Surprise Mystery Glutening

[Poppi]

I have always said that the worst part of celiac is not being able to just go out for dinner or enjoy all the dishes at a potluck or be spontaneous about eating out.

I was wrong.

The worst part of celiac is having sudden, painful, explosive diarrhea at someone else's house.

I felt some ominous rumblings in my tummy last night but shrugged it off and went to go knit at a friend's house. Big mistake. The only silver lining is that she suffers from IBS so she understood and gave me some immodium so I could make it back home at least.

I haven't left the house in 2 days until last night. My kitchen is gluten free. The only source of gluten I can think of is the chicken feed. I generally don't touch their food but yesterday I had to pick up a chicken and wash her face because she had some dirt crusted on her comb and I wanted to make sure it wasn't dried blood. Perhaps some dust from their food got on my hands and wasn't washed off well? Who knows.

What is interesting is that my reactions used to be purely inflammatory. My joints and back would flare up and the burning pain would last for days or even weeks but I had almost no digestive reaction. Now I notice that my reactions are almost purely digestive. The crappy part (no pun intended) is that the reaction is sudden and horrible but the good part is that it's over by the next day and I feel better faster than I did before. Is that common?

[newlifeforme]

Thank God I'm not alone. I have been asking about feeding my animals for 2 months and no one has replied. I thought maybe it was all in my head. I feed 4 horses, 2 dogs, 3 inside birds, a ferret, a cat, and 2 ducks everyday. Some I feed twice a day. I am now feeding with a mask for horses and hold my breath while feeding all the others. Yes I have gotten gluten by feeding my animals. Yes I believe that's what got you. And I've been I your shoes for the bathroom issue too. I'm sorry. I feel your discomfort. I am very over this. My normal way of living has changed beyond my wildest dreams. I live for my animals. Wear a mask and wash your hands before touching your face. Keep in touch. Better health to you.

[IrishHeart]

Thank God I'm not alone. I have been asking about feeding my animals for 2 months and no one has replied. I thought maybe it was all in my head. I feed 4 horses, 2 dogs, 3 inside birds, a ferret, a cat, and 2 ducks everyday. Some I feed twice a day. I am now feeding with a mask for horses and hold my breath while feeding all the others. Yes I have gotten gluten by feeding my animals. Yes I believe that's what got you. And I've been I your shoes for the bathroom issue too. I'm sorry. I feel your discomfort. I am very over this. My normal way of living has changed beyond my wildest dreams. I live for my animals. Wear a mask and wash your hands before touching your face. Keep in touch. Better health to you.

Oh hon, I am sorry you asked a question and no one answered you!

What section did you post in?

This subject is discussed often on here--animal feed, pet food, etc.

See the SEARCH THIS FORUM VIA GOOGLE in the upper right corner

Use that and a whole selection of similar threads will come up.

I even responded in one of those threads. My friend who raises chickens discovered (after being gluten-free for a while) that when she scattered the feed, the "dust" from it made her wheeze and get DIZZY and when she read the ingredients, she was horrified to see wheat gluten.

She wears a mask now---until the bag is finished-- and then she is searching for a different brand.

[Poppi]

My oldest son does all the chicken feeding but I do the vast majority of the animal care so I touch the birds quite a lot. Plus I scatter straw in their runs and nest boxes and it's msot likely wheat straw. I usually wash all my clothes right away.

IrishHeart - your friend might have a hard time getting different feed for her birds. We feed organic layer pellets and all the chicken feeds we looked at have wheat, barley, rye and/or oats. If you make up your own feed without any gluten grains you might be able to keep them alive but it would wind up being very expensive feed and it would be very difficult to get the protein/fat content just right to have them laying regularly.

The best she can do is get a very large feeder so it doesn't have to be filled often. Wear a mask when she fills it then shower and wash her clothes right after. Letting the chickens free range when possible helps too because they will eat bugs and such and won't need to be fed as often.

[IrishHeart]

My oldest son does all the chicken feeding but I do the vast majority of the animal care so I touch the birds quite a lot. Plus I scatter straw in their runs and nest boxes and it's msot likely wheat straw. I usually wash all my clothes right away.

IrishHeart - your friend might have a hard time getting different feed for her birds. We feed organic layer pellets and all the chicken feeds we looked at have wheat, barley, rye and/or oats. If you make up your own feed without any gluten grains you might be able to keep them alive but it would wind up being very expensive feed and it would be very difficult to get the protein/fat content just right to have them laying regularly.

The best she can do is get a very large feeder so it doesn't have to be filled often. Wear a mask when she fills it then shower and wash her clothes right after. Letting the chickens free range when possible helps too because they will eat bugs and such and won't need to be fed as often.

Thanks, hon! She is pretty resourceful and has many animals and I think she has already found something else to use. I will ask her. She DOES hose herself down after feeding them, she reports. She has been raising various animals and birds for 35 years and never made a connection to the feed until she was gluten-free and of course, her system was clear! She thought she just had terrible allergies all these years.

[GFinDC]

Is this thread you are asking about? I saw several replies but maybe they aren't what you were looking for. There are people who keep horses on the forum so but they may not have seen your post.

Horses horses and Celiac

Anyway, here is a search link for threads about horses and feed. There are lots to choose from, maybe one will answer your question or you could post it in one of them? I know a vet back in Ohio that I could ask about gluten-free food. I don't know what the answer will be though, they may not have any idea about it.

I do know I got sick once by sitting in a pizza joint where the guy was flipping the dough up in the air and plopping it down in flour on the counter top. I didn't eat any of it either, I just sat there with some artist friends while they ate. So I do believe inhalation can makes us sick sometimes. I use gluten free food for my cat Muffin now.

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[bartfull]

And although I don't have chickens (yet), I can commiserate with you on the D. I never used to get D from gluten until I gave it up. It was psoriasis and insomnia that prompted me to investigate celiac and try the gluten-free diet. Cured my psoriasis and insomnia, but now as well as both of those coming back, I get the emergency D when I am exposed.

Our feed store sells corn pellets for chickens. (Oats are not as nutritious for them and makes the eggs rather tasteless.) Of course I'm even more sensitive to corn than I am to gluten so I don't know WHAT I'll feed them when I get some. Living in town, roosters are not allowed (too much noise), but I'm thinking about getting a couple of hens to keep on my 50X150 foot lot. It would be great to have fresh eggs every day.