I may have finally found a cure for feather picking

[BDutch]

FYI - L-Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that is necessary for making proteins.

I didn’t know Tryptophan and looked on Wikipedia to find what it is. It stated that medication with Tryptophan are sleeping drugs people can get addicted to.
Its probably the amount thats makes classifies ot as a drug or not.

The lab/experts say the CBD oil that sold in the shop contains not enough drugs to be effective. Some people with anxiety/ arthritis and maybe a few other illnesses or pains go to the doctor for a prescription for CBD / cannabis oil with a high dose of the drug that is effective.
Other patients grow their own cannabis (wiet) or buy it at the cannabis-shop. Known by the name coffee-shop in the Netherlands.

Hemp and cannabis plants where originally the same. But selection for rope/fiber material vs selection for cannabis altered the plants over the years/decades or maybe even en centuries . Humans created 2 different specialised plants from the same family. A bit like humans did with specialised laying hens and meat chickens.

Hemp is used more and more to make very sturdy materials like for dashboards in cars. And also for bedding, isolation and to make building bricks for housing. These hemp plants are worthless to make a soft drug.

The hemp with THC became stronger and stronger and the THC levels are not as innocent as they were 50 years ago when it became the most used drug for young people beside alcohol.

Smoking it made me very relaxed and sleepy. Eating pieces of ‘space’ cake made me happy and everything extremely funny. I didn’t use it much/many times bc I had friends who were getting stranger and weirder, smoking/eating it too long too much.

 

[SourRoses]

Lab tests cost money and Azygous isn't awash in it. But there is a study on this topic. https://herb.co/news/chickens-that-...ow-higher-protein-contents-and-fewer-diseases

Thailand legalized cannabis many years ago, and the government even went so far as to give out a million free cannabis plants to their citizens and farmers, encouraging them to experiment. Lots of very interesting findings.

The eggs and meat, when tested, had no trace of canabinoids. However, the eggs and meat were higher in protein, the eggs higher in moisture content and some said the taste was also better. You will not get high from eating eggs from hens that consume cannabis.

Cool!!!

 

[ManOverBoard]

Is this making it's way into the eggs?

 

[AGeese]

I absolutely can't stand the smell. It's a lot like skunk to me. It's sickening being around people who have smoked it.

The scents are caused by terpenes, the same chemicals that cause scent in other plants / produce. The interesting thing is cannabis has the genetic potential for producing many different terpenes commonly found in other plants! There are varieties that smell like pineapple, grapes, cookies, anise, vanilla, and banana.
There are also the varieties that smell like skunk, diesel, pine sol, bleach, etc. Those varieties became popular in the past as they coincided with strength and balance of THC / CBD. Sadly, young male smokers tend to prefer Skunky Indica types, so there's a lot of that out there and it may be the most recognizable of the cannabis odors.
Underneath these recognizable scents, there is a component of the odor that belongs to cannabis alone... but most people would find it inoffensive, and it doesn't have the power to linger.

Hemp comes in different varieties as well (as long as it's under 0.3% THC it is considered Hemp in the US), so it has a range of smells, but since that trait hasn't been selected for it can be very mixed.

Valid point by Stinky, and great post by SourRoses getting down to the proof of how millennials, and their offspring have destroyed one of the most pleasant aromatic herbs known to mankind (pre-inhaled of course). There is no care put into it now, the movement towards medicinal has absolutely ripped the heart out of the flower leaving us with the worst qualities in a pseudo effort to "treat", removing the pychological component in favor of sedation, and hyper-active appetite, with zero thought as to what we have lost at the expense of the almighty dollar.

 

[SourRoses]

Valid point by Stinky, and great post by SourRoses getting down to the proof of how millennials, and their offspring have destroyed one of the most pleasant aromatic herbs known to mankind (pre-inhaled of course). There is no care put into it now, the movement towards medicinal has absolutely ripped the heart out of the flower leaving us with the worst qualities in a peusdo effort to "treat", removing the pychological componant in favor of sedation, and hyper-active appetite, with zero thought as to what we have lost at the expense of the almighty dollar.

