By Lynette Simango
Doing it the natural way!
As farmers are busy cultivating their fields during this rainy season, it is very important that they do not forget about their free range poultry project. Did you know that New Castle is more prevalent during the rainy season? It spreads very rapidly, wiping the whole flock if you don’t vaccinate your chickens.
New Castle is characterized by the following; wing dropping, sneezing, reduced appetite, difficulty in breathing, nasal and eye discharge, greenish diarrhea, dirty feathers, body weakness and production of thin shelled eggs in hens, quickly quarantine the sick birds and vaccinate the rest. Body contact, contact of infected birds with drinkers, feeders, feeds and water explains the spread of New Castle.
The good news is vaccinations may not be available and affordable but there is an assortment of natural ways to remedy New Castle. Below are the two concoctions you can try out.
- Capsicum annum fruits, Amaranthus hybridicus var cruentus (fruits and flowers) and Aloe secundiflora leaves. The mixture is crushed, soaked in water for six hours and given as drinking water or given two table spoonful twice a day.
- A mixture of a litre of water, a leaf of Aloe Vera, and eight seeds of red pepper can be used for three days.