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Chickens are so vigorous and active that those who have never been involved in their breeding seem to be very hardy. In fact, these birds suffer from many diseases, most often from diarrhea and colds.
Antibiotics, which are now recommended to be given to chickens almost from the first days of life, were invented only about 80 years ago, and before that, chickens somehow survived, and there were plenty of them in any rural house. In ancient times, poultry was treated with infusions of herbs and moonshine.
The role of alcohol in the treatment of chickens
Scientists have found that alcohol destroys the cell membranes of pathogenic microorganisms, and (in reasonable quantities) does not harm warm-blooded ones. The liver perceives ethanol as a toxin, but it is excreted from the body more easily and faster than antibiotic drugs. This is evidenced by the fact that the eggs of domestic chickens, which are treated with antibiotics, are not recommended for young children. There is no such prohibition for alcohol.
In addition to being antibacterial, alcohol also has an antiviral effect. Alcohol is effective in fighting rotavirus, which causes indigestion. When treating chickens with vodka (moonshine, cognac), the metabolism and removal of toxins from the body is accelerated. Therefore, alcohol is useful for birds with food poisoning.
Ways to treat chickens with alcohol
For medicinal purposes, moonshine, vodka, cognac, diluted medical alcohol, and various tinctures are used.
Basic dosage:
- 1 ml of alcohol with a strength of 40-45% per 0,5 kg of live weight of birds older than 3 months;
- chickens up to a month – 1-2 drops of alcohol;
- from 2 to 3 months – 5-6 drops.
However, if ordinary village chickens are able to drink a few drops of pure vodka or moonshine without harm to themselves, then for chickens and thoroughbred broilers, alcohol is usually diluted in a ratio of 1:2 or even 1:4. Simultaneously with alcohol treatment, it is recommended to give chickens a weak solution of soda (1 tablespoon per 5 liters of water).
If a poultry farmer treats chickens with alcohol for the first time, then for a start it is better to give adult birds vodka diluted in a ratio of 1:2 or 1:3, chickens aged 1–3 months – 1:3, chickens up to a month – 1:4. Then, as you gain experience, you can experiment.
Chickens are good at distinguishing between bitter and sweet tastes. They will not drink alcohol voluntarily. In order to force the chicken to take the medicine, a dense tissue is thrown over it, pressing the wings to the body, and the alcohol solution is forcibly poured into the throat using a disposable syringe without a needle (for chickens – with a pipette).
When treating a rooster, you need to fix the paws so that it does not injure the owner with spurs. Therefore, it is more convenient to give vodka to chickens and roosters together: one person should hold the bird, the second should give it alcohol to drink.
Treatment of colds in chickens and chickens
Due to hypothermia, chickens begin to runny nose, mucus clogs the respiratory tract, birds cough. Sick chickens are treated with any strong alcohol, but tincture of red hot pepper is most effective (3-4 pods per 0,5 l of vodka or moonshine, leave for 10-14 days, then do not strain, but use as needed). She warms well. If there is no tincture, instead of it, it is allowed to give chickens 1 pea of black pepper 3 times a day (chickens up to a month – 1 time a day).
Treatment methods:
- with mild malaise and for prevention – dilute alcohol with water in a ratio of 1: 4 and pour 3–5 drops 7 times a day into chickens older than 2 months, 1–3 drops into chickens aged 3–4 months, 1–XNUMX drops into chickens up to a month old XNUMX drop. The course of treatment is a week;
- if an adult bird is very sick, it is recommended to dilute vodka or pepper tincture in a ratio of 1: 2 and increase the dosage to 2 ml of solution per 0,5 kg of live weight. For chickens up to a month, pour 2-3 drops of vodka into the throat, diluted in a ratio of 1:3 or 1:4, from 1 to 3 months – 6-10 drops of medicine. Vodka chickens should be given 1-2 times a day. The course of treatment is 1–3 days (sometimes longer, depending on the condition of the bird);
- with severe hypothermia, “alcoholic baths” help the birds well: the legs of a sick chicken are dipped for 3-5 minutes in a bowl with moonshine heated to +30 ° C. The course of treatment is 1-3 days.
