TUMERIC or PREDNISOLONE for Inflammation (and Scratching?)

[Wyorp Rock]

I understand he doesn't handle well, but he may be having difficulty getting the sheaths off the feathers - any that you see on the neck that look loose or ready to come off you can try helping him out. I've seen where some have to help their Silkies.

If I remember correctly without going back an re-reading your previous threads, he is quite advanced in age (8yrs) and it's not well understood what's going on with his legs - gout, arthritis or other - I'm sure it's heartbreaking to see him struggle with balance and getting back up.

Does he seem to eat his feed well without adding anything extra? Chickens are sometimes suspicious of change up in feed - the cat food is a good idea along with tuna. I am all for trying natural remedies and a lot of people use them - I think they can be very beneficial to health and healing, but your main goal is to provide comfort/supportive care for his remaining days, so if adding herbs/spices prevents him from eating well, then lessen the amount use, try one thing at a time in a small amounts or eliminate them all together. Hopefully @Arya28 can point you in the right direction on those and help you find the right "formula".

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Steroids can be very rough on any immune system. If the only reason he is on it is for anti inflammatory purposes, I would definitely be using herbs instead!

Anti inflammatory herbs you could use:

• Yes, tumeric, definitely!
• Cinnamon
• Green Tea
• Cayenne pepper/powder (chickens don't have heat receptors in their mouths, so it won't burn him!)
• Any hot peppers you might have
• Ginger!
• Rosemary
• Sage

Are the pepper seeds beneficial? I got jalapeños from someone and tried giving them a cut open pepper. No one touched it. I was surprised as they generally go for anything with seeds.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

So gave the turmeric a shot. I put a little warm water in an old peanut butter jar lid. Sprinkled turmeric on top of the water and swirled it around a bit. (Looked like pollen floating on a tiny pond.) Then I added pellets and let them soak up the water. Gave it a good mix and went out.

I had no problem getting several birds to eat it. The one I wanted to had the majority but thought I'd see if anyone would object. Everyone wanted more.

 

[Arya28]

Maybe you can help me with herbs! I'm desperate! When he completes his meds, I want to give him a daily dose of turmeric but he doesn't like it. I've followed the recipe on a website mixing coconut oil, fresh ground black pepper, turmeric; following measurements to the tee and used it on scrambled eggs (with no luck, the ants had a picnic), oats (no luck, one sniff that's it). Kingy and Blackie are not domesticated. They are still very much afraid of people, get scared easily, will run (in pen). The easiest to handle them is at night. They eat off the ground. I just throw it on the ground as they love to scratch (grass all gone).
Please advise. I read about the benefits of turmeric and have so much hope thinking it'll work for him but he hates the taste and smell? How do I use the other herbs? They really don't anything humans eat. Are these herbs I could just throw into their pen? What is the dosage, if any? And, do I feed it to them daily.

Ok, so tumeric should definitely help with your chicken, so I would make sure he gets it somehow. The black pepper and coconut oil help to activate the beneficial properties of the tumeric. If you can't get him to eat the past in his food, maybe put some in a little dropper and give it to him in his mouth. Maybe mix a little water in if you need to..

Yep, you could just throw the herbs into their pen. There are many herbs that are great for chickens, and that they love! In addition to what I already mentioned, parsley, lavendar, thyme, and basil are also great for them. If you want to read more about how I treat my chickens with herbs, I have an article on it, it might help you. I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions about herbs or natural remedies, feel free to ask me or message me anytime!

 

[checkingon]

I understand he doesn't handle well, but he may be having difficulty getting the sheaths off the feathers - any that you see on the neck that look loose or ready to come off you can try helping him out. I've seen where some have to help their Silkies.

If I remember correctly without going back an re-reading your previous threads, he is quite advanced in age (8yrs) and it's not well understood what's going on with his legs - gout, arthritis or other - I'm sure it's heartbreaking to see him struggle with balance and getting back up.

Does he seem to eat his feed well without adding anything extra? Chickens are sometimes suspicious of change up in feed - the cat food is a good idea along with tuna. I am all for trying natural remedies and a lot of people use them - I think they can be very beneficial to health and healing, but your main goal is to provide comfort/supportive care for his remaining days, so if adding herbs/spices prevents him from eating well, then lessen the amount use, try one thing at a time in a small amounts or eliminate them all together. Hopefully @Arya28 can point you in the right direction on those and help you find the right "formula".

Sheaths? I'm not sure how. When I look at him, yes there are rather loose feathers that I think doesn't belong there but I'm afraid to do the rest. I don't know exactly what you mean by helping it out. Do I pull on it a teensy bit to see if it's loose? Is it supposed to come off easily? I can't find anything on You Tube. That's how I learned to pill Kingy by myself. He always crows after I pill him and put him down.

My Kingy is 10-11 years of age. Oh, he eats his feed just fine - no problem. He loves the canned cat food too. He has no problem eating. I just wanted to have him to try turmeric for inflammation and other health benefits it provides. I tried several times with a mix of egg and oatmeal - but no luck. If he doesn't like, I don't force but I'll try something else. He gets his regular food morning/night. The vet did say he has inflammation in his joints but couldn't find any other problem. A second opinion I received was his legs weakening due to old age.

We just spent half the day lowering his coop and dropped it 10" and cleaning everything out. I think he'll like his new ramp. I followed other suggestions given and his ramp is wider and longer which makes it a gradual climb, not steep.

