Possible cure for aspergillosis/Brooder pneumonia

[morwenna]

We had a week old chick recently who started gaping all the time and just standing, miserable in a corner of the brooder box with her head tucked down, staring at the cardboard wall. She ate and drank, though not much. From what we could tell, she had aspergillosis, which is a fatal respiratory infection that can occur when a bird breaths in a mold or fungal spore. I googled up and down the internet looking for a cure, but the concensus seemed to be that there isn't one. I switched her into a completely new brooder box in case something in the old one was the cause. A day or two went by and she was just getting worse. At that point, I was willing to try anything and thought perhaps there was some kind of antifungal medicine that might help. I couldn't find anything appropriate, though, so ultimately opted for garlic, which is known to have antifungal properties. I'd have to administer it orally, though, and wasn't sure it would do anything for a respiratory infection.

I read that the antifungal properties from garlic come from the garlic being crushed, allowing two substances in the garlic to combine. So I crushed one clove of garlic into the chicks' water (in a small waterer) each day, and she started getting better. After a few days, she was completely recovered. It's now a month later and she's still doing well. I actually still put garlic in my chicks' water every day, since they're all nuts about it. Whenever I put a fresh batch of water down, they all race over and peck up all the little garlic bits.

Anyway, I can't claim garlic cures aspergillosis, since all the experts seem to agree there is no cure -- maybe we just got lucky -- but it's definitely worth a try.

 

[SkyFree]

I literally made an account JUST to reply to this post.

Earlier today I got one of our month-old peeps out; over the past few days I'd noticed this specific chick being rather sleepy and I figured it'd be the perfect chance to hold her. Well as I sat there cuddling her she kept sneezing all over me, had a runny nose, and stayed fluffed up like she was cold. It was then I got a bit concerned. I looked up the symptoms but couldn't pinpoint them, though pneumonia seemed the closest thing. Later on my dad said it probably was pneumonia and that she'd need put down as there's no cure. Right away I got online for some remedies because even if there's little hope I still like to give the weak/injured ones a chance That's how we ended up with chickens years ago: I found a peep with one leg and the store would only sell in batches of six ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

After a couple hours of research I found this post and got right to work. I did a full-scale cleaning of the old tank (lid, inside and out of tank, food containers, water dishes, threw out the old food in the tank, etc.) and prepped a second tank for the sick girl's quarantine. At this point the sick girl was so tired and weak that my dad thought she was dead a couple times while he held her. She'd just let you lift her right up and move her around without peeping much, kicking, flapping, or struggling at all.
I gave both the sick girl and the healthy chicks the garlic water (as suggested by another commenter on this post). We used a suggested recipe of 1 garlic clove per 1 quart of water (1/4 clove per 1 cup of water); chopped, crushed, and added to the drinking water.

It's now about 7 hours later and there's already an improvement in the sick girl. Though she's still very tired she's definitely more active, alert, preens her feathers again, and is interested in food and water. We gave her the heat lamp back too (we'd since stopped using it as the chicks have almost all their feathers) and she's stopped sitting with her feathers ruffled. We'll see how she does over the next few days, but thank you very much for posting this!! It was very helpful! <3

 

[Michael Apple]

If it were Aspergillosis, symptoms of gasping, swollen eyes, loss of appetite, eyelids stuck together would have been seen. Convulsions and nervous symptoms are seen because the mold toxin can enter the brain. Aspergillosis can grow on grains like peanuts and corn, straw, oak trees. Humidity is the preferred environment like most molds/fungi.

Disinfecting feeders, removing old litter, and disinfecting houses/brooder with something effective like Oxine AH are effective to control it. Good ventilation is always important. It is often stated that most treatments are unsuccessful, but many have used .25 tsp of copper sulfate per gallon of water for 5 days if birds are affected.

Garlic and Oregano oils are good additions to feed once or twice a week just due to their antioxidant/antibacterial qualities. Garlic increases antioxidant levels, is an anti-infammatory and oregano is a very potent antioxidant. The pigeon folks have been wise to this for some time. Neither are cures for disease, but are certainly supportive of the immune system.

