Antibiotic restrictions January 1, 2017 (USA)

[spiritbrook]

I just found out that in January all animal antibiotics will need a prescription. This is to restrict the commercial practice of keeping animals on them continuously. So this means the small holder would need a prescription as well when antibiotics are needed. We don't have a vet who will treat poultry within 200 miles, let alone can I afford one for most things. In light of this, which antibiotic is recommended to have on hand? I'd like to "stock up" so I have some when I need it, not after driving 200 miles and paying enough to replace my whole flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is this a State or National change? Could you give a link to the rule so I could look at it? Often there are exceptions for small backyard operations. That said, things do change. I’d like to see the actual rule so I can determine what is actually going on.

I haven’t used antibiotics yet so I can’t really help you with your question.

 

[rebrascora]

Here in the UK that is already our situation. I don't think it is a bad thing that they are not so freely available, but I can imagine it is worrying when you are used to being able to just buy them over the counter.
I can think of only one occasion when having antibiotics available might have saved one of my flock and I have a good sized mixed flock, so I am pretty sure that a lot of the time when I read of people using them on this forum, they are not necessary which may well be one of the reasons why they are being removed from general access.

I'm afraid I can't help you with stocking up on them and which ones might be best, but it is well to remember that all medicines have an expiry date and therefore you may be spending money unnecessarily.

 

[aart]

Is this a State or National change? Could you give a link to the rule so I could look at it? Often there are exceptions for small backyard operations. That said, things do change. I’d like to see the actual rule so I can determine what is actually going on.

I haven’t used antibiotics yet so I can’t really help you with your question.

@Ridgerunner ....It's federal/national.
Here's a thread(on another forum-hope that's OK here) that discusses the situation along with various links.
http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livestock-forums/poultry/557346-medicines-purchase-before-ban.html

Doesn't affect me either....I have long been against the overuse of antibiotics in humans, took awhile to find a doctor for myself that wouldn't prescribe them haphazardly. I certainly wouldn't use them in my chickens as I would have no way of knowing which drug would be the right one.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Man, Aart, trying to read through that is hard slogging. I hate legalese. Correct me if I got any of this wrong. And thanks for the link.

It’s a Federal rule. Some individual States already have something like this so those State rules apply as long as they meet minimum Federal standards.

This requires a Veterinarian’s prescription for drugs that are used in animal feed. It does not change anything about other antibiotics. Any antibiotics not meant to go in feed aren’t affected, if they require a prescription before they still do. If they are over the counter (OVC) that will not change unless they are meant to be put in feed.

This rule is to stop producers from using antibiotics as a general technique as a disease preventative or to enhance weight gain. A Vet has to issue a prescription for a certain drug for a certain length of time for a specific problem to operations where he or she has actually seen the animals. Part of the concern is to try to reduce the development of superbugs that don’t respond to treatment. Part of it is to reduce the residue in carcasses from certain drugs that are carcinogenic.

I tried and failed to find exactly who this applies to. Usually these things have some kind of exemption for very small operations, say someone who feeds them to their own animals for their own use. Usually the regulations allow you to poison yourself and your family as long as you don’t threaten others. Or a small operation, even commercial, where a very limited production will mean the effects to the general public are limited, but I could not find that. The best I can determine this applies to the drugs themselves, the drugs that are meant to go in the feed, not the individual operations. They really want to address that superbug concern.

Spiritbrook, I don’t have the experience with antibiotics to be able to tell you which ones will require prescriptions now that did not previously require a prescription. If you have a specific drug in mind you might chat with a pharmacist about availability but I don’t know if a regular pharmacist would be where you get that anyway. You’d hope that the national feed store chains will issue instructions to their individual store managers so they know what they can sell and what they can’t. The national chains really don’t like the government fining them for law violations. I don’t know where you are getting your antibiotics for your animals now but I’d suggest you chat with them.

 

[aart]

Me too...... I did even try not parse thru all of those links.
The gist of what I concluded from the discussion is that many/most/all antibiotics that are presently OTC will be prescription only after the first of the year 2017.
Actually think it affects smaller operations and back-yarders more than commercial ones as the farm stores can no longer stock those drugs on their shelves available to anyone with the cash to buy them......anyone who doesn't have a good relationship with/can't afford a vet will be SOL if they want to use antibiotics.

 

[Folly's place]

The FARAD site has some good information, although I couldn't find the 2017 regs. The current list of approved and unapproved meds is there, and meant for poultry regardless of flock size. All chickens are livestock, not divided into 'pet' or 'non-pet' status. There has been serious overuse of antibiotics in commercial flocks (in feed) and treatment of ??? disease in home flocks. The new rules will make getting some drugs much less convenient, for sure. Mary

 

[Jensownzoo]

I just found out that in January all animal antibiotics will need a prescription. This is to restrict the commercial practice of keeping animals on them continuously. So this means the small holder would need a prescription as well when antibiotics are needed. We don't have a vet who will treat poultry within 200 miles, let alone can I afford one for most things. In light of this, which antibiotic is recommended to have on hand? I'd like to "stock up" so I have some when I need it, not after driving 200 miles and paying enough to replace my whole flock.

The regulation not only covers the sale of the antibiotics, but their use as well. If you USE a feed-based antibiotic or an antibiotic designed to be added to the water after the restriction becomes active and you don't have a copy of a valid VFD from a veterinarian, you will be breaking the law regardless of WHEN the antibiotics were purchased. The size of the operation does not matter. The VFD paperwork may be written for a maximum of 6 months before being renewed. The producer needs to keep those VFDs on file for a minimum of 2 years after the date written and be able to produce them for inspectors when asked.

I fell down a rabbit-hole of information about this a few weeks back when something popped up about it on FB. I think most of the drug manufacturers have info pages now, here is the one from Zoetis: https://www.zoetisus.com/responsible-antibiotic-use/vfd.aspx

 

[Ridgerunner]

I just found out that in January all animal antibiotics will need a prescription. This is to restrict the commercial practice of keeping animals on them continuously. So this means the small holder would need a prescription as well when antibiotics are needed. We don't have a vet who will treat poultry within 200 miles, let alone can I afford one for most things. In light of this, which antibiotic is recommended to have on hand? I'd like to "stock up" so I have some when I need it, not after driving 200 miles and paying enough to replace my whole flock.

The regulation not only covers the sale of the antibiotics, but their use as well. If you USE a feed-based antibiotic or an antibiotic designed to be added to the water after the restriction becomes active and you don't have a copy of a valid VFD from a veterinarian, you will be breaking the law regardless of WHEN the antibiotics were purchased. The size of the operation does not matter. The VFD paperwork may be written for a maximum of 6 months before being renewed. The producer needs to keep those VFDs on file for a minimum of 2 years after the date written and be able to produce them for inspectors when asked.

I fell down a rabbit-hole of information about this a few weeks back when something popped up about it on FB. I think most of the drug manufacturers have info pages now, here is the one from Zoetis: https://www.zoetisus.com/responsible-antibiotic-use/vfd.aspx

Thanks for the link. It’s very helpful. I noticed the restriction also applies to medications given in water, not just feed. I had not seen that before.

I did not see Amprolium (Corid) on that list so most medicated feed should not be affected. If you look at the bottom of that chart which shows which products are affected you’ll see some that are not. I guess Amprolium falls under coccidiostat.

 

[bantamrooster]

I was at our tractor supply co. yesterday and they had tags next to several items saying because of this they wouldnt be carrying those items after january 1 2017.
I need to go back and get a better look at what all they had tagged to see if i need to stock up on anything.