pumpkin seeds a dewormer??? AND bleach in the water???

[bturbo87]

i remember see a post on here a while back about someone using RAW pumpkin seeds as a dewormer. With halloween coming up and pumpkins to carve, and my chickens due for a worming, i was wondering if anyone had experience with it. if you do or know...roughly how much does each chicken need to eat to get a good "dose" as i do have about 75 chickens?

ALSO

there was a post a while back about someone who puts bleach(like clorox cleaning type) in thier chickens water daily, a very small amount something like .5 tsp. /Gal. and that it did wonders for keeping his chickens disease free from bacteria/viruses, lice/mites, and worms. does anyone have any views on this as well. Ive finally got my wife to understand bio-security(unfortunatly it took a few deaths for her to figure it out) but now that evryone is healthy i want to do my absolute best to keep them that way.

thanks

 

[suzannaski]

I wouldn't put bleach in the water. If you have treated water (city water) not well water, it already has a similar chemical in it. Bleach is very strong, and it kills the good bacteria along with the bad. There are other products like Selmet (for cocci) that are safer for use.

I've heard that pumpkins are dewormers, too. I haven't found any proof, but the hens do like the seeds. I'm gonna go look that up now, actually.

ETA
Yep, here's an article on pumpkin seeds: http://backtobasicliving.com/blog/pumpkin-seed-chicken-dewormer/

 

[bturbo87]

we do have well water

 

[CMV]

Pumpkin seeds may reduce the worm load (the validity of even this claim is being debated), but they are not a de-wormer and should only be used as a preventative. Bleach in the water is the equivalent of chlorine in city water. It does keep water clean slightly longer and in minute doses causes no harm. It is not a cure-all for diseases, though. It just keeps water more sanitary for a little longer.

 

[Judy]

Nothing at all wrong with bleach if you have well water; if you have city water, it's already there. I believe a little research will reveal that pumpkin seeds are not effective as a wormer.


Here's a post from a recent thread:

Tdub4chiks wrote:

ddawn wrote:

I put two or three drops of bleach in mine.

You give your chickens bleach?

City water has Chlorine (bleach) in it and most people that have a well will "shock" there wells with Chlorine (bleach).

From Ohio State University Fact Sheet - Agriculture and Natural Resources wrote:

Chlorine bleach is another option to help reduce algae growth. Each week add 2 to 3 oz. of chlorine bleach for each 50 gallons of water capacity in the tank. Bleaches (without scents) are recommended.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/anr-fact/0012.html

Chris


Notice it only talks about algae, which is why I use it, and it is very helpful.

Sorry it's not very clear who said what; I'm not computer savvy.

 

[sonew123]

I believe its oxine that gets put in the waterers. a minute amount to keep algea growth and bacteria at bay-it is not used to prevent illnesses unless it has been areosolized over the chickens for an inhalant. This is a preventative for respiratory illnesses ans wroks great in a diluted form..

 

[tobin123]

Been using pumpkins for many years as a dewormer for.A vet even said when he was growing up that's how he did it and still does it.

 

[bigoakhunter]

I use pumpkins seeds as a measure to keep worms down. Just takea shovel and cut pumpkin in half. My girls love it.

I use bleach water mix to clean out my waterers. Then I rinse them out 3-4 times before using. I personally would not put bleach in the chickens water. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If by dewormer you mean do pumpkin seeds kill all the worms and get them all out of the chickens system, no it is not a dewormer. They do not remove all the worms. The seeds of pumpkins, zucchini, summer squash, winter squash and cucumber (not sure about gourds, but I believe they have it too)) contain a substance that paralyzes the worms where some of them lose their grip on the intestinal walls and are flushed from the chicken's system. It does not remove all the worms but it can reduce the number of worms in a chicken's system. How many it removes depends on how much they eat, but don't count on even a massive dose getting 100% of them.

Chickens, like wild birds, can do OK with a certain amount of worms in their system. The larger the concentration of worms the more it bothers them. I don't rely on these seeds to keep my chickens worm free. I feed them these seeds all during the gardening season, mainly because they like them and they get a variety of nutrients from them. Any benefits in keeping the worm load down is just a bonus.

I saw in the article that the seeds need to be ground before they are any benefit as a dewormer. They have to be ground before they provide any benefit as far as nutrients too. I figure that is what the gizzard is for. I have never seen a chicken pass a whole unground seed through its digestive system.

As for as bleach in tap water. Chlorine is the active ingredient in bleach. Chlorine is used in the water treatment plant to kill those tiny living things in the water before it goes into the distribution system. It is used in very small concenrations and I'm pretty sure the water is aired out after the chlorine is added to get rid of most of the smell. By the time it gets to the tap, the residual effect in killing new bacteria is pretty well gone. It will grow algae just like rainwater or well water. It just doesn't have the microbes in it to start with. Don't worry. It will get plenty of those from the air or if you run it through a garden hose.

The quantities they use in the water treatment plants is small compared to the water it is going in. If you decide to put it in your water for the chickens, I suggest you use a very small amount. I remember a post on here where a lady had a rooster drink from the bleach water she was using to clean her waterers and he died immediately. It is deadly in high concentrations. I would not add bleach to water if I were using metal waterers either. It is corrosive and can rust the metal pretty quickly. I'm not sure what chemical compounds might form with the metal and galvanizing and chlorine mixing either.

I also wash my waterers in a mild bleach solution and rinse them well before I let the chickens at them.

Anyway, this is from some knowledge and some opinion. Not sure myself which is which on all of it. Good luck!

 

[theFox]

The amount of bleach needed to disinfect a gallon of water is 1/8 of a teaspoon according to several survival references, there is also an iodine based water purification method as well.

While this will do the trick for a short while as others have noted the water will pick up spores, etc ... from the air in short order.

Not all city water contains chlorine these days, a number of drinking water treatment plants use ozone as their primary disinfectant.