# Colloidal silver and Virkon S!



## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

I have recently come to the joys of colloidal silver since obtaining a unit that allows me to make good quality colloidal silver cheaply. I have used it a couple of time to support antibiotics where I am having trouble identifying the infection with good results.
Having read up on this substance, it seems silver colloids may once have been in our diet but because of modern farming techniques we hardly get any now. I am thinking of introducing one bowl a week to the birds to supplement the vitamins and probiotics that I give them. Does anyone else use colloidal silver? Do you supplement you pigeons diet with it?

I also came across a file of "secrets" that pigeon racers use. One of these secrets is the use or Virkon S. I thought this was just a very strong cleaning substance, but it seems it has some unique properties. For one it kills just about everything, batcteria, viruses and fungus, which made me nervous of the following suggestion. It was suggested that a mild solution could be used for bathing the pigeons, and even for their drinking water for 3 to 5 days to help keep the general level of infections down. In a situation like mine, where I have a number of sick birds moving through my place, this is a useful thing. I recently has an infection that was spreading through the pigeons, it caused green runny poop but was not coccidia. I used the Virkon for 4 days, and sure enough it cleared up. And sure enough the general appearance of the birds seemed to improve. Has anyone else used Virkon in this regard? I would like to know what experiences others have had of both substances.

Thanks,


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

We have members here who have had great luck with using colloidal silver for treating infections. Personally, I have no experience but perhaps some members who do will be along shortly to share their knowledge and experience with you.

Virkon S was WIDELY used here in Southern California during the Exotic Newcastle Disease outbreak of about 10 years ago. It was used as a disinfectant and to my knowledge not used as an actual treatment for birds. 

It will be interesting to see what others may have to say.

Terry


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

There is no way I would put Virkon in the drinking water. Use it to clean the loft and the supplies, yes, but have them drink it? No. It is not intended for internal use. If its effects continue inside the bird once ingested, it would kill any good bacteria along with the bad and kill their immune system. So I hope whoever is using it regularly also follows up with probiotics. There are plenty of antibiotics out there that do their job, so I will stick to them. Check the MSDS sheet for it and you may not feel the same about it.


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

I am not receiving emails to tell me new posts are here? I don't know why? Not for any of my threads.


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## tbmama (Jul 3, 2013)

I rehabbed a dove with a similar injury, it was nasty looking on his back and wings, very raw, but a friend told me to clean the area with diluted hydrogen peroxide 3 times/day and it healed up amazingly well, no antibiotics were given. she used to do bird rescue and said this is what she used on wounds and injuries. from memory I bought the 6% h2o2 from the pharmacy and diluted it 50/50 with water so it wouldn't sting. the dove was a bit perplexed by it all, but it didn't bother them at all and within a week it was all healed up and feathers growing back. A couple of weeks later this dove was released and flying no problem at all so it was just a wound without any major damage. I get that antibiotics are necessary if the infection has spread to the blood stream and the bird appears very sick, but I also think as long as you get onto treating a wound quickly, then internal antibiotics may not be necessary at all


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Actually, using hydrogen peroxide on wounds isn't a good idea, as it can cause cell damage. Cleaning with a saline solution and treating with an antibiotic cream would be a better idea.


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## tbmama (Jul 3, 2013)

Jay3 said:


> Actually, using hydrogen peroxide on wounds isn't a good idea, as it can cause cell damage. Cleaning with a saline solution and treating with an antibiotic cream would be a better idea.


I have read the concerns about h202 but I've never seen any problems with it, and I wonder if the cell damage may be from long term use rather than short term with wound treatment. It certainly works imo and I don't think a wound would heal completely if it was being damaged.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Any time one of my birds has a wound or even myself I just use honey, it seems to work real well.
Dave


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## tbmama (Jul 3, 2013)

crazypete, I noticed there are a lot of "medical" honeys available lately so they must do something, not a bad idea actually using honey!


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

I like the idea of honey as well. but the sticky side of honey means dirt could get stuck to it. I guess the honey acts as a barrier though so it does not matter.

I have also used hydrogen peroxide, and it does work well especially for messy injuries. I was told the advantage of h2o2 is that it pushes oxygen into the wound, and this helps prevent the wrong type of bacteria getting a hold.


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