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cayenne powder for treating and preventing blackhead in Turkeys

I read an article from the US recently, it was about how successful treating Turkeys for blackhead was by using cayenne powder, if caught early enough apparently the success rate is very high, also if small doses are used on a regular basis its a preventive for blackhead and worms also, anyone ever tried this or had good results I be interested to know, thanks.

Ms May
Monday, July 9th, 2012

this is a little of the article........HOT NEWS FOR TURKEYS

By Larry Ross, RR # 3, Clifford, N0G 1M0

Soon after I started keeping turkeys (from the second year on) blackhead has been a problem for me. For those not familiar with blackhead, this is a disease caused by protozoans. It can kill a flock of turkeys in less than a month. Protozoans are single-celled, microscopic animal life. (The Ministry of Agriculture's factsheets have good descriptions of all types of poultry diseases.)

I have tried several natural remedies to kill the protozoans responsible. I started looking for something else after my trails with garlic powder proved only partially effective. Although I've only tried it one year, I've had excellent results with cayenne powder. I use it at a rate of 1 rounded tablespoon per 20 litres of chopped feed. Cayenne isn't water soluble, but it still works in the drinking water. I use the same rate, allowing the cayenne to soak and then stirring the mixture well. The water method is essential for the sicker birds who won't eat. During the outbreak of 1993, I used cayenne in both the feed and water at first. Later on, I put it in the feed only.

Cayenne does more than just prevent and cure blackhead in turkeys. It is also seems effective in preventing and treating coccidiosis in chickens and turkeys.

With range birds it is often difficult to ensure all the birds are consuming the cayenne-treated feed and water. If the birds are penned up at night, giving them their treated feed before letting them out for the day is one answer.

Cayenne has several advantages. The flavour of the meat was not affected. (I kept the birds off cayenne for three days before slaughter.) Being a food substance (for humans), cayenne bypasses

registration as a drug, a lengthy and expensive process. This makes it relatively cheap - often for as little as $5/lb. through a meat processor. This is a real bargain compared to Emtryl at $30 - 40.00 per 500 mg!

Ms May
Monday, July 9th, 2012

Is that cayenne pepper that you use to cook, or am I confusing it?

abutler
Monday, July 9th, 2012

One and the same

smithcity
Monday, July 9th, 2012

yup, the same stuff.

gentian
Monday, July 9th, 2012

Fascinating article Ms. May. It's interesting that it also claims to cure and prevent coccidiosis. I wonder how much cayenne he used to dose the drinking water, it would be a great tip for people who don't like using chick crumb with coccidiostats.

smithcity
Monday, July 9th, 2012

Interesting alright,never heard of it being used for that purpose before but he seems to have had good results with it.
Handy thing to have in your armoury if you mix Turkeys with Chickens,the other thing that helps if you do is to make sure your chickens are kept well wormed as they are the hosts to the worm the causes Blackhead.

Jemsey
Monday, July 9th, 2012

Yeah thought is was interesting, as I do keep a turkey with my hens they are all well wormed, so not too worried about my hens passing blackhead on, what worries me more is all the wild birds around, and whats interesting is the claim about helping prevent coccidiosis, its that time of year where lots of people get a few young turkeys so thought someone might fine it helpful,

Ms May
Monday, July 9th, 2012

I,m sure they will,sales of Cayenne will go through the roof too !

Jemsey
Monday, July 9th, 2012

yep on my shopping list tomorrow, bumper load of Cayenneas turkeys arrive tomorrow.
thanks ms may

little chick
Monday, July 9th, 2012

Interesting article, thanks for sharing.
FYI, you might have found this in an american website, but it is a Canadian author that wrote it (says the Canadian girl ;D)

Susan Mc
Monday, July 9th, 2012

If any of you are friendly with a local restaurant then they should be able to order you in a 550g pack of Cayenne powder (Schwartz) for about €8 or €9. We used to buy it in the restaurant in those catering packs and at the time it was about €7. I assume that it has gone up in price a bit over the last two and a half years.

Rho b
Monday, July 9th, 2012


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