Herbs

Calculating Dosages for Birds

This leads me to wonder--how much valerian is safe in a bird.  

I think there is a need to be very cautious administering herbs and other therapeutic substances to birds.  When treating animals I work on a weight basis.  First I assume the "average" adult human will weigh 60 kg, then give a proportion of the MINIMUM THERAPEUTIC adult human dose according to the weight of the animal.  This works very well with dogs and cats, but determining the amount to give my canary for example is very difficult.

At one stage I wanted to give a HIGH DOSE of Vitamin E to a 397 g hawk I had in care - the dose worked out to be 2 i.u./day (based on 500 i.u. for an adult human).  It was virtually impossible to give 1/250 th of a capsule, and the powder wasn't much better to work with.  In the end (because it is a fat soluble vitamin that is stored in the body AND I felt it was really important that the bird had the Vitamin E) I opted for a weekly dose of 10 i.u. on his food.

Giving herbs can be just as difficult.  I prefer to use the tinctures and again give a proportion of the adult human dose according to weight.  With the tinctures work on 1 mL = 20 drops.  So if the adult human dose is 3 ml/day (60 drops), it would require 1 drop for a 1 kg bird.  For a smaller
bird (say 100 g) you would need 1/10 drop.  This could be given by adding 1 drop of tincture to 9 drops of water and giving 1 drop of this solution so that the bird received 1/10 drop of the original tincture.

This is one reason why homeopathics are an excellent choice for birds. Homeopathics are energy medicines and theoretically an elephant and a mouse get the same dose (usually 5 - 10 drops of liquid) but a smaller dose will still contain the energy of the substance, so that even if the bird is
given only 1 drop the remedy will still be effective (assuming it is the correct remedy of course).  The trick with homeopathics is carefully matching the animal's "symptom picture" to that of the remedy.

Of course some herbs (such as dandelion) are very safe and can be fed fresh without having to worry too much about quantities, but others are potentially toxic in overdose (remember they are medicines) and need to be used with caution.

I'm not trying to turn anyone off giving herbs to their birds - just be aware of doses and safety margins.

 I would think that the other issue is... is the human dose, no matter how downscaled, still correct for all species?

This is a valid point, Pat.  This is why I use the MINIMUM THERAPEUTIC DOSE (which is usually half the maximum therapeutic dose - sometimes 1/3 or 1/4). This gives me a 100% margin for error.  Below the minimum therapeutic dose, the remedy may be ineffective; above the maximum therapeutic dose it could well be toxic.  I have used this method for calculating dosages for dogs, cats, horses, birds, etc. for years without any problems.

Hope this helps.

Carole Bryant (Naturopath) 

Administering Herbs

You can't accurately dose a bird with medicine or anything else by
putting it in the water.  The reason is because you don't know exactly
how much the bird drinks.  It could drink a lot and get a large dose or
drink a little and get a small dose.  The large dose might be too much.
The small dose might not be enough to be effective.

Another reason that putting vitamins or medication in water is a bad
idea is that the taste might prevent the bird from drinking as much as
it should or altogether.  The third reason why you shouldn't medicate or
give vitamins in water is that some components begin to degrade and lose
their effectiveness once they are moistened.  The water soluable
vitamins, for example begin to dissipate and lose potency within 15
minutes after they have been placed in water and are exposed to light.

The best way to dose meds or herbs is directly by mouth. (beak)  First
establish a correct dose.  Then administer by eye dropper for an adult
or in the formula for a baby.  Some things like vitamins or herbs, if
the dosage isn't critical, can be sprinkled on food that the bird is
sure to eat entirely.

When I had wild-caught macaws with a yeast infection, I had to give them
a vet prescribed drug twice a day.  Aside from the fact that it drug was supposed to be dissolved in vinegar and then administered orally, they were too big and dangerous for me to handle alone.  What I did with them was cut
grapes in half and press the sliced side into the drug, which I had ground to a powder with my mortar and pestle.  It took about three grapes (6 halves) per bird to get all of the powder pressed into the halves.  Then I offered them to the birds one half at a time and watched to make sure each bird ate its half before giving them the next. It was easier both on me and on the birds.  The only grapes they got were the medicated grapes.  If they hadn't liked grapes, I would have used another food that they would kill for.

I've never used Caprylic acid on my birds.  What I use for yeast is
garlic.  The dosage that I use is one capsule per 50cc of handfeeding
formula.  If the bird is large enough to take all 50cc then it gets a
capsule worth.  If it takes 25 cc then it gets half a capsule worth.
etc. This works well for babies.  From that example I would estimate
that a 400 gram bird would get dosed with a capsule of garlic twice a
day.

Glycerine and Alcohol based extracts
 
I'm just curious. I'm not even sure what I am asking.
But why would GSE or any other herb, etc. be in a base at all? Is
it a vehicle to help absorption? Or a bacteria
deterrent/preservative?

