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Pawpaw plant |
Pawpaw (Carica papaya) is a family of caricaceae planted usually for its succulent fruit. Though cultivation is aimed at harvesting the fruits, the pawpaw leaves have been found medicinal and useful for the effective organic treatment of some common poultry diseases – example : Coccidiosis.
Pawpaw leaves are found to have the following features –
- Extract from pawpaw leaves are found to have anthelmintic contents, thus, it is effective for expelling parasitic worms and other parasites that could be found in the body of poultry birds.
- Pawpaw leaves contain the enzyme papain which helps digestion process and boosts the absorption of nutrients.
- Pawpaw leave contain bioactive compound like alkaloids and flavonoids that help fight bacterial and fungi infections in poultry.
- Pawpaw is rich in vitamins A,C and E which help to strengthen the immune system of the birds making the flock more resistant to diseases.
- Pawpaw leave have anti-inflammatory and healing properties making it useful for treating injuries in the poultry.
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Dried Pawpaw leaves |
The benefits of organic poultry treatment using pawpaw leaves or fruits in the diet of the birds include the following –
- Deworming birds – It is effective for deworming the poultry birds. Thus it advised to be included in the diet of the poultry at least once every four (4) weeks.
- Improve immunity – The high level of Vitamin C in pawpaw fruits and leaves acts as an immune booster for the birds helping the birds to fight-off infections and reduce stress related to sickness.
- Improve hydration and reduces heat stress in the birds -Pawpaw fruit is rich is water content which helps keep the birds hydrated particularly in hot weather.
- Improve growth rate and weight gain in birds -The nutrients in pawpaw leave and fruits improve metabolism, feed efficiency, weight gain and overall health improvement.
- Healthcare and total operational cost reduction – Pawpaw leave is an effective natural remedy that is readily available fort farmers’ use, thus, reduces dependency on synthetic drugs that are sometimes too expensive for the farm to afford – consequently, the use of pawpaw as an alternative for the poultry healthcare reduces the farm’s expenses on healthcare management and overall operational cost of the poultry farm.
- Improve farm profitability -The use of pawpaw as an alternative in health management of the birds leads to reduced cost which impales higher profit from the farm operation
- Enhance digestive system -The papain in the leave extract helps to break down protein which improve digestive health and relive digestive disorder in the birds
Here are some ways to integrate pawpaw into the diet and healthcare of your poultry –
Using pawpaw seed as a de-wormer -Pawpaw seeds contain carpaine an alkaloid that helps to eliminate intestinal parasites (worms) in poultry
How to use –
Dry pawpaw seeds and grind into powder. Mix 1 teaspoon of the powder into 1 liter of drinking water or sprinkle powder into feed. Give the water or feed to the flock 3 to 5 days in a month to control worms – it can be done every month.
Using pawpaw leave as immune booster and for digestion aid – Pawpaw leave contain contain papain and chymopapain which supports digestion, boost immune and prevent disease.
How to use –
Chop fresh pawpaw leave and boil water, allow to cool and strain the water. Mix 1 part of pawpaw extract with 3 parts of drinking water (1:3 ratio) and serve to the flock. It can be done 2 to 3 times in a week.
Using pawpaw fruit for growth and nutrition -Pawpaw fruit is rich in vitamin A and C which helps improve growth and overall health.
How to use –
Mash ripe pawpaw fruit and mix with the feed you are serving the flock in small quantities as a supplement vitamins and digestive health.