choice situation, and I've seen no ill effects. I've never tried mixing it up in their food, however.

 

[21hens-incharge]

That's a really good thing! One of the things I enjoy about his forum is the amount of open discussions that goes on without too many feathers getting ruffled.

My reading of the OP was that "scientific" was being used tongue in cheek. They did say straight away the following:



I think my reaction to this would have been different had the OP been dealing with birds that were visible ill and suffering. When you have an ill chicken, I think we agree that getting the best information available and pursuing the best treatment options is the gold standard.

What I can see happening though is a panicked fairly new chicken owner frantic to find a "cure" scanning rapidly and going "Whew! The treatment is Soooooo easy!" Then finding the hard way that said treatment was not fully studied and did not work.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

What I can see happening though is a panicked fairly new chicken owner frantic to find a "cure" scanning rapidly and going "Whew! The treatment is Soooooo easy!" Then finding the hard way that said treatment was not fully studied and did not work.

Isn't that true of any bad advice for anything? I mean I overheard a guy in Home Depot last week talking about how cops don't ticket for drunk driving if you pour out your alcohol. That's nonsense of course, but anyone can say anything anywhere at any time and it's up to you to figure out if it's good advice or not. And you simply can't fix stupid if someone chooses to interpret this thread that way. If they're that sloppy chances are good they'd just run into some other thread or bit of false info somewhere else.

Additionally that seems to be a poorly founded worry. If someone is googling it they're farm more likely to run into the chickenchick's article on it, the backyardchickencoops article on it, the poultrykeeper article, etc etc. Even if they're deliberately looking for an all natural treatment, even on this website, the chances of them stumbling across THIS thread and deciding based on the first post alone that it's the best choice for treating their flock are minuscule. They're far more likely to stumble across the actual studies of the effectiveness of pumpkin in reducing worm loads to be honest.

It just seems like an excessive response for what's a relatively harmless thread.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Isn't that true of any bad advice for anything? I mean I overheard a guy in Home Depot last week talking about how cops don't ticket for drunk driving if you pour out your alcohol. That's nonsense of course, but anyone can say anything anywhere at any time and it's up to you to figure out if it's good advice or not. And you simply can't fix stupid if someone chooses to interpret this thread that way. If they're that sloppy chances are good they'd just run into some other thread or bit of false info somewhere else.

Additionally that seems to be a poorly founded worry. If someone is googling it they're farm more likely to run into the chickenchick's article on it, the backyardchickencoops article on it, the poultrykeeper article, etc etc. Even if they're deliberately looking for an all natural treatment, even on this website, the chances of them stumbling across THIS thread and deciding based on the first post alone that it's the best choice for treating their flock are minuscule. They're far more likely to stumble across the actual studies of the effectiveness of pumpkin in reducing worm loads to be honest.

It just seems like an excessive response for what's a relatively harmless thread.

It appears I have managed to offend you...or hit a nerve.

No idea why you found my post offensive.

I do know that 90% of the time when I Google anything chicken related I get a big ole list of threads on BYC about it.

Yes deciphering the info found to get to what is actual truth is essential.
I find many lacking in that particular skill.

No you cannot fix stupid.

Have a nice day.

 

[RoosterML]

I'm just curious... Let's say you do notice some worms in the feces while doing your inspections. What exactly are you planning to proclaim on here? Are you going to try and say something along the lines of, "Hey, this might be working!"... Because that is where the biggest problem currently exists. You're going to give those few other readers who misinterpret your "results" another glimmer of hope to use an unproven product. The only thing you have accomplished by visually noticing worms in feces, is knowing your chickens have worms. Nothing more.
Why are you getting so much criticism? Because a lot of us on here in the scientific community (and those who are not) get exhausted trying to help keep people properly informed. We all want what's best for everyone's chickens; they're amazing animals to raise!
With that being said... Please don't let any of our comments squash your curiosity! Continue doing what you do, and keep learning!!! Just please, choose your words wisely.

I think I have chosen my words very well and have never said it was something it’s not. After all I am just beginning with this.
Hypothetically speaking if I was to start seeing worms in poop then yes. I would likely report my findings on this thread that I saw worms in the poop. No one on here really knows me but if I do in fact see that Pumpkin seeds may have promise if I believe it may be working I will likely take this to a whole new level of testing. First while as loose as my experiment may be it will give me what would cause me to likely take this testing even further.
After all testing and experiments do start somewhere!

 

[RoosterML]

I do believe that what set things off in this thread is it is posted as a "scientific" study which it certainly is not.

Your joking right?? The only thing scientific about this study currently is my visual scientific poop board examination.
I am not going to read over the thread again to see if it’s there but I am pretty darn sure I never said this was a scientific study. If so it’s taken out of context. The word scientific is about as serious as my calling it a secret potion when the first thing I did was list exactly what the secret potion has in it.

 

[RoosterML]

Well I think your experiment is neat and makes for some very happy birds! There's nothing wrong with trying out something for yourself and sharing what you find.
I'm sorry about the way some people jumped on you like that, your thread is completely fine in my book.

Thank you, I can feel the love!! Glass of wine or maybe a beer for you??? The choice is yours!