The alcohol or glycerin is used as a solvent in the manufacturing process
(to extract the active ingredients from the herb).  So grapefruit seed
extract is grapefruit seed (probably crushed) that has been soaked in a
specific strength of alcohol (this varies from about 20 - 65%) for a
specific length of time to extract the maximum amount of medicinally active
substance from the seed.  Glycerin is used in a similar way.  Most commonly
glycerin extracts are used by those people who cannot or should not have
alcohol (children, alcoholics, someone who is allergic to alcohol, etc.).
However, glycerin is not generally as effective at extracting the active
substances from most herbs so isn't as readily available as alcohol based
extracts/tinctures.  The alcohol/glycerin also acts as a preservative for
the medicinally active substances that have been extracted.

Carole Bryant (Naturopath) 

Mullein

There was some interesting information about the herb mullein in the latest
issue of Herbs for Health in the Pet section.  The author, Randy Kidd D.V.M.
discussed how he used to watch deer munching away at a particular plant in
the field.  They only seemed interested in this one plant, so I too the
trouble to identify it.  It was Mullein.

Mullein has greyish green large furry leaves.  If it is allowed to grow, it
forms a tall spike, about three to four feet tall.  It will develop small
yellow flowers along the length of the spike. It is a common roadside and
yard weed.

Among its uses, mullein alleviates lung problems.  According to the article,
old-timers fed mullein to their cattle or burned the leaves in the barn to
help prevent pneumonia.  The deer he watched consuming Mullein may
have been preparing themselves for winter as a natural preventative.

To use for pets, make a tea brewed from the leaves and add to pet's fod.
You can also use it as an extract externally for ear infections.  Fill a jar
with well-packed chopped mullein leaves.  Fill to the top with olive oil.
Close tightly and let it sit for three to four weeks.  Strain. Massage
several drops of the oil into the ear canal.  Store the mullein extracted
oil in the refrigerator, but warm what you use to body temperature first.

gloria 

Pau d'arco

How do you pronounce it?  I've heard it pronounced two ways and probably
neither is correctso I don't know for sure, but one way is:
pow de ARK oh   and the other way is: pow DARK oh

Pau d'arco is an evergreen tree that grows in South America.  The bark
is harvested and it is the inner lining of the bark that contains the active component, lapachol.

Its properties are sour, astringent, cooling and drying.

My first introduction to the herb was for its use as an anti-fungal.
According to reputation, fungus and moss do not grow on this tree. I've
heard of people recommending it for the treatment of yeast in handfeeding
babies but have not used it for this purpose myself.

Pau d'arco is also an immune system stimulant and is being researched as
a treatment for cancer.  It has been show to be effective against
cancers, tumors, and skin disease. There are documented (Daniel Mowbry,
PhD) cases where those who had been riddled with cancer and hope had
been given up for them, tried Pau d'arco as a last resort.  A quart of
Pau d'arco tea a day was consumed and for some, it did the trick, for
others it didn't.

The active component stimulates the production of red blood cells in
bone marrow.  It also destroys some viruses, so has been used to fight
colds and flu, herpes, and other diseases of viral origin.

For humans the preventative dose is two cups of the tea daily.  When
fighting an active case of illness, then increase the dose to three
cups, which may be taken for up to 6 weeks.

Side effects, if any,  are detox type effects like nausea and diarrhea.

gloria 

Alfalfa

Steven Horne, master herbalist, discussed at one of his lectures how the
function of some herbs could be intuited by their growth habits and the
environment in which they thrived.  Herbs that grew in hot dry regions
often provide soothing and cooling mucopolysaccharides, as aloe and
other cactus species do.

Alfalfa has a deep root system that enables it to thrive in less fertile
areas where shallower rooted plants would fail.  Alfalfa is a strong
plant that can thrive in adversity and endow those who consume it with
strength and health.

Because its roots go so deep into the soil (often 125 feet deep,
according to herbalist Laurel Dewey) the plant has the opportunity to
absorb minerals from deep within the earth. Alfalfa is an extremely
nutritious plant loaded with vitamins A, B1, B6, B12, C, D, E, K, P,
niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, folic acid, saponins, calcium,
phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, zinc, copper, iron, and digestive
enzymes.

Feed it to cows and you get better milk.  Feed it to chickens and they
will lay more eggs with a higher nutritional value.

Alfalfa has numerous applications for disease prevention simply by the
fact that through its excellent nutrition it provides the body with many
of the tools needed to resist disease.  In addition to that it has
specific benefits to
1. heart disease because the saponins lower cholesterol and help to
regulate blood pressure
2. arthritis and bursitis caused by acid blood....alfalfa helps to
alkalize the blood (but refined flours and sugars must also be  reduced
in the diet because they cause the blood to be acid)
3. gland support: it nourishes the ovaries, pituitary and adrenals
4. fights illness: because it pours nourishment into the body

The properties of this herb are salty, slightly bitter, cooling and
neutral but alkalinizes. It also thins the blood.

Cautions: Alfalfa seeds have a toxic protein called canavanine which can
cause a blood disorder called pancytopenia (a form of severe anemia that
also affects the platelet portion of the blood.) Sprouting the seeds
inactivates the toxin.  The leaves are safe and healthy unless you have
an autoimmune disease like HIV or Lupus.  People and birds with
autoimmune diseases should not consume alfalfa or alfalfa products.

If you drink it in a tea, add peppermint or other herbs to it to 'pep it
up'  it has a very GREEN flavor that some find unappealing.

gloria