 

[AndreaSouhtAust]

Anyway, I can't claim garlic cures aspergillosis, since all the experts seem to agree there is no cure -- maybe we just got lucky -- but it's definitely worth a try.

It is certainly worth a try and I can tell you here and now, I am so glad I happened onto your post because we had about run out of options for our little 3 day old light sussex chick --- but 2 days after going the garlic path, he turned around and is now eating normally, breathing normally and ... there is hope.

Our little light sussex chick was hatched here in a brand new incubator... yes he was a late hatch so perhaps that had something to do with it ... he was exhibiting the classic watery and crusty eyes (they were mostly closed) and was effectively standing up head high, beak open - trying to breath.

I was certainly sceptical and feeling terribly deflated the more I read on line. I did pick up some early hints on here ... kept him inside a scarf around my neck to keep him warm. I was making up a concoction of water / raw sugar / salt / egg yolk / yogurt and offering that through a drip syringe. It did help because he was clearly dehydrated and hungry ... but it did not make an impact on the respiratory issues. Then I found the name of the condition and it all looked very bad...brooder pneumonia - no cure - no known treatment ... great

I happened across this thread ... just so happened to have some fresh garlic on hand and threw a close in the nutri blender with his concoction mix. Within 24 hours there was a shift ... just a bit perkier. Then the magic sight of watching him eat by himself (he was ravenous) and then drink ... it was the BEST feeling.

The laboured respiratory action has all but gone ... he is 1/2 the size of the others now but they have accepted him back (under my supervision) and he seems happy to be back with the crew.


So thank you to this great resource ... I am so very glad to have found you all

Andrea
(South Australia)

 

[Tragedyofleaves]

My peahen was diagnosed with aspergillosis. The vet put her on an anti-fungal used for people and cats: intrafungol. She was so close to death, neither of us thought it would work, but she's improved and it's been two weeks. She needs to be on it for 6 weeks. Just offering more info in case anyone else is struggling with this infection.

 

[NanaLantana]

Wow - I like your thinking! I'm going to start using garlic outside now - - -

 

[Sparky2726]

Hmmmmm Garlic flavored eggs. That could be good. LOL

Then again, I put Garlic in about anything.

Lee

 

[Atomic Ranch]

Garlic and hot peppers: The cure for everything.

Awesome! I don't doubt it, actually. Every time I'm getting a cold, I eat the two until I'm sweating... haven't been sick in over a decade.

Glad to hear of your success

 

[veganloraine]

I hope the garlic works. Trying to figure out what is going on with my hen. She has respiratory problems, she's lethargic, she has twisted neck - a lot of the symptoms for brooder pneumonia...Started treating with tetracycline on Friday. Going to add garlic and apple cider vinegar to their water this morning and hope she improves.

 

[thegoodlife1961]

Morwenna, I want to thank you so much for sharing this. I have a chick that never grew right ( she is 5 weeks old & I can still hold her in one hand & she still only has wing feathers ) who started in with the same symptoms you described. A couple weeks before, I had used some old peat moss as partial bedding because I had run out of shavings. Anyway, I did all this internet research & she had all the symptoms of brooder pneumonia. So, I started looking for cures & stumbled on this thread. Right away, I separated her & put garlic in her water & in the water to the rest of the flock. I cleaned out where the peat moss had been best I could & put down fresh shavings. Next day, I had another chick that was acting off, staying off by herself w/ ruffled feathers, not joining the others to scratch & forage, etc. So, I picked her up & made her drink the vinegar water. I did this for 2 days & she is back to her normal self! My tiny sick one still has labored breathing today, after 2 days on the garlic water, but the breathing is not quite as open mouthed as it had been, so we'll see. Since her symptoms were more severe, it might take longer for her to get completely over it. Any way, I thank you, thank you, thank you for mentioning this on here!!!!