Eye Problems Treatment | The Holistic Hen - How to raise quail, chickens and pigeons organically in a food forest

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Eye Problems and their Treatment in Organic Poultry - Part Two Herbal Infusions, Compresses and Eye Baths

Payment in full. Clementina must be feeling better as last evening she presented us with an egg. After an extremely hot Summer, the hens have taken a long time to come back into full plumage and thus back on to lay. So things are looking good for our Mrs Beeton's John Bull's Own Christmas Pudding and her Bride cake with its 24 eggs!

In this post I am going to share two infusions I make for the treatment of eyes. They are both edible so there is no problem, as usually happens when giving eye washes, eye baths and compresses to poultry, if some of the liquid is imbibed by the patient. My first infusion is so beautiful I'm sure the perfume it exuded as it melted from its frozen state, reminding us as it did of warmer and drier days, did a lot to help in Clementina's cure.

Rose Petal Infusion - with a touch of the Bard

This is an infusion you can prepare from your garden roses, provided you are gardening organically or at least do not use chemical sprays. I use roses a great deal in cooking so I usually make my rose water all through the Summer and from the most heavily scented rose. By chance the best rose for culinary purposes is also, as its name suggests, the best one for medicinal use. This is the Apothecary's Rose., rosa gallica Officinalis. It is also known as the Red Rose of Lancaster, which in legend was the emblem chosen by the royal house of Lancaster prior to the War of the Roses, a conceit made famous in Shakespeare's Henry VI part 1 (Act 2, Scene iv)

'And here I prophesy: this brawl to-day,
Grown to this faction in the Temple-garden,
Shall send between the red rose and the white
A thousand souls to death and deadly night.

The simplest way to prepare rose water is to take the petals from the heads of your roses and pack them tightly into a cup or jar. Using the same recipient, measure double the amount of petals in mineral water. Bring the latter to the boil, pour it over the petals, cover and leave until the water is at room temperature or until the petals have lost their colour.

Drain off the water making sure to squeeze out the petals. You will be left with a beautiful coloured and scented liquid. This you can either store in a refrigerator for up to a month (I don't have one) or as I do, freeze in an ice cube tray or bag, from which you may cut chunks as needed.

Rose water compresses should be given cold so using the rose water from the freezer, just as it has melted, is ideal. I did find with my rose water that it contained a little residue from the petals, so I used the cotton wool pad itself as an extra filter, thus placing the undipped side against Clementina's eye.

Compresses and Cotton Wool

I was reading a web article recently which advised against making your own compresses because of the lack of sterility of the pads. Whereas, I would be more worried about the potential poisonous residues within the fabric. Given that 25% of the World's pesticides are used in the cultivation of cotton, I am really happy to have been able to obtain a large supply of certified organic cotton wool. I found these priced a few centimes per pack at our local thrift shop. It sells 'over stocked' goods and those which have imperfections, a classic being 'the Princess and the Six Elves Garden Set', an obvious malentendu between manufacturer and client for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The biodegradable bag the cotton wool was contained in split along its seam once I had opened and closed it on the drawstring a couple of times, which I presume was the problem. So if you have a similar discount shop in your area it might be worth paying them a visit.

The compress can be held against the eye for a few minutes but do not keep it on if your hen exhibits too much stress as you will be defeating the object. In this latter case it may be better to give the eye a 'bath' which is obviously of a much shorter duration. I will demonstrate this in the next section. The compress is also a very useful way of opening an eye which has been stuck shut due to conjunctivitis, for example but always remember to use a fresh compress for each eye.

Infusion of Eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis)

Here in France, where the tisane or herbal tea is just as common a beverage as coffee, dried organic herbs for making a whole raft of them are readily available. Medicinal dried herbs are also found at high street chemists/pharmacies. Furthermore, in the larger towns and cities a pharmacy may have a dedicated herbalist offering loose herbs which may be bought by weight, this is where I purchased the euphrasia pictured below. You can also order herbs from a pharmacy and most can be delivered within 24 hours.This the French paradox, where allopathy, homeopathy and herbalism and many other traditional medicines coexist and there is a market for both and often from the same clients.

