Poison Ivy... will it kill my chicks?

[rrgrassi]

You can get the poison ivy oil off your skin by using Dawn dish detergent. But, you need to do it right after coming in contact with it.

Poison Ivy will not affect the birds.

 

[SallyF]

I grew up in the country, went to a one-room school. Our playground was the acre and a half or so of mixed forest & field around the school. The TK (teacher's kid, much like the proverbial preacher's kid) was a bit overbearing and bossy; he bragged that he was not allergic to poison ivy. One day he amused himself by pulling up great clumps of it and chasing those of us who were allergic to it, trying to rub it on us. Two days later he had about the worst case of poison ivy I've ever seen. Yep, repeated exposure can sensitize people!

 

[mmaddie's mom]

for humans, great apes and pigs... old fashioned lye soap will cut the oils if you shower quickly after contact... also will dry it out when sudsed and left to dry on the rash.
Glad to know that my chickens can't get it!

 

[Stevo]

Wow I am glad I read this post also. My pig has been itching like crazy and I know she was in the poison ivy. I didnt think they could catch it.

Thanks I will keep her away from it.

 

[daddysgirlz]

Really??!!!! Everytime I post here I get no replies!!! Then...someone posts about their chickens getting poison ivy and they get 14 replies...Really....BTW...you dont get poison ivy rash from POLLEN!!! It's the OIL on the leaves and YES it can easily be transfered from clothes or chickens to human skin even days after first contact!!! Best to wash it off your hands or anywhere you think it contacted you with windex with ammonia....the ammonia raises it off your skin to be easily wiped away!!! Lets get back to really sick chickens!!

 

[MaKettle]

wow Daddysgirlz....take it down a couple of notches...all questions are important, not just for chickens that are dying...which is obvious by the fact that 14 people replied to this thread....

 

[Jaguaress]

The poison ivy/oak/sumac urushiol oil can be spread on clothes, skin, and many other things and can remain for years. The best product that I've ever used is Tecnu, which actually gets rid of the oil. I'm extremely allergic to poison ivy/oak/sumac, and this product has been a lifesaver.

You might call them to see if the chicks could be wiped down with Tecnu, if they seem to be covered in the oil. I once had some puppies who kept reinfecting me because they kept getting into poison oak. It actually caused me to lose my job because it spread so badly; I was even having trouble breathing and had to get a cortisone shot. (This was before I found Tecnu.) The original Tecnu could be used to wipe down clothes and the like to get off the oil; you'd have to see if the rest work that way as well.

Here's a link to what I've used. It looks like they've expanded with other products, too, so check them out. http://www.teclabsinc.com/products.cfm?id=1F5604C8-9D05-4675-56129F6D83DF2417

Just fyi: I do NOT recommend any type of topical Benadryl product for itching because a doctor once told me that using Benadryl (whatever the ingredient is called) topically can make some people allergic to it internally, eventually. With my allergy to bee stings, some shellfish, and spider bites, I can't risk ever being allergic to oral Benadryl, as it's saved my life in the past.

Hope everything works out well.

 

[DTRM30]

Quote:
I use Tecnu - LOVE it - I'm highly allergic. I don't just wash, I use a scrub brush and literally scrub every inch - inbetween my fingers, toes, everywhere. If the oils remain on my skin - which does happen even if you take a shower as they are hard to wash off - it spreads to wherever I touch. Its ugly !

I get it from my dog sometimes, too.

 

[anythingbutsandy]

Several years ago I got a bad rash from my puppy who found it somewhere on our 2 acres. I cured it with Oatmeal soap that a friend of mine gave me -- it stopped the itch and dried the rash. From then on I kept some of that soap on hand, but found myself cutting off a hunk to give to someone who was suffering. Fast forward to today and the new chickens are in a tractor so I know they're not the guilty party, so I'm left to wonder if it was the newest puppy or the new goats that shared the poison ivy oil with me. Unfortunately for me I didn't save any of my Oatmeal soap. I will be looking for some super fast shipping from my soap connection and will also check out the Tecnu.

 

[woodmort]

If you're sensitive to it most anything that comes in contact with the oil will cause you problems; including smoke from burning leaves/vines. My wife, who is extremely sensitive, picked some up lately and we think it was from my socks in the wash--I had been looking for a golf ball in an area where there was some--I'm not sensitive btw. On my wife--she never seems to recognize it until she's in the middle of a whole patch.

As a kid she had a series of shots to desensitize her which helps some.