Frontline ???

[peigic]

Tests on chickens show an acute toxicity of only 11.3mg per Kg of chicken, vs 640mg per Kg for your dog or cat. Yes, that is 60x more sensitive. These levels I am quoting are the levels that cause certain death in the animal, they can get harmed at much lower levels.

Just curious, what is the source of your information?

P.

 

[marque2]

Well you can find the warnings about chickens and fipronil everywhere including the wiki page on fipronil, but the page with the actual toxic (deadly) dose is here.

http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2686&Itemid=2991

 

[peigic]

I'll check it out, thanks!

 

[Suzierd]

Then why would the vet say you can use cat FL, I don't I use the spray for kittens and puppies and I've never had any problems. Makes me wonder if I should now.

 

[miraloma]

I tried, but this thread is too long to read all responses. Here is my experience. I use the dog frontline plus. I put it in a syringe and drop a few drops from above. I try to get it on the skin, but seems to work even if mostly on feathers. It gets rid of mites. I don't treat every bird, but it seems to kill on untreated, too. Must be from close contact while roosting at night, mites going from bird to bird. I have been searching for the link and can't find, but read a study that said since this product disperses on the skin and is not systemic, it does not cross the membrane to the egg.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I've read this thread and like that it can be a potential med to help but what makes me nervous is that the medication is distributed to oil glands in the skin. It's a pesticide. Chickens use their mouth to access the oil gland by their tail to preen. How much of that pesticide is ingested? I will never know. I've had luck with ivermectin cattle pour on and sevin dust.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I just wanted to share my experience. I used a generic fipronil spot on for cats (concentration of 9.8%, or 98 mg/mL) on my flystruck Buff Orpington hen, (6 years old) yesterday. I had a life or death decision to make, as cleaning the area and picking out the maggots was getting us nowhere and was really stressing her out. She wasn't eating much, and wasn't able to stand, and didn't even struggle when I handled her.

Here is my line of thinking: The LD50 of 11.3 mg/kg for Fipronil in chickens is given for an oral dose, and the exposure is not the same for a topical dose. How much different, I don't know, but exposure can be significantly less. I am lucky enough to have the instruments (a pipettor) that measure liquids very accurately. I gave my girl about 2 mg/kg fipronil in one spot near her preen gland. She was being eaten alive and I had to do something or she would surely die. There were maggots in every feather tract on her back and butt and they were gaining on us.

In retrospect, I should probably have used ivermectin pour on for cattle that I have, it's also very fat soluble without a reversal agent. Apparently a lot of people toe the safety line and apply unmeasured drops of Frontline to their chickens to treat worms or mites. I don't think any of these things that aren't labeled for chickens can be used with confidence, so please be very careful.

ANYWAY. I am happy to report that she has turned a corner. No more maggots, and she was up at the waterer this morning, which is huge, considering she has been sleeping in an egg box for days, apparently unable to get up. Poor thing has been through the wringer this week.

 

[Folly's place]

Glad she's better; there are few things uglier than fly strike!!! Ivermectin would have worked too, and is used in food animals and humans. She may have an underlying health issue, so see how things develop. Good luck with her! Mary

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Thanks! She has perked up so much in the last 24 hours, it's kind of amazing. She's currently out with her girls, roaming the yard and eating bugs.
I agree about the underlying health issue, I am watching her carefully. I also plan to capture everyone else for a butt inspection tonight at bedtime.

 

[Jewelwing]

Hi Everyone -

I'm determined to get to the bottom of this, and luckily I have a way.

I am a professor and have access to the facilities to measure fipronil in eggs from hens on whom fipronil was administered topically.

I'm hoping to recruit folks who have their chooks on a fipronil regimen. Can you participate?

I'm hoping that people can send me eggs from chickens before, and several days after administration, plus 1 week and 2 weeks later. Info on how much Frontline was administered would be needed. Eggs can be sent frozen.

If you're willing to help push back the frontiers of science on this issue, please contact me: [email protected]. I'll give you my professional affiliation, real name, and work email after you email me. But I'm only giving out my gmail account now to avoid spam in my work email.

Thanks!
Greg

Hi Greg, I know it's been five years since you posted this, but I'm wondering if you ever got any results from your informal study. I have quite a bit of scientific and medical training, so I really appreciated your mathematical analysis of how much fipronil might end up in the eggs. Can I contact you at the gmail address you gave five years ago?

Thanks!
-Annalisa