In Europe, Euphrasia officinalis has been used as a medicinal plant for diseases and conditions of the eye since the fourteenth century and in particular those associated with the various forms of coryza (catarrh).

To make the infusion, take one teaspoon of the dried herb and add to 100 ml of boiling mineral or distilled water, let the mix boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and leave to infuse for a further 10 minutes, then strain through a filter (I used an unbleached coffee filter). This infusion should be used whilst warm and will keep for a few days in a refrigerator.

To use as an eye wash or bath, get the hen comfortable on your knee and then simply run the infusion into the eye. This may look messy but I have found it works extremely well, particularly in the case of conjunctivitis, where there may be bubbles and crusty residues in and around the eyes.

Now if you'd like to, sit back and watch my film on using steam inhalation:

Thanks for dropping by and do feel free to share experiences or ask for further information in the comment section. If you have enjoyed this piece and found it useful think about sharing it with your family and friends, on social media and also maybe about joining this blog and/or subscribing to my Youtube, Odysee or BitChute Channel or even supporting us on Patreon or

It all helps to keep me going!

Until next time, all the very best from sunny Normandie!

Sue

Treating eye problems & facial swelling. Assessment-Observations-Techniques.

This is Clementina, she has a problem with swelling around both eyes and inflammation of the third eyelid...read more

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© 2013 Sue Cross

Treating Eye Problems & Facial Swelling - Homeopathy, Herbalism and Hens Part 1 Assessment, Observation & Techniques of Delivery.

This is my little Sebright/Polish/Sicilian Buttercup cross Clementina, she has a problem with swelling around both eyes and also an inflammation of the third eyelid. In the case of any eye problems and I've had a few over the year, particularly with Sebrights, I have followed a combination of foodstuffs and homeopathic and herbal medicines which have proved a most effective combination.

Here she is again after a few of days of treatment.

As you can see her whole demeanor has changed. Apart from the swelling around the eyes, which had almost completely gone after the first 48 hours of treatment, her comb, always a good indication of health, had also returned to normal. She still has inflammation, particularly of the left eyelid, but I am now going on to treat this with compresses.

Assessment and observation

As with all health problems with my flock, the first thing I do is to have a look at the bird as a whole and see what is going on in her surroundings. I must say with Clementina because she is such a vivacious creature, it took me a fair few days before I noticed anything was wrong. We have a lot of nettles in our garden both to eat and as a food plant for caterpillars, so at first, I presumed she had been stung and that this was just a passing problem. She had no obvious other symptoms but I did notice she was being chased by one of my young cockerels, Pip, so presumed stress was part of the equation. I know this from my own experience, as the only time I contracted conjunctivitis, was during my exam finals and I treated it successfully with the same herb I always use on the poultry, viz., Euphrasia officinalis, common name, Eyebright. I also presumed if she was being pursued that she was spending a good time up trees and less time foraging and eating and she would already have been in the vicious circle of stress induced nutrient depletion, which would cause her more stress. So the first thing was to remove her from the flock momentarily and up her quota of the A and E vitamins, which have a direct influence on the health of the eyes. I also gave her some virgin organic coconut oil, which is a great support for the immune system.

Homeopathy

In France, where we live, homeopathy (and herbal medicine) co-exist alongside allopathic treatments and are often available in high street chemist's shops. However, they are also readily available online and some laboratories also have them as certified organic. I have found the 'pillule' the easiest form of euphrasia to give to poultry. The required dose of 3 pellets or pillules is fed into the top of the container and then these can be poured directly into the beak.This process is important as homeopathy has very specific rules about its delivery to the patient as handling the pillules contaminates them with oils from the skin and renders them ineffective. This is because homeopathic pills do not have a protective covering and thus even a slight contact with the fingers can cause the pills to begin to dissolve onto the skin thus altering the dosage. For the same reason if you drop the pills onto the floor or table, for example, they will be compromised, so throw them away Similarly you should not be giving any strong additional medicine, such as essential oils, at the same time.

