The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[garden62]

Bee - DH said he thinks the hens are attracted to the feathers on the Cochins feet. He thought they had that problem in the past.

The last couple of days I have been scattering some of their food on the floor in an effort to give them something to do in order to eat. They are really stirring up their bedding & I'm thinking maybe that's part of the reason they are leaving Mr. Big alone. They do have access to about an acre outside and I thought that was enough, but this seems to be helping. We are also thinking about taking all the "other" breeds (about 25) out of the main house where the Red Stars live along with one of the roosters and putting them in a portable chicken house in the alpaca pasture. The Red Stars are the only ones I've seen pecking the roosters feet so I'm thinking we will put Mr. Big with the other hens.

Working on getting the Nu-Stock. I can't find any locally. I'm thinking about using some PRID salve on the sore until I can get the Nu-Stock. It's a drawing salve & anti-infectant. Any thoughts on that?

 

[Beekissed]

That's right, BK. The external thrush is just a sign of the same thing systemically, at least that is how it is with humans and I see no reason why it would not be the same with chickens. High serum yeast counts in humans are very often associated with poor diet, especially a sugary diet, with diabetes and any depressed immunity disorder, cancers as well. We have a nation of 'yeasty' people and they don't even know it.

The condition in humans can be rocket-launched by over-use of antibiotics and I know that you know all about that. But going after the 'yeast' with nystatin or flouocysteceine or other hard anti-fungals... creates mutations of the yeast and a self-defensive reaction toward the medicine whereby hard-shelled little spores of the yeast bury themselves in organ tissues in order to survive. When conditions get more favorable for them, ie bad carbs, sugar, disease, depressed immunity, even prolonged stress..... they come out in full force.....hyphating all over the place. (Hyphae being the form that the spores change to when they are fed) And yeast depresses the immune system badly. Cancer autopsies on humans always culture out Candida Albicans Yeast. It's a killer. "Just sayin".

Yeast are yeast are yeast methinks. We all have 'em. But their numbers stay in check through good nutrition, good air and good sleep...the things that build up our immunity

So.......that is just you are teaching us to do with our chickens. Food, foraging, and a healthy lice/mite-free coop to reduce their stress and promote their rest.
Sound familiar? a good diet (lots of probiotics to keep yeast numbers down), plenty of exercise and fresh air, and a good night's sleep.

BK you are a Chicken Doc. You should be paid for this you know, but if virtual hugs are worth more than silver dollars...well then I guess you are one rich lady.
Even if the hugs weren't there, well I guess I know you would still be very, very rich.

LOVE YA CYBER-SIS!

PS. A THOUGHT JUST ENTERED THE DANGER ZONE OF MY BRAIN: If internet went away from us in the future..we would have more time to do now wouldn't we? This thought of possibly losing internet makes me think that perhaps I need to work toward building up the relationships with those here around me more. But nobody around here 'gets' my passion for learning about chickens. (but I'm not going to cry about it, Bruce)

Lot's of good info to be found here! They say the candida found in CA patients is caused by taking chemo, antibiotics, radiation, etc, but I have my own thoughts about all that. Fungus is the biggest, most productive, vigorous killer on this planet of all creatures and plant life. Bar none.

Thank you for the kind words, Missa, but anyone could find out this stuff with enough searching and some experience with chickens. My nursing life gives me a leg up but with the internet anyone can get the same info~I'm nothing special by any means. Many really smart folks on this forum that make me feel like a 3rd grader!

Makes you wonder about the sugars found in grain based feeds and if they are the ideal feed for birds with this affliction, doesn't it? I'm wondering if the FF converts those sugars enough to avoid this factor. Not sure.

Took some pics today and will post them soonest. Gotta go and haul firewood!

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Lot's of good info to be found here! They say the candida found in CA patients is caused by taking chemo, antibiotics, radiation, etc, but I have my own thoughts about all that. Fungus is the biggest, most productive, vigorous killer on this planet of all creatures and plant life. Bar none.

Thank you for the kind words, Missa, but anyone could find out this stuff with enough searching and some experience with chickens. My nursing life gives me a leg up but with the internet anyone can get the same info~I'm nothing special by any means. Many really smart folks on this forum that make me feel like a 3rd grader!

Makes you wonder about the sugars found in grain based feeds and if they are the ideal feed for birds with this affliction, doesn't it? I'm wondering if the FF converts those sugars enough to avoid this factor. Not sure.

Took some pics today and will post them soonest. Gotta go and haul firewood!

Yes! That's it! That's why some can do just fine with Kefir but not milk (the sugar in milk) so I think you've got something there with the FF. Fermenting any food pre-digests a lot of the the sugars out but also provides the healthy flora to combat the overgrowth of the yeast. So two good things going on. Candida sufferers seem do better on fermented foods, too like kimchi and the like.

So gleet might be chicken candida. 'oh-oh Candida la-la-la-".....just found a new name for one of my chickens that has a bottom that looks like "Hen Cam's' photo of gleet.

The vets with all the medicines and antibiotics and the human docs, too, all promoted and pushed by the pharm drug industry and and FDA and if we're fortunate to have an insurance, it only covers that killer stuff. And trad. medicine docs don't usually know ding-all about nutrition. I'm a nurse, too. retired now. If I had it to do all over again I would go the naturopathic route with emphasis on diet and prevention. My med doctor knows next to nothing about Candida and doesn't bother finding out.

BK, what you're saying about soil balance and all makes so much sense for the chickens. I don't know. Maybe we need to eat some dirt, too. SBO's (soil based organisms in capsule form) have saved at least one human life that I know of when nothing else worked. (Maker's Diet...the book)

The Bedoiuin wanderers in the Middle East often live in environments that to us are filthy, but they would fight off some diseases where we wouldn't be able to...because maybe we're too clean??

