- Apr 8, 2013
- 37
- 10
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Hi Kathy,
Yes, you can buy it but it is not intended for use in poultry , that's why it is sold as a human or fish treatment. I was trying to point out it is banned from in all poultry due to the high likely hood they will be end up as food animals, this is a issue especially if people use this to treat chickens along with peafowl.
I have spoken to a vet who said you would need to ask for a specific exception, here in the UK there is the cage bird exception, small caged birds which can reasonably excepted not to be eaten by anyone can be treated with a larger range of drugs than birds that could be eaten. The Government tends to lump things together, so chickens 99% are going to end up eaten, so all use in chickens is banned, in fact in UK all domestic poultry is banned from metronidazole use, which as peafowl (a few high end restaurants sell peafowl meat) is included means I would want a vet to recommend metronidazole before use . My vet would not prescribe it even for a confirmed outbreak, as he deals with commercial producers and the fines are extreme if they are caught with metronidazole.
Unfortunately the government tends to consider the broad range of a topic with realizing the implications too committed individuals who will give a loving forever home to birds such as yourself. So for metronidazole; it is harmful to humans - stop its use in food production - can you guarantee backyard birds will not enter food chain? no real traceability in birds so you can't, therefore ban its use in all birds that are likely to be eaten which is all domestic poultry....chickens, ducks, turkeys. pheasants etc
I know the ban is intended for food animals but in the eyes of the law that is any animal who is of a type that might reasonably be expected to be food, it makes no distinction to individual circumstances. ie with other animals in law there no difference between a man with 10,000 pigs or the guy with Grunter that lives in his living room in terms of allowed drug use . Big Government at work!
Look the chances this been an issue for anyone is slim, but if you do dose birds, mark them and don't eat them (definitely don't sell/give them to anyone else to eat). Also it is the responsible thing to inform anyone who you sell bird too about the drug history and implications.
PS ".FWIW, any of my labs and necropsies done that had e.Coli listed, Baytril was one of the few that the e. Coli was sensitive to"
I know, I've had similar results for my birds that I've had necropsies done on, however the fact it is so effective makes it one of the most valuable drugs for human medicine and that's why its use in animals needs to be strictly monitored and given in cases of proven need under veterinary supervision in order to help prolong its effectiveness.
Yes, you can buy it but it is not intended for use in poultry , that's why it is sold as a human or fish treatment. I was trying to point out it is banned from in all poultry due to the high likely hood they will be end up as food animals, this is a issue especially if people use this to treat chickens along with peafowl.
I have spoken to a vet who said you would need to ask for a specific exception, here in the UK there is the cage bird exception, small caged birds which can reasonably excepted not to be eaten by anyone can be treated with a larger range of drugs than birds that could be eaten. The Government tends to lump things together, so chickens 99% are going to end up eaten, so all use in chickens is banned, in fact in UK all domestic poultry is banned from metronidazole use, which as peafowl (a few high end restaurants sell peafowl meat) is included means I would want a vet to recommend metronidazole before use . My vet would not prescribe it even for a confirmed outbreak, as he deals with commercial producers and the fines are extreme if they are caught with metronidazole.
Unfortunately the government tends to consider the broad range of a topic with realizing the implications too committed individuals who will give a loving forever home to birds such as yourself. So for metronidazole; it is harmful to humans - stop its use in food production - can you guarantee backyard birds will not enter food chain? no real traceability in birds so you can't, therefore ban its use in all birds that are likely to be eaten which is all domestic poultry....chickens, ducks, turkeys. pheasants etc
I know the ban is intended for food animals but in the eyes of the law that is any animal who is of a type that might reasonably be expected to be food, it makes no distinction to individual circumstances. ie with other animals in law there no difference between a man with 10,000 pigs or the guy with Grunter that lives in his living room in terms of allowed drug use . Big Government at work!
Look the chances this been an issue for anyone is slim, but if you do dose birds, mark them and don't eat them (definitely don't sell/give them to anyone else to eat). Also it is the responsible thing to inform anyone who you sell bird too about the drug history and implications.
PS ".FWIW, any of my labs and necropsies done that had e.Coli listed, Baytril was one of the few that the e. Coli was sensitive to"
I know, I've had similar results for my birds that I've had necropsies done on, however the fact it is so effective makes it one of the most valuable drugs for human medicine and that's why its use in animals needs to be strictly monitored and given in cases of proven need under veterinary supervision in order to help prolong its effectiveness.
