Useable and non-useable medications for chickens. Non-emergency.

[Jackie-83]

Do's and don'ts for chickens as far as medications has been a crash course for me. I'm new to chickens. I've had my girls for 18 months but this is my first flock and I'm winging it. Lol. I've got lot's of experience with animals... just not birds. But I've learned a lot in the past year and a half. Like not to use topical antibiotics with pain relief in them. And then I saw a post about bumble foot with swelling after the infection and wound were full healed. And I thought, wonder what would happen if you put Preparation H on it? Followed by, can you use Preparation H on a chicken? So, I obviously have a lot to learn. So I'm asking those of you who are more experienced and better educated to share what you know. Maybe start with general wound care and common ailments like bumble foot, and commonly available medications.

 

[All4Eggz]

@Eggcessive
@Wyorp Rock
They should be able to help you with medications in poultry.

 

[MTKitty]

I second the vote for one of the experts, or even a group of them, to put together a list of chicken first aid items. I even vote that it be stickied in the appropriate forum.

 

[Banana01]

With drugs and chickens, I have had to be my own doctor/vet and research (i.e. google search) what is contained in the drugs I read about. There are lots of stickied "what's in your medkit" threads if you are trying to build a home first aid kit for chickens.

For example with Preperation H, I see the main drug is called "phenylephrine", so I would read about that and add "chickens" to the search query. Phenylephrine creme looks like it would be a good topical solution to relieve pressure and swelling, but not so good if there is an open wound or infection because it can't be allowed to enter the blood stream or there are bad high risk side effects.

Also googling preperation H and chickens, it seems like it is useful for prolapsed vent, a totally different injury. All the other articles for phenylephrine and chickens are scholarly research articles about drug trials, that may or may not be helpful, but it indicates they have tested the drug in chickens extensively. It seems like a good medicine to keep in the medkit for respiratory, prolapsed vent, or even external swelling including bumblefoot. Not something I've ever used, but would probably try it if I had it.

I use staple drugs for anti parasites, various anti-cocci medicines, aspirin, antibiotics, and little else. My chickens need the right drug at the right time and the right age, otherwise they are resilient animals, and some of the most famous drugs in the world like anti-biotics and anti-parasites can save their lives too just like humans.

Phenelephrine, or preperation H, may also be a good one, but it depends on how much of a problem you have with their inflammation. There are a lot of external topical medications that can help with pain and swelling, but it's different than antibiotics or internal medicines.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I second the vote for one of the experts, or even a group of them, to put together a list of chicken first aid items. I even vote that it be stickied in the appropriate forum.

Not happening!

Do you realize how many diseases, conditions, medications.....there are? This was somewhat attempted several years ago by a few that wanted a spreadsheet - they abandoned that quickly once they started digging into how best to put it all together - it would have taken years to make a complete spreadsheet that covered all these things, plus making sure medications/dosing was accurate, not to mention referencing sources.

There are 1000s of threads here on BYC that can be searched, there are a LOT of articles that deal with various issues that can be searched, not to mention all the blogs, youtube videos, instagram, vet websites, medical websites, etc. etc. that can be searched.

Specific questions, I'm sure all of us will be happy to make suggestions and hopefully point someone in the right direction, but it's ultimately up to the chicken keeper to do their own follow up and research to determine the best course of action/treatment that best suits their needs.

Seeking vet care if possible should be considered when a chicken is not well/in need of medication. I realize that's not always an option for most.
We are not vets here on BYC, we are ALL a group of chicken/fowl keepers that do the best we can to volunteer our time to make suggestions, share experiences, our support and information we have learned along the way.

As for using Prep H on a chicken - I have done it and had no issues with it, but have never used it to treat Bumblefoot.

 

[MTKitty]

Oh, well. Never hurts to ask.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh, well. Never hurts to ask.

Nah...doesn't hurt to ask, but not like it hasn't been asked/suggested numerous times either. At least once a month or so...

 

[Eggcessive]

Great post, Melody.

 

[Shadrach]

Not happening!

Well, it did happen.
Granted it doesn't cover all eventualities and of course most of the labels are in Catalan or Spanish. I may be able to do something about that soon.
But, if you want a basic should have on hand list of chicken care kit this list is what I've found to be indespensible.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-chicken-keepers-health-armoury.75220/

 

[Shadrach]

There is also this should you have trouble working out dosages for Flubendazole for an individual chicken.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/flubendazole-worming-dosages.75090/