Here I sit with a million things to do and yet more company coming. Better get my tush off the couch.
Ok. I've done my soapbox deed for the day.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Fungus is the biggest, most productive, vigorous killer on this planet of all creatures and plant life. Bar none.

X 100

 

[galanie]

The Bedoiuin wanderers in the Middle East often live in environments that to us are filthy, but they would fight off some diseases where we wouldn't be able to...because maybe we're too clean??

Heh. You haven't seen my house. I guess that's why I'm never sick!

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Heh. You haven't seen my house. I guess that's why I'm never sick!

me 2.

I've stopped pretending so much. I just blame it on the chickens.

 

[Beekissed]

Got some pics today....keep in mind that these chickens looked much worse than this a week ago and now have a little more color in their combs and a little more feather growth...particularly the rooster. He was missing feathers on his neck, around his eyes, under his wings, etc. I know this roo and I know how he molts, so it wasn't just molting going on. The lice and mites have made all their feathers pretty chewed looking. I'll try to caption each pic...if you have any questions about what you are seeing, feel free to ask. Only one BR out of the whole flock is laying...one lonely egg.

1. This is the wild bunch out foraging today.




2. This BA hen shows pale comb and dull feathering and, if you'll notice, she is very thin and you can just make out a prominent keel bone in this pic which also shows up the full crop. I don't know how old this hen is but she didn't molt hard, so I'm thinking fairly young...is not laying.



3. This pic shows one of the WR, BA and BR...the combs are much more red than they were when they arrived but you can really see how poorly feathered the WR is in this pic. All birds in the flock except one show a lot of wt. loss.



4. This pic shows the one fairly healthy looking WR in comparison to the worst looking one. The PR in the background is also in pretty poor shape.



5. This pic shows the feather loss, redness and swelling caused by the gleet and lice infestation.




6. This pic shows how rich a place these birds have to forage and they also have 3 acres of meadow that is completely surrounded with this kind of woodland.



7. This pic shows scale mite and swollen feet, along with redness and swelling due to gleet. Also has a lot of feather loss and is malnourished.



8. In this pic you can really see how thin these birds are, even after being a week on FF and good forage. All keel bones in this pic are prominent~which is why you can see the bulge of their crops so clearly...this is something that you should not see so well on healthy, conditioned birds~ and that rooster has lost about 5 lbs since I last saw him.




9. This WR is horribly underweight, anemic, has gleet, scale mites and had lice when she arrived. You can really see the keel bone on this one.



10. .....and this is what she used to look like, only bigger and more sleek and with a red, rosy comb. This is Moby Dick, my broody WR, and she is the only chicken that is heavy, sleek and half way normal in her appearance...and she is still underweight from what she used to be. Not in fat, these WR are pure compact muscling folks. She has lice, skin mites, scale mites and gleet...her gleet is probably the worst as she has enormous swelling above her vent.




11. This is the only New Hampshire left..there used to be five. She is very underweight, anemic, has mites, scale mites and lice and displays dull, lusterless feathering. Is not laying.



12. This PR hen is only 3 yrs old. She is pale, anemic, shows skin mite damage to feathers on face and had lice and mites when she arrived. Believe it or not, she looks much better after one week than she did when she got here. She is not laying. She is also lacking the feathers or the strength to fly up to the very low roost, let alone the high roosts.




13. Here's poor Raggedy Ann( her appearance fostered her new name). I think I was more shocked about her than all the rest. This, believe it or not, is a WR hen and used to be big, beautiful, and sleek. She actually looks way better than she did when she arrived and she already shows more feather regrowth and more color in her comb, beak and legs. When she first arrived her legs and beak were very pale. She has all the parasites listed and is not laying. I'm shocked that she can even get up on the roosts. She's very spunky and fights for her roosting rights next to the rooster. She is 6 yrs old and in all the years I've had her, I've never seen her molt more than a few feathers around the tail....now she looks like a wood chipper casualty.





14. This is the skinniest bird of all. A young, unknown bird...maybe a Dom cross of some kind or just very poor Dom genetics? Her keel bone is the most sharp and her comb was dead white/grey when she arrived. She's looking a little better....very vigorous in her action, even though she is the most malnourished...might also be a very young bird that hasn't developed breasts yet, not sure. She is not laying.




15. This is my only Specked Sussex left. She is very flighty, pale, and shows feather loss on her face due to skin mites. She has dull feathering and eyes...but looks way better than when she arrived. She is not laying and she is 3 yrs old.



16. The two heaviest, least malnourished birds, Toby and Moby Dick...but even they are very underweight compared to their usual condition.



17. Moby, Toby and Middle Sister WR( that is pale, shows feather loss and is very underweight). Toby is much brighter in his feathering since he arrived and has had a lot of feather regrowth around his eyes and on his neck. Look how skinny the poor guy is!



18. Look how skinny this poor old guy is!



19. Pics of gleet and swelling around vents.




20. Close up of the swelling...looks very painful but the birds don't flinch or struggle when it is palpated.

 

[bruceh]

dang bee those birds look like they are just from the brink of death. such young birds. looks like you almost see in battery birds.

 

[Beekissed]

I know...breaks your heart, doesn't it? If you could have seen them before all this....sleek, beautiful and shiny.

 

[thedragonlady]

I know...breaks your heart, doesn't it? If you could have seen them before all this....sleek, beautiful and shiny.

Those faces must haunt you. They give me chills now, and I know how you must feel having to look at those sunken eyes. Bless you Bee for giving them a ticket out of HELL.