The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

DRYING THE ORANGE PEELS - DON'T WASTE THEM!
I am planning to do a blog post about doing this for Leigh. Still will if I ever get it together. THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE COPYRIGHT...PLEASE ASK FOR PERMISSION BEFORE REPOSTING ANYWHERE.

I also took the orange peel out and sliced it into thin strips after it had steeped and put it in the dehydrator. It was a very strong vinegar smell so you might want to take your dehydrator outside! Anyhow, I sealed the dried "vinegar orange peels" into a canning jar with my vacuum sealer and also had a hand-full of those to the nests when I put in herbs.

I love that the peels and everything does not go to waste.

Here are some of the photos:
Here are the orange peels after having steeped in the vinegar. I've strained out the vinegar/orange cleaning liquid and these are leftover.




Squeezing out all the extra liquid from the peels. This gets strained and put into the sprayer with the rest of the vinegar/orange cleaner. There is a lot of liquid left in those peels and squeezing gets more out!



Then I cut them into strips.



Then I dry them in the dehydrator.



Then I seal them into jars with my vacuum sealer and store them away. I add these to the next boxes when I put in dry herbs every 3 or 4 weeks.

 

[Leahs Mom]

From the top of the feet there is nothing off at all, they look completely normal. There does seem to be very light swelling on each pad. It's very slight though, not red at all anywhere. I wouldn't say they look infected at all. The scabs are very dry and almost look like warts so me though they aren't raised, there's concentric circles. I picked part of one off. She didn't like that so if I need to pick at it more I'll need to be prepared and have help I think. But yes, I think they could be removed by peeling them up.
Thanks again for your help!

I will send you a pm


Edited to add: I can post what I put in the PM out here but it is LONG! If anyone wants it out here I'll post it...or send you a pm if you like

 

[armorfirelady]

if you listen to the birds, they'll tell you I'm a horrible mean person who hasn't fed them in about 6 months, which is why they're all oh-so-starved and malnourished, which is why they don't care if I'm hovering over them while they try to get what little food I give them.

Funny mine are the same way.......especially when my Mom stops to check on them for me. From all the squawking they do you would think its been days. Of course I think they are yelling at her to hurry up & give them some scratch

I don't know how the camera person could keep a straight face.

I know if I was the camera person I would be laughing to hard to hold the camera

She didn't like that so if I need to pick at it more I'll need to be prepared and have help I think. But yes, I think they could be removed by peeling them up.
Thanks again for your help!

When I needed to tend to my hen with bumblefoot I wrapped her securely in a towel like you do a baby. I just left her feet out so I could work on them. 2 people is easier to do to treat but I do not always have the option of having a helper

I really don't clean my chicken house so I've not used it as a cleaner out there. If I ever do I suppose I could use it.

Squeezing out all the extra liquid from the peels. This gets strained and put into the sprayer with the rest of the vinegar/orange cleaner. There is a lot of liquid left in those peels and squeezing gets more out!

Duh I never squeeze mine out after I strain the liquid

Do you think they would dry out ok on the lowest oven setting? Or out in the sun with out spoiling first?

 

[MargaretYakoda]

DRYING THE ORANGE PEELS - DON'T WAST THEM!
I am planning to do a blog post about doing this for Leigh. Still will if I ever get it together. THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE COPYRIGHT...PLEASE ASK FOR PERMISSION BEFORE REPOSTING ANYWHERE.

I also took the orange peel out and sliced it into thin strips after it had steeped and put it in the dehydrator. It was a very strong vinegar smell so you might want to take your dehydrator outside! Anyhow, I sealed the dried "vinegar orange peels" into a canning jar with my vacuum sealer and also had a hand-full of those to the nests when I put in herbs.

I love that the peels and everything does not go to waste.

Here are some of the photos:
Here are the orange peels after having steeped in the vinegar. I've strained out the vinegar/orange cleaning liquid and these are leftover.




Squeezing out all the extra liquid from the peels. This gets strained and put into the sprayer with the rest of the vinegar/orange cleaner. There is a lot of liquid left in those peels and squeezing gets more out!



Then I cut them into strips.



Then I dry them in the dehydrator.



Then I seal them into jars with my vacuum sealer and store them away. I add these to the next boxes when I put in dry herbs every 3 or 4 weeks.

Oh My Gosh! This is soooo cool! I make this orange cleaner all the time. I had no idea that the spent peels could be used this way!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
I'd use the oven on the lowest temp. Outside there are too many humidity variations. Unless you want to make a solar dehydrator!!! (Hint Hint) They are pretty interesting.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Oh My Gosh! This is soooo cool! I make this orange cleaner all the time. I had no idea that the spent peels could be used this way!

Between the strong smell of the vinegar and the citrus...I think those mites and/or lice just don't like it!

 

[lalaland]

I will send you a pm


Edited to add: I can post what I put in the PM out here but it is LONG! If anyone wants it out here I'll post it...or send you a pm if you like

well, I think it would be helpful to post it here - just because not everyone has dealt with bumblefoot and that way you are sharing the info. These threads last for years apparently...so you never know!

The pics look like bumblefoot to me. I used to do the foot soak, the poking and pulling, but now I hardly ever do unless the hen is limping or it seems really infected. I think the body deals with the infection by turning it into that plug - so unless it seems systemic I leave it. Yes, I've heard it can kill a hen but that is only if it the infection gets out of control and gets into the bone and/or blood system. JMHO

and thanks for the orange cleaner recipe. Now I will have to find someone who eats oranges!

