Getting chicks and don’t want to treat diseases with conventional medicine? Here’s how to naturally treat them instead! Let’s go over 2 of the major chick diseases.
Chick Diseases and How to Naturally Treat Them
As with anything, prevention is key to success. Chicks must be clean, warm, and draft-free. They need access to clean food, freshwater, and warmth.
Our favourite boost to give chicks is Magic Water, a natural mix we offer to day-old chicks when they arrive.
Magic Water Recipe
- 1-gallon pure warm water
- 2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 2 tsp garlic powder
#1 – Coccidiosis
A word that terrifies any chicken person, coccidiosis (also called cocci) is a bacteria that is vicious once your chicks or flock is infected. And it spreads quickly. Symptoms include bloody feces, loss of appetite, pale wattles and combs, acting chilled or huddling together, diarrhea, dehydration, and lethargy.
Chickens are typically immune to it once they’ve been exposed to the bacteria. The key is to have strong immune systems to start with – sick chicks will get sick regardless of what infects them. A chick with a strong immune system can better deal with exposure.
Prevention
Keeping your chicks’ living conditions dry is important to keep cocci at bay. Cocci tend to spread in damp living conditions or excessively wet bedding. Frequently re-bed brooders to keep them high and dry. If your chicks are on pasture, don’t move them first thing in the morning; wait til the dew lifts.
Magic Water is also a great preventive as well.
Treatment
Homesteader and herbalist Amy Fewell, suggests a tincture of wormwood, garlic, chicory, and black walnut hulls. All of which have antiparasitic and antibacterial properties.
#2 – Pasty Butt
This is one pretty much every chicken keeper has dealt with. It’s quickly noticeable as manure sticks to the chick’s backside and turns into a hard mass. If left untreated it can cause death. Thankfully, it is fairly easy to treat and remedy.
Pasty Butt is caused by stress – either from not having a proper diet, improper heating conditions, or having too much sugar/additives in their water.
Prevention
Have your brooder in a stress-free environment. Be sure to offer adequate heat, space, and proper ventilation. And again, Apple Cider Vinegar in the water can help as well.
Treatment
Wet the area with warm water to soak the feces and gently pull them off once they are loose enough. You can put a small bit of salve on the area to help prevent further sticking and to soothe the area. If you’re interested in creating your own salve, Amy Fewell has this recipe.