The same company I use, Boiron, sells Euphrasia Officinalis 6c (USA) which I have also used here in 6ch (European). Boiron also sells Euphrasia Officinalis 5ch in the UK too. These suggested potencies for poultry and the dosage of 3 pillules 3 times per day, were suggested to me by a friend who is an organic farmer and also shadowed an organic vet as part of her training. In the case of a really bad infection, I have followed my sister's advice (also an organic farmer) and given 6 doses of 3 pillules in one day. The reason being, that within 48 hours i.e. six treatments, the patient should be responding well to treatment and looking much better. Therefore by the sixth dose you will know if you are on the right track, something really important in an advanced case. Also in advanced cases you can ignore the usual advice to give homeopathy outside mealtimes, the usual protocol is half an hour before or after food.

If you are giving treatment on your own, then my tip is to clamp the bird firmly but gently with your knees, this gives you both hands free to open the beak and pour in the pillules.

Another tip, if you are giving homeopathic medicine for the first time and/or to a nervous subject then buy more than one tube of pillules! Homeopathic medicine is not expensive, we a talking a couple of euros or a few dollars here and with the first two or three treatments you are possibly going to end up with a few pillules rolling around on the floor. I gave my first homeopathic treatment to Sneezy my Sebright when she had conjunctivitis, eight years ago but as you will see in the film, I can still waste a couple of pellets.

Once I am sure, by using the 6 doses rule-of-thumb that I have the correct treatment, I continue with it until the symptoms have cleared.

Coryza

This is an interesting and quite common problem with chickens and often in the Winter months. Coryza or catarrh is not actually an illness it is a symptom, or a sign that the body is ridding itself of toxins. Often these may be moulds, dust or even draughts, anything in fact which can irritate the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract. On rare occasions this can also be caused by bacteria, which can take hold of a flock if your birds have impaired immune systems. However, because chickens do not possess either hands or handkerchiefs, the running nose often seen with coryza can become blocked and lead to secondary symptoms and infection. In the case of this leading to eye problems, I have found euphrasia officinalis most effective in dealing with it. With regards to prevention, if your bird is exhibiting signs of coryza, then it is most important that the nose keeps flowing, I use a herbal inhalation for this, the link for which can be found in 'Related Articles' below. It is suitable for both adults, children and birds as it fills the whole room with fragrant steam rather than needs the patient to position themselves directly over the source. I did not find when I used it that it in any way impaired the efficacy of the euphrasia officinalis pillules.

So here is Clemetina looking a whole lot better but with still a little swelling in the left third eyelid. So I am now going on to treat this topically, which I will deal with in the next post. I will also be posting the film I made too. I always feel that hens know so much more about how to treat themselves than we do. Last night I let her into the outbuilding, where we keep all the vegetable and fruit crates, which we get from our local organic shop. The first thing she did was jump onto one of the crates and start consuming leaves of swiss chard!

Follow this link for Part Two which shows how to make the herbal and flower infusions and how I made organic compresses and eye baths to soothe and treat Clementina's eyes:

It all helps to keep me going!

Until next time, all the very best from sunny Normandie!

Sue

Treating Roup/Coryza Upper Respiratory Problems 1 Assessment, Nutrition & Herbs.

I'll start this article with a dip into literature. I think this is very important in the understanding of both why I treat a bird holistically and also as an illustration of how society has changed..read more

Treating Roup/Coryza Respiratory Problems 2 Steam Inhalation

Steam inhalation is one of the oldest forms of delivery for medicines. Evidence for its use is found in ancient Egyptian medical texts, such as the Ebers papyrus (1,554 B.C.).....read more

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