 

[Leahs Mom]

@lalaland I agree with you. Here is what I posted in the PM. It's long. Sorry.

Bumblefoot PM
Hello! By looking at your photo and hearing your descriptions I, at this point, would probably not do anything invasive with those feet. If it doesn't look like an active infection I wouldn't intervene.

Now this is just opinion and experience so I want to give you my thoughts and experience below. I DO have a new item I have purchased and put in my first aid kit that I would use on the feet that I haven't tried before that I can send you a link to. It is non-invasive.

All this being said, if there IS an active infection and the surgery is indicated, I would do the "surgery". I'm not convinced my girl that I did it on needed it.

So...here's my experiences. Please read the whole message before going to the link. Sorry it's so long!!!!!



***************************************

I had bumblefoot on one of my girls last winter. Here is a link that summarizes what I did.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...eeping-thread-ots-welcome/10760#post_10829288

HOWEVER...
I want to say that I have come to a couple of conclusions since I did this so I want to share those before you look at the link above.

I have several birds last spring that had what looked like the beginning of bumblefoot. NONE of them were showing any signs of pain or infection. Just the dark circle on the foot. One of the birds that looked like it may have an infection I brought in and soaked one time in epsom salt so that I could get a better look at what was going on. On all the birds on which I saw dark circles, I put some coconut oil on their feet and leg scales for a couple of days and did nothing else. I didn't bandage at all. I just watched for signs of obvious infection which is even easy to see from the top of the foot. None of these have developed into any "active" infection.


I kind-of have a theory/conclusion about bumblefoot in general that I am operating out of at this point which is based on my experience with the girl this winter. So here it is: I think that people have been so afraid of bumblefoot that we've felt that we need to work on it when it "sometimes" didn't need it.


So I have started to operate this way: If I don't see ACTIVE infection (which will be obvious), I take a watch and see approach. I look for signs of infection locally, and I watch the behavior of the bird. If the bird is bright and acting normal, and there are no visible signs of active infection, I have taken a hands-off approach, even when there is some darkening or scab on the foot.

So far I'm finding that they are all healthy and well, and it seems that their own immune systems are handling whatever may have caused the scab in the first place.


2 winters ago when my original girl (in the link) had bumblefoot, she began to act like she wasn't feeling well. She would do the classic "hunker down and fluff up" thing. Just prior to that we saw blood drops on the roost bar that is in front of the nest boxes which prompted me to look at each bird individually. I think the blood was actually from a comb, but when I looked at them I saw the scab on one foot and a bruise-like appearance on the other on this girl. I had noticed a day prior that she had started "hunkering down" so I began to work on her feet. She DID have active infection on that foot, but it was on the side and between one of the toes on top. That is what I originally lanced.

At this point, I'm convinced that I didn't need to do the surgery on the BOTTOM OF HER FEET as, when I got in there, there was nothing that appeared to be infection or a kernel. I DID need to lance the infection on the side and top.

So...just wanted to know what I'm thinking at this point. As I said before, I think that people have been so afraid of bumblefoot that we've felt that we need to work on it when it didn't need it.

That being said...
-I generally reserve antibiotics as a last resort.
-I do like the epsom salt soaks but I would also use those at first to determine what's going on since it cleanse things up so you can see better what the problem is.
-I found that the icthammel ointment seems to have had the best success with drawing out the infection. (Drawing Salve) You can get this in the regular drug store for people but it is a smaller container that is higher in price.
-Nustock is very good for many things. I always keep it in my animal first aid kit. It has a strong smell, but it's a GREAT anti-fungal/antibacterial.
-I know folks recommend vetrycin. It is not designed for bumblefoot, but is a nice anti-bacterial. I have some in my first aid kit but have never used it. I would not use it for bumblefoot myself. Even the company that makes it states that they don't see it as a good bumblefoot remedy.
-I would use the biopsy punch for any surgery in which there is infection and in which the kernel doesn't readily come out.


I know a gal that has did the epsom salts soaks last summer for a LONG TIME. She was using the ointments (icthamol and/or Nustock) and wrapping several times a week. The scabs never went away totally, but there was no active infection. Just last week she decided to put coconut oil on them and wrapping (which another friend of ours had great success with) and it seems that they are looking better than they have all summer.

If that particular bird was mine, I would not have continued with treatment once I determined that that there was no active infection. I would have let the scabs take care of themselves.


NOW SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU:
-Do you see active infection?
-Is the bird appearing "off" at all from it's normal behavior?


Edited because I left something in from corespondence with someone else formerly that didn't apply.

 

[flagirl]

why do you dehydrate the peels? Is it to keep them longer? wish I had seen this cleaner earlier in year. my property is on part of an orange grove and I own 36 trees and juice and freeze gallons a year. I slice peels and just toss them into boxes and DL.
Last year my wellsummer had bumble foot and even bumps on upper foot. unfortunately/fortunately we were surrounded by water from all our rain and I could not do anything with her foot since they were continually wet. it went pretty much away on its own

 

[Leahs Mom]

I honestly think that most of what folks treat on bumblefoot doesn't need to be treated with "surgery". And I also think that a lot of the interventions cause more infection and trauma than the original bumblefoot did.

I dehydrated the orange peels because they were soaked with vinegar - very wet. Can't just put them into the boxes. But you can with just regular peels like you were using.

And I suppose if you have tons of peels like you probably do...if you dehydrated some to last you through the winter - or just let them dry naturally - you could use them all year. Those in the vinegar are just too wet.