The Benefits of Garlic, Cayenne and Apple Cider Vinegar for Your Flock

By Aussie Contributor, "chooks4life"

Garlicis high in sulfur which is toxic to the parasites that plague chickens as well as other animals. They physically cannot process it. It also speeds healing. The level of sulfur an animal can take is linked in large part to its size, and it takes a lot to overdose chickens. You'd need to be either force feeding it by drench, or feeding it to severely liver-damaged birds to harm them from it. When chickens have been on garlic for a while they can't become overrun by mites, lice, or worms as garlic permeates the flesh. It also helps fend off many diseases and harmful microorganisms as they too cannot tolerate levels of sulfur that are harmless to the birds.

The sulfonamide family of drugs was developed to mimic the medicinal qualities of naturally occurring sulfur compounds in herbs - particularly garlic. But these synthetic or other man-made/altered compounds are not as effective as the natural alternative (garlic), in part because the natural alternative already possesses the proper balance with the necessary enzymes to be properly digested. Thus, mono-gastric organisms can make full use of it. Also, garlic is "fluid" and never the same in natural form, so viruses and bad bacteria cannot become immune to it like they do to stabilized/ pharmaceutical grade antibiotics and sulfur compounds which do not change.

The main known antibiotic in garlic is Allicin and this is proven to kill food poisoning bacteria among others that man made antibiotics cannot kill. Unlike man made antibiotics, the natural alternatives do not kill good bacteria too, only the harmful types. Russians refer to garlic as “Russian penicillin” and worldwide it is in much usage. I can personally vouch for it having saved my life and I cannot count how many times it's saved the lives of my poultry; I have never had respiratory diseases among them and chicks fed garlic from day one never get coccidiosis nor the majority of other diseases chicks are prone to. This is especially important in those diseases which require buildup of bad bacteria in the gut to take hold, but are kept in check by healthy intestinal micro-fauna/flora. Keep in mind there are many types of garlic, many modern breeds also, and some are more potent than others. 

Link: What the National Institutes of Health says about Garlic. 

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) helps maintain a correct PH which is crucial to preventing health issues, to healing everything from cancer to infections, and contains electrolytes, pro- and pre-biotics, vitamins, enzymes and minerals. The pectin in apples is one of the main heavy metal detoxifiers, relevant especially to mercury, lead and aluminum. 

Link: More on Apple Cider Vinegar.

 

Cayenne pepper - I will give a quick sample of how it works in some circumstances: some diseases that cayenne pepper is used to prevent involve worm cysts that are infected, (blackhead) and these are activated by the stomach acid once eaten. If cayenne is also eaten, it literally burns the now unprotected parasite and the protozoan disease that may have hitchhiked in there with it. It is also great for removing established adult tapeworm, as garlic takes longer as the sulfur has to build up to do its job, whereas cayenne burns the worms until they cannot feed and will evacuate the host to seek other “pastures.” 

Link: Human uses of Cayenne Pepper. 

Cheers! chooks4life

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Gnarly Bunch - Chapter 13 - 10/1/12

10/1/12

Update on the Gnarly Bunch: Toby gaining ground every day and the girls are looking sleeker as well. 

The hen treated for the nasty gleet the other night is showing signs of improvement...small signs but still improvement.  Vent area is dryer and less odor already... a good sign!  

  

I'll tell you something I found out about this NuStock....I've been battling fleas on the dog for the first time ever this year.  My dogs have never really had enough fleas that a flea collar couldn't fix.  This year we got a visit from a stray dog that played and wrestled with my dog before I could get my hands on him.  When I did, I found the poor dog was just crawling with very large fleas and was miserable from digging at them.  Maybe why someone dumped him off.  

Well, I've tried everything I could think of in the natural side... garlic (yes, my dogs have eaten it for years and they didn't die) in the food, garlic dusting on the body.  Cedar shavings in his bed. Lemon juice spray... nothing. 

Then I went to flea powder. No results.  Gave him a bath in Dawn with a little kerosene in the water...that worked for awhile but they came back.  Finally went to the chemicals.  Flea and tick spray did nothing.  Even bought some Sevin dust...nothing.  More garlic and I thought we had kicked them.  

Then we had another wet week of weather and they are back with a vengeance.  For the first time ever, my dog scratched himself until he was bleeding on his stomach and under one leg.

Everyone I spoke with who had used the expensive Frontline and Advantix and such said it did no good this year… the fleas were that bad, so I didn't want to spend all that money and still have no results.  

When I saw Jake had dug a hole in himself and had hundreds of flea bites on his belly, I just rubbed some Nustock into the wounds and all over all the bites.  I put NuStock on any place that had thin hair and even placed some at the base of his tail and behind his ears.  Instant relief!

I haven't seen the dog itching since and that was 3 days ago.  

I might be onto something here... so I looked up pine tar.

http://magnoliazz.hubpages.com/hub/All-Natural-Flea-And-Tick-Repellent 

http://www.ehow.com/how_6758327_kill-fleas-pine_o_pine.html

Update on the Gnarly Bunch:  Three eggs today!  All medium to large, huge and very orange yolks, two were fertile, very strong shells.  Ranging further from the coop today... went down about an acre away from the coop for a little bit.  Getting comfy in their surroundings, I'd say. 

They are looking so much cleaner, smoother, more feathered each day... I even saw one of the BA's (Black Australorp) feathers had the start of a sheen of green in the sun this morning.  Both of those gals looked pretty dull when they arrived, though the one Black Star had a good sheen on her feathers.

This same BA, whom I dubbed as Ruby, acts a little like she wants to hang around me... if for nothing more than in curiosity.  I've had quite a few BAs over the years that were very friendly and moochy, even when not handled.  I like that in a bird, though I also admire the independent ones as well. 

I don't enjoy the lonely hearts and loners much... they do not adapt to socialization in the flock, they don't seem to get bred as much by the rooster, they don't fight for their food rights and they often get separated from the flock, making them a target for predators.  They don't seem to keep a good weight and they don't seem to lay as well.  I have two of those right now, a Speckled Sussex and a Partridge Rock and the PR currently won't roost in the coop but roosts underneath an old truck we have.  Not good...  and I expect she won't be here for roll call one morning.    

Gnarly Bunch - Chapter 14 - 10/2/12