A How-To Guide for Medicating Chickens

[The Chicken Lady]

I thought it would be good to start a thread on the different types of medicines people use to heal and support their chickens' health. This would be sort of a knowledge base for new chicken owners, much in the same way most adults know what aspirin/ibuprofen are and what they can be used for.

I don't want this to turn into a debate over should you or should you not medicate your chicks or adult chickens. This is for, what should one have on hand "just in case" if that is what one chooses to do and when should one use it.

Things to include: what the medicine is called, where you can get it, what it is used for, any dangers or problems you've personally experienced with it with your birds. You can add if you can use it for other kinds of poultry, too. Feel free to add any helpful sites you've used in building your knowledge on this topic, too.

Thanks in advance for participating! I'm looking forward to learning from the collective wisdom and experience of BYC members.

 

[JeninMN]

Great Idea!! Thank you!!

 

[JohnL11935]

Bump

Long time reader, first time poster. It seems my wife and I are getting close to taking the plunge and starting our back yard flock. We've cleared away an area to build a coop and I am scrounging used materials on Craig's list. I just scored a pair of very nice windows over the weekend!

Anyway. My wife is an RN in the OR and I use to be an CC RN. While reading some of the posts about treating illness & injury, I began to wonder what everyone would consider to be a basic first aid kit for their flock.

That is, since most anything we could require in an urgent / emergent situation would most likely need to be ordered over the internet and then delivered, what would everyone consider handy to have on hand for those just-in-case situations.


Vitamin - Mineral Supplements
Antibiotics (such as ?)
De-wormers (such as ?)
General Preventatives vs. Condition-specific (such as ?)
Food Grade DE
Apple Cider Vinegar
Tylan
Vaccines
Sevin Dust
Wound Care (such as ?)

So on and so forth.


Thanks.

 

[Lanissa86]

Ok, Glad someone started this! I have a Question. I bought Terra Vet (Oxytetracycline HCl) from the feed store. My new birds were sneezing and coughing and this says it treats respiratory problems. Well, I have 6 birds I was thinking of putting it in a Gallon of water. It says 400mg/gal. Well the Bag says 10 grams of the med but there is a net weight of 181.5 g. Do I ignore the net weight or what? Thanks!

 

[speckledhen]

Use NOTHING with Benzocaine in it. It's fatal to birds, especially if it gets in an open wound.

 

[WillsMama93]

I currently have a pullet with vent gleet.. our first real health problem, so I have just started my chicken first aide kit...
Here's what I have so far...

1. Wound care:
Hydrogen Peroxide 3%
Betadine
Triple antibiotic ointment
2. Sterile gauze pads
3. Paper tape
4. 10cc syringe without needle to flush wounds
5. Sterile water to flush wounds
6. Saline solution (for cleaning eyes and beaks if necessary)
7. Tongue depressors (for splinting)
8. Sterile q-tip type applicators
9. 1cc TB syringe (good to measure small doses of meds)
10. pipettes (good for oral medicating, or feeding gruel to sick/injured chicks.. keeps the liquid away from the nostrils)
11. bag balm

Now I just need to round up some meds to have on hand. We are starting Belina on NilStat tonight, now that we know it's vent gleet and not an abcess.
Ohh, and you can get a monistat yeast test kit over the counter now that you can use to test any secretions you might be questioning, to see if yeast is present. Just a little FYI. It works on birds, and humans!

 

[CUDA]

You can find proper dosing for most medications for chickens HERE .

 

[hooligan]

http://groups.msn.com/CHICKENCHRONICLES/yourwebpage6.msnw

 

[ultasol]

I know this thread is ancient, but I am trying to compile a 'medical' folder including information on medications as well as dosages, treatments for common illnesses, etc. This link is defunct, and I was wondering if anyone had it stashed away somewhere.

 

[hearmeroar]

I got Terra Vet the other day and was carefully reading the instructions and it says that you should not administer to chickens/turkeys laying for eggs for human consumption. Does anyone know for how long we can't eat the eggs?