Well... this actually started in the 60's

There's not too much cause to despair for the future of cannabis. Plenty of old varieties continue around the world in the hands of small holders.
It's more a concern of what is available to the consumer, especially when big business takes over.
The main threat to the future is mega corporations patenting strains... even pre-existing strains, simply by sourcing and mapping their genetic profile. Those that will escape this grabby treatment are the well-known, popular varieties and new strains that are developed by breeding efforts.

 

[AGeese]

Well... this actually started in the 60's

There's not too much cause to despair for the future of cannabis. Plenty of old varieties continue around the world in the hands of small holders.
It's more a concern of what is available to the consumer, especially when big business takes over.
The main threat to the future is mega corporations patenting strains... even pre-existing strains, simply by sourcing and mapping their genetic profile. Those that will escape this grabby treatment are the well-known, popular varieties and new strains that are developed by breeding efforts.

We'll have to start another topic for that so we don't go off the rails. I'll say one thing and digress. I agree, just not as confident as you in the future.

 

[azygous]

Is this making it's way into the eggs?

Go back a few posts for the answer to your question.

 

[ManOverBoard]

Go back a few posts for the answer to your question.

Thank you!

 

[Stephine]

First of all, the cause of feather picking is varied. Don't think for a minute that I haven't tried to mitigate things such as diet and space. At one point, I had a hen that was manic in her feather picking, and I treated her with extra protein for years with zero improvement in her behavior. Her brain was hard wired to mow the feathers off her mates.

Over the years, I've noticed that my feather pickers were high strung and compulsive in their behavior as compared to the other chickens. This is what compelled me to research ways to treat them. I made it clear when linking to my two previous threads on this subject that those attempts were a failure. This one may fail as well. But we'll find out faster if it works or not if a lot of us are doing this experiment.

Cannabis compounds can be mystifying to folks who weren't hippies in the 70s. The short of it is that all strains of cannabis, including hemp, contain both THC and CBD compounds along with a few others such as CBN. In its raw form, cannabis has very little effect. It must be heated in order to release those compounds and activate them. It's why so many people smoke it. It's a lot easier and less time consuming compared to heating it in an oven.

It requires longer heating to activate CBD compounds than it does THC. And if your oven is too hot, it can destroy these active compounds. By heating at just under 200F, the compounds will not burn, and ninety minutes will activate the CBD coumpounds. If you were doing this for the purpose of getting high, you would only heat the cannabis for 30 to 45 minutes.

Hemp leaves, seeds, and cannabis leaves and seeds are all benign substances until heated. I've been giving my chickens cannabis all along over the years, at once point to control worms, which is of dubious effect. And, chickens lack the receptors in their brains for THC. No amount will get them high.

I had a GLW for 8 years who was a feather picker. I put pinless peepers on her before she was even a year old and that stopped her picking. Years later I took them off of her thinking she might be cured, but she immediately started ripping out feathers out of any hen in her vicinity again. Within minutes of taking off the peepers. So I pit them back on her and she was finally buried still wearing them. It worked for us. I have also used them temporarily on bullies, just to throw them off their game for a while.
Not against your method at all, but I am lazy…

 

[azygous]

I had a GLW for 8 years who was a feather picker. I put pinless peepers on her before she was even a year old and that stopped her picking. Years later I took them off of her thinking she might be cured, but she immediately started ripping out feathers out of any hen in her vicinity again. Within minutes of taking off the peepers. So I pit them back on her and she was finally buried still wearing them. It worked for us. I have also used them temporarily on bullies, just to throw them off their game for a while.
Not against your method at all, but I am lazy…

Glad you brought up the pinless peepers. They offer a valid strategy to control feather picking. I've used them a lot over all the years of keeping chickens. There is a danger connected to extended use, however.

I have two Sicilian Buttercups, a feisty, intelligent breed. Both have been problem pickers since I got them several years ago as chicks. I installed peepers on the worst one, and she wore them for over a year. I noticed she appeared to be having breathing issues so I removed them. When I pulled them off, I noticed one nare had completely grown shut from scar tissue from the irritation of the peeper prongs. I tried to removed the clog, but failed. She now has only one functioning nare.

I caution against leaving the peepers on a chicken longer than a few months to avoid tissue damage. Also, some chickens are such neurotic pickers, seemingly having this disorder wired into their brains, that they find workarounds for the limited vision the peepers cause. In these cases, the peepers are useless and not worth the risk of having the chicken wear them.