Chicken medicine questions

[SacredWaves]

Greetings all! I am currently celebrating 1 full year of Chickens!! Since I am going into my second year, and we are choosing to grow our flock, I have been reading alot on integration, pecking order activity, and diseases.
Maybe I missed these answers somewhere but, I am wondering a couple things, and any help is welcome.
1. Where is the best place to get antibiotics, etc, for the chickens?
2. What three staple medicines do you always have on hand, and how much do you like to keep?
3. What type of natural preventative, and medicines, do you use. How much of that do you always keep on hand?
4. Are certain breeds more prone to illness, or more resistant to treatment?
I appreciate any help, and advice everyone can give. Thanks so much.

 

[CaroleW]

Check out the Chicken Health Handbook - it should be on your bookshelf.
1) I've seen it at the feed store, but it is way too expensive for me in the size they sell for the few birds I have. It's labeled for goats (or other larger livestock), I think.
2a) VetRx - doesn't matter size or if it's for dogs, goats or chickens, seems to be priced differently but same stuff, I like the smallest size because I just keep it in my pocket so I can easliy use it on any chicken if they seem to need it.
2b) Vetericyn Plus, wound spray, small spray bottle but I keep a big backup, it's a great cleaner/disinfectant and use is far more than for livestock- research the active ingredient to see how it's packaged for other uses.
3) Just started using herb spice blend in feed by "The Poultry Store" called Natural Wonder, I also use any extra herbs from garden or spice rack in nest boxes/coop areas.
4) Fancy breeds not as hardy in my limited experience. And some individuals (no matter breed) are just not hardy. Depends tremendously on your climate, care, coop and weather conditions.

 

[Eggcessive]

First of all, be sure to get healthy disease-free chickens. Those are usually day old chicks from a hatchery or a feedstore that keeps the chicks away from the public handling them. Do not buy chicks from swap meets, poultry shows, unknown people, and I don’t feel safe buying from so-called breeders anymore. That is the best way to prevent diseases in the first place. Respiratory diseases and Mareks disease can enter you flock with only one carrier bird, who may appear healthy at the time.

You really don’t want to treat with antibiotics unless, absolutely necessary, and only if you suspect the illness. Viruses or fungal infections do not respond to them, only bacterial diseases and the right type of antibiotic.

Feed stores sell injectable penicillin G and may sell injectable oxytetracycline. Dosage can be hard to calculate, since the oxy is for cattle injections every 3 days. Many people still try to use it for respiratory infections unfortunately.

Pigeon sites and fish medicine sights are places where some antibiotics are available without a prescription. Tylosin powder for the water is a good treatment for symptoms of MG, a common bacterial respiratory disease. It does not cure it or keep the chicken from being a carrier. Jedds.com has that. But it is approved for chickens since most antibiotics are not. Fish Mox amoxicillin is helpful with a wound infection or a reproductive infection. Enrofloxacin 10% solution or Baytril is a very good antibiotic that is banned for chickens, but may be still prescribed for certain hard to treat infections. Far too many people try to diagnose diseases and jump to antibiotics without knowing what they are treating, and the antibiotic resistance that may result is why most feed stores are no longer able to carry them.

Vet Rx will not hurt, but it has no ingredients that treat a respiratory disease. The ingredients are herbal oils and camphor.

A few things always good to have with chickens is a coccidiosis treatment such as Corid or amprollium. Wormers may be helpful, and Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid Goat Wormer are good proven ones. Triple Antibiotic Ointment plain, without a pain killer, or a similar antibiotic ointment is helpful for wounds. Petroleum jelly or castor oil is good for treating scaly leg mites. Wounds can be cleaned with saline, or treated with chlorhexidene 2% spray or the overpriced Vetericyn Wound Spray. Mild dish soap and water is very underrated for cleaning a wound. Avoid strong disinfectants for daily wound care. Those can be used initially, but saline is fine for long term use. Avoid hydrogen peroxide. A kitchen sprayer with water is fine for a dirty wound for the first cleaning.

I would not buy a lot of products ahead of time like I did, since most products have an expiration date of about 2 years. Just find out where to buy them, or get the ones that you cannot get in a hurry.