Alcohol in poultry food poisoning
Chickens are hard to tolerate poisoning: they begin to have diarrhea, and chickens often generally “sit on their legs”, that is, they first limp, then sit down and die by morning.
Chickens and chickens can get poisoned by:
- sour food that was stored in a copper or zinc bucket (copper or zinc poisoning);
- salted fish giblets (the gastrointestinal tract of birds generally reacts poorly to salt);
- green potatoes;
- insects and worms that died from pesticides;
- an overdose of vitamins. For example, if vitamins for laying hens are given to chickens, their liver will fail.
With diarrhea, chamomile and sage tinctures are especially useful for chickens (50 g of dry grass per 0,5 l of vodka or moonshine, leave for 3 weeks) and cognac.
If the chicken is already lame and it is clear that he will soon “sit on his legs”, you need to pour a shock dose of vodka or tincture into him. Tincture or vodka for chickens up to 3 months is diluted in a ratio of 1:3, for adult chickens – 1:2. If necessary, the medicine can be given 2 times a day, but usually relief comes even after a single dose of alcohol.
Dosage:
- chickens up to a month – 2-3 drops;
- chickens from 1 to 3 months – 6-10 drops;
- adult birds sitting suspiciously in one place and breathing heavily – 2 ml per 0,5 kg of live weight.
If there is no case, but chickens have diarrhea, they are poured 3-5 drops of tincture diluted in a ratio of 2: 3 5 times a day for 1–4 days.
In summer, for prevention, you can give chickens a weak solution of grape or fruit wine (1–2 ml of wine per 25 liter of water) instead of pure water 30–1 times a week. Birds are happy to drink a slightly sweet liquid, and wine has a disinfecting effect.
Sometimes there are recommendations for prevention to give birds millet soaked in vodka. But this is dangerous: some chickens will refuse such food, others will eat too much and get drunk, an overdose is possible.
Hard goiter treatment
With hard goiter, the chicken is given a mixture of vodka, water and vegetable oil, taken in equal amounts. Vodka is measured at the rate of 1 ml per 0,5 kg of chicken live weight.
Fight against blood-sucking parasitic insects
If lice, fleas, feathers or ticks are found in chickens, it is necessary to treat the birds with tincture of vodka or moonshine on garlic (3 large heads of garlic per 0,5 l of alcohol, leave for 3 weeks). It is recommended to clean the walls and floor of the chicken coop, burn it with a blowtorch and spray it with the same tincture.
Alcohol treatment of turkeys
Turkey poults are the most tender and capricious of poultry chicks. Disease prevention in turkeys is a whole industry, in the schedule for taking various drugs, everything is scheduled by day. But how were turkeys raised in the past and how do they survive in the wild?
In the homeland of turkeys, in North America, maple grows. Its leaves and bark contain many useful compounds: essential oils, tannins, B vitamins. Experienced poultry farmers give turkeys a water infusion of maple leaves.
But tannins useful for turkeys are also found in cognac. In the North Caucasus, it is customary to dip the legs of a newly hatched turkey for 2-3 minutes in a glass of warm cognac (at a temperature of about +30 ° C). Thanks to this simple procedure, the mortality of young animals is significantly reduced.
In Siberia, turkeys that are going to “sit on their legs” are treated as follows:
- 2-3 drops of moonshine, diluted in a ratio of 1: 2, are poured into the throat at the very beginning of treatment, again, if necessary, after 2-3 days;
- a warm solution of tetracycline is poured into the drinker (1 tablet per 1 liter of water);
- 3 times a day – a pea of black pepper;
- 2 times a day, paws are dipped in a bowl with warm moonshine.
The course of treatment is 2 weeks. To make it more effective, instead of moonshine, you can use brandy or tincture on oak bark.
American farmer Joe Morett specially feeds turkeys with beer diluted with water. Birds – “alcoholics” gain weight faster, their meat is much more tender than that of “teetotalers”.