Nancy Steele wrote: > Hey guys how about the fact that you cant give CS to animals with > more than one stomach. Has there been more research done that shows > that you can do that? I havent checked the list for a while and I was > on another forum and saw people suggesting that they check here to see > if CS wouldn't help their cows. Other people were asking about > doseages. I think this list is pretty respected and I know you guys > aren't farmers but especially when Marshall and Bob Berger say to do > it lots of people listen.
Theoretically it is a problem, and our web site warns against it. Practically however, I have had several people get back to me with information that they have given CS to cows with very good results. This is what we know. 1. Giving CS to (at least some) insects will cause them to starve due to killing the bacteria in their digestive systems. Kills bees and termites at a minimum. 2. Giving CS to mammals normally causes no problems, ie. cats, dogs, people. In Vitro studies have shown that CS is ineffective in solid materials (not to be confused with topical use where it is effective), thus is ineffective in the intestines, unless one has dysentery. Why it is a problem for insects is not known, but I can think of several possibilities. First their intestines appear to contain liquid instead of solids, thus the effectiveness is not decreased. Or there is so little material in the intestines, and they tend to drink so much CS, that the lack of effectiveness is not enough to prevent killing the bacteria anyway. Or the bacteria that they have in their intestines is especially susceptible to silver. 3. Cows and other animals have more than one stomach. The first stomach is basically a fermentation pot, in which bacteria and fungi break down cellulose so that the later stomach(s) can digest the grass/hay/leaves. 4. If the bacteria are killed, then fermentation can not take place, the cellulose cannot be digested, and passes through as roughage. Now the question is how can one give CS to cows without disrupting the digestion process in the first stomach. There are several possibilities. 1. The first stomach contains material in a sludge which decreases the effectiveness sufficiently that fermentation can still take place. (I have no data on this, just a thought) 2. When a cow drinks water, it is passed directly to the second stomach, bypassing the first stomach. (once again just conjecture). 3. If the CS is given at times other than when feeding, the CS will be gone before feeding. 4. The replication rate of the bacteria is so high, that it overwhelms the kill rate of the CS, so there is no negative effect. This one will depend on the ppm of the CS. So, we have several different avenues that can be explored for giving CS to cows. Determining if digestion is being impacted adversely should be easily determined by studying the cow's patties. If the grass is not being broken down the paddies should contain lots of undigested grass. 1. If number one is correct, then there is no problem, provided that the ppm of the CS is not too high. 2. If number two is correct, then there is no problem, with any ppm of CS. 3. If we use the third method, then even if one and two are incorrect, we should still be able to give CS between meals. (yeh, I know a grazing cow eats almost continually, so it may have to be hay fed). 4. If we use the fourth method, then one would need to use a CS which does not affect the digestion. This can be determined by increasing the ppm of the CS and observing the patties and determining at what point some digestive distress is encountered. So at the very least, I believe some experimentation should be done. Fortunately one should be able to determine distress in cows long before they starve to death, and replenishing the bacteria in the first stomach should not be a problem since they eat grass that is unwashed and have had patties on and around it. Marshall -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
