Fortiflock™ Poultry Supplement
Fortiflock™ is added to feed as a daily supplement for keeping chickens healthy by supporting a strong immune system and promoting a healthy gut.* For every day use, it contains Chinese Skullcap extract with 85% baicalin.
Benefits
Supports a healthy immune system and promotes healing and wellbeing.*
- Anti-viral
- Anti-tumor
- Anti-inflammatory
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Mixing in bulk
Mixing into bulk feed is the method most flock owners prefer. Here's how:
- Weigh your feed (or read the bag)
- Use our Feed Calculator
- Measure out the grams of powder needed.
- Mix powder into a small amount of oil (olive, soybean, canola), then mix oil evenly through feed.
Common feed bag sizes:
- 50lb bags of feed - 5.3g powder
- 40lb bags of feed - 4.2g powder
*Pro Tip: add some red pepper flakes as an easy visual for thorough mix
Mixing daily
If you feed your flock a snack or fermented feed every day, you can calculate how much powder you need for the number of birds you have and mix it into their daily ration.
# of chickens x 30 = milligrams of Fortiflock
Mix the baicalin powder into a small amount of oil (olive, soybean, canola), then mix oil evenly through feed.
*Baicalin extract is not harmed by cooking or fermenting.
Dosing with capsules
For birds with active symptoms, the best way to dose is with a capsule in their mouth.
- Open their beak and push the capsule down just to the right of their tongue (their right).
- Add a little oil with a syringe (recommended)
Remember - they swallow lizards whole! It won't choke them.
Torpedo feeding for sick birds
Many chicken tenders find "torpedo feeding" to be an effective way of getting nutrition and medication into birds who are not eating on their own. A "torpedo" is a tootsie-roll shaped ball of feed that is pushed down their throat. Each torpedo should have the 500mg sick bird dose.
- Weigh the amount of powder you need for several torpedos
- Moisten some feed and mix with the baicalin powder
- Divide into even portions and roll into torpedos
- Insert the torpedo into the chicken's throat just to the right of their tongue.
*It's a good idea to practice making the torpedos ahead of time. You can use either bird handfeeding formula as a base, or some moistened feed with a little peanutbutter as a binder. There are great resources online for how to make torpedos.
Can I add it to drinking water?
No. Baicalin extract is not very soluble in water and it all sinks to the bottom in a thick paste. It is not dosed effectively in water.
Poultry Research Links
PoultryDVM - Giving Chinese Skullcap to Chickens. Good list of the forms and doses that have been studied to treat poultry and the supporting research.
BCM Veterinary Research - Antiviral effect of baicalin on Marek’s disease virus in CEF cells. Results show that baicalin can consistently inhibit MDV replication and directly affect the virus infectivity.
ScienceDirect - Baicalin is an inhibitor of subgroup J avian leukosis virus infection. Shows baicalin effectively blocks ALV infection.
Human Research Links
ScienceDirect - Therapeutic potentials of baicalin and its aglycone, baicalein against inflammatory disorders. Both baicalin and baicalein as potent antioxidants ameliorated various inflammatory disorders.
Cancer Treatment Reviews - The anticancer properties of Scutellaria and its main active constituents Wogonin, Baicalein and Baicalin. Summary of studies in anti-cancer properties and lack of toxicity.
Springer - Baicalin and its aglycone: a novel approach for treatment of metabolic disorders. Shows baicalin being effective for treating obesity, insulin resistance, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with no toxicity.
Additional Research (safety and efficacy)
NIH (Springer) - Pharmacological properties of baicalin on liver diseases. Discusses the the protective effects of baicalin on liver disease. "At the administered dose, no evident toxic and side effects of baicalin or its aglycone baicalein were observed in many clinical studies."
NIH (Clincal and Translatinal Science) - Safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of oral baicalein tablets in healthy Chinese subjects. Demonstates non-toxicity of baicalein. "Baicalein tablet was generally safe and well‐tolerated. All adverse events were mild and resolved without any intervention except one case of fever reported in the 600 mg group, which was considered as moderate but not related with baicalein as judged by the investigator."
ScienceDIrect - Baicalin - in overview. List of numberous articles, papers and clinical research summaries on baicalin.
Practical Application in backyard flocks
Hail Mary Protocol - the practical application of baicalin on both prophylactic and critical care for chickens with Marek's and Avian Leukosis disease has been developed primarily by Mary Mason and Kristina Toddy.
Working with a group of over 1,000 members with Marek's positive flocks around the world since 2022, they have workled tirelessly to apply the clinical research to develop the effective dose and treatment schedule for poultry owners to apply to their affected birds for measurable results. Their work has given many hundreds of flock owners the first real hope in the fight against these viruses in beloved backyard poultry.
The Fortiflock™ dose guidance is based on their work, and a percentage of future profits will be directed to them to continue their efforts. We are eternally grateful for their work!
Visit the Positive About Marek's and Avian Leukosis Facebook group.