Help! My chicken ate rat bait!

[heartsizedfarm]

Darn. I could have taken my elderly mother off cumedin and put her on vodka, which she would have preferred I'm sure. Ha!

 

[ten chicks]

You DO NOT want blood thinning with rat poison. Rat poison works by blocking the synthesis of vitamin k in the body,this is needed to clot blood,b/c of this poison causes uncontrollable and spontaneous bleeding,blood thinning is the worst idea possible.

 

[149east]

I don't want to be gloomy about this, but we couldn't save mine when she got into rat poison. the poison took about 4 days or so to start kicking in, she then continued to look fine but stopped eating. When I figured out what it was, I took her and got a Vitamin K shot. This perked her up for a few hours (so that she came home and ate), but then next day - stopped eating again. I took her back to the vet, went for another shot - the vet also gave me tablets (which I couldn't get her to eat). Basically - if an animal swallows warfrin / coumedin (the ingredient in the poison), they need to be taking the antidote for up to a month in order to clear it from their systems. This is what people do with dogs - but it's much easier to get a dog to eat then a chicken (you all know what I mean!). And in the end I couldn't just keep bringing her back for daily injections - so we lost her. I don't know how much yours ate, but this is what happened with ours.

 

[tarred and feathered]

• 
  I have actually seen woodhens eating rat bait on Lord Howe Island and the park rangers there were not concerned as they said it has no effect on most birds. You can look up a number of studies on the web and you’ll find this is the case also. So I think your chickens will be fine. Warfarin-based poisons seem to be OK to safely use around them unless you have dogs and cats. Apparently birds of prey and possibly waterfowl are not so lucky. Here's a few links to studies:
  
  http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/warfarin.htm
  Effects on Birds: The acute avian toxicity of warfarin indicates that it is practically non-toxic to game birds. In subacute studies, warfarin ranged from moderately toxic to practically non-toxic to upland game birds and waterfowl (377). Another source indicated that an acute oral mallard duck study was performed with a 10% formulation of warfarin. This formulation of warfarin was considered moderately toxic to mallard ducks (LC50 greater than 120 mg/kg) when administered as a single dose. However, when exposed to 60 mg/kg for a period of 14 days, 4 out of 5 ducks died (376). Chickens are relatively resistant to warfarin (369).
  
  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20346414
  http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/pyrethrins-ziram/warfarin-ext.html
  http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/warfarin/rat_poison.html

 

[ten chicks]

Warfarin does kill chickens,many die as a result of ingesting rat poison just depends on how much was ingested.

Link

http://www.link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BFO1607802#page-1


Once on site,in search engine type"warfarin and poultry" then article "Acute oral toxicity of warfarin to poultry. "Look Inside"


Yes, if any has animal ingested rat poison,it is a 30 day cycle of pills.

 

[tarred and feathered]

Thanks for the article and always happy to be proved wrong. It is only one article however and is from 1986. The dose was also considerable. There has been a lot of work done since then. I think it's better to confirm using a number of sources. I can only go on what I've researched and what I was told. A lot of work was done on baiting on Lord Howe before they carried it out. Considering the rarity of the woodhens there I wouldn't think they would risk killing one of the world's rarest birds. It would be interesting to hear from any vets that have access to current studies and current knowledge.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

My Pet Nuggets chickens contacted the poison a week ago, so if they're not showing effects, they're probably in the clear.

 

[TexasLady]

I'm curious...how long would you not eat the eggs?

 

[ten chicks]

Thanks for the article and always happy to be proved wrong. It is only one article however and is from 1986. The dose was also considerable. There has been a lot of work done since then. I think it's better to confirm using a number of sources. I can only go on what I've researched and what I was told. A lot of work was done on baiting on Lord Howe before they carried it out. Considering the rarity of the woodhens there I wouldn't think they would risk killing one of the world's rarest birds. It would be interesting to hear from any vets that have access to current studies and current knowledge.

This was just one of many. Rat poisons works by blocking the synthesis of vit k in body,which is needed for blood clotting,so animals bleed to death. All animals are susceptible to the effects of rat poisoning,the only determining factor is the amount ingested.

I take poisoning very seriously and cannot understand why the debate about warfarin(anticoagulant-blood thinners/preventing blood clots)it is dangerous and does kill if enough has been ingested.

 

[tarred and feathered]

There is always a debate unless you can offer inconclusive proof. There are actually different kinds of rat poisons and they act differently (and at different rates) so I always look at the active ingredient of the poison. Warfