Using red oak as treatment!

[jrwilson]

I have a sick chicken and my husbands grandfather told me years ago they used to take about 4 slabs the size of your hand of bark and some "meat" from the base of the largest red oak you could fine. They put it in the chickens water which would turn it red and once the red disappeared...get more. This was the only thing they had to help a sick chicken. Thoughts? I can't find anything online about it.