I will try the herbs. Tried growing some before but guess I don't have a green thumb. It just feels so good doing the best I can and knowing I've done all I can to make his life better and more comfortable. But, I wouldn't have been able to do this without all your help, advice, suggestions and everyone else who have contributed to Kingy's well-being. You guys are the best!

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

The sheath on the feathers is a waxy coating that covers the feather as it exits the skin. The sheath eventually dries up and flakes off. (That's what looks like dandruff on chickens.) Sometimes they don't shed the feather sheaths as easily so you can help. A slight pull will work. Just remember their feathers are sensitive as they regrow.

 

[checkingon]

The sheath on the feathers is a waxy coating that covers the feather as it exits the skin. The sheath eventually dries up and flakes off. (That's what looks like dandruff on chickens.) Sometimes they don't shed the feather sheaths as easily so you can help. A slight pull will work. Just remember their feathers are sensitive as they regrow.

So, in the pictures I posted earlier...the feathers grew but the sheaths didn't come off?

 

[checkingon]

Ok, so tumeric should definitely help with your chicken, so I would make sure he gets it somehow. The black pepper and coconut oil help to activate the beneficial properties of the tumeric. If you can't get him to eat the past in his food, maybe put some in a little dropper and give it to him in his mouth. Maybe mix a little water in if you need to..

Yep, you could just throw the herbs into their pen. There are many herbs that are great for chickens, and that they love! In addition to what I already mentioned, parsley, lavendar, thyme, and basil are also great for them. If you want to read more about how I treat my chickens with herbs, I have an article on it, it might help you. I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions about herbs or natural remedies, feel free to ask me or message me anytime!

Thank you, I do have a lot of questions. I can't find your email. I don't know my way around this website - still learning. To help give him turmeric with a dropper, what are the measurements of the oil, turmeric, pepper and how much of it do I give per day? Pls message me.

 

[Arya28]

Thank you, I do have a lot of questions. I can't find your email. I don't know my way around this website - still learning. To help give him turmeric with a dropper, what are the measurements of the oil, turmeric, pepper and how much of it do I give per day? Pls message me.

Checkingon- I sent you a message. If you are on a desktop computer, and you look to the top right of your screen, you will see an "inbox" button. If you are on a mobile device and you click on your account picture in the top right of your screen, you will see a link titled "conversations". There should be a notification there, if you click on it you will find your messages! It is BYC's own direct messaging system

 

[checkingon]

Since you have the Scalex, use that - it reads to repeat 2x a week (or look at the directions on your bottle). Since it's fairly small bottle and you may want to pick up some Permethrin and use that to treat your housing. Even if you treat the bird, the mite/lice can still re-infest if they are in the coop/bedding.

For his legs they do look a bit scaly, wash them in warm soapy water, give them a gentle scrub, then apply some vaseline, coconut oil, A+D ointment, Nustock or similar - oils/ointments help heal, soothe and smother any Scaly Leg Mites. Here's some good photos of mites/lice http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

It's a little hard to see in the photos, but he may have some Mite/Lice debris. He has been molting, I do see where the keratin sheaths have not fallen completely off those will eventually come off when he preens and/or dust bathes. A molting bird can be somewhat itchy.

I don't remember if you said what you feed him or not - but hopefully by boosting his protein and getting some extra vitamins into him - he will complete his molt.

I tried to circle a couple of places where you see the feathers have not completely lost their sheath and are still growing out. You may find little pieces of flakes here and there that can look like dandruff.
View attachment 1160012


Here's a good example of what an emerging feather with a sheath looks like - your fella will lose his that sheath when his feathers grow out more.
View attachment 1160014
Photo reference from here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...overs-around-bottom-of-crest-feathers.543549/

You are teaching me a lot! Went out tonight and looked at the back of his neck. Found some

Since you have the Scalex, use that - it reads to repeat 2x a week (or look at the directions on your bottle). Since it's fairly small bottle and you may want to pick up some Permethrin and use that to treat your housing. Even if you treat the bird, the mite/lice can still re-infest if they are in the coop/bedding.

For his legs they do look a bit scaly, wash them in warm soapy water, give them a gentle scrub, then apply some vaseline, coconut oil, A+D ointment, Nustock or similar - oils/ointments help heal, soothe and smother any Scaly Leg Mites. Here's some good photos of mites/lice http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

It's a little hard to see in the photos, but he may have some Mite/Lice debris. He has been molting, I do see where the keratin sheaths have not fallen completely off those will eventually come off when he preens and/or dust bathes. A molting bird can be somewhat itchy.

I don't remember if you said what you feed him or not - but hopefully by boosting his protein and getting some extra vitamins into him - he will complete his molt.

I tried to circle a couple of places where you see the feathers have not completely lost their sheath and are still growing out. You may find little pieces of flakes here and there that can look like dandruff.
View attachment 1160012


Here's a good example of what an emerging feather with a sheath looks like - your fella will lose his that sheath when his feathers grow out more.
View attachment 1160014
Photo reference from here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...overs-around-bottom-of-crest-feathers.543549/

Went out tonight to check on Kingy and now I understand! I looked carefully at the back of his neck and saw what you described. I could see his new feathers coming out and saw those sheaths that have not completely fallen off. There was something on You Tube about preening a parrot and that's what I tried to do. It actually worked! I got so excited! I will try again tomorrow night. But, until his new feathers come out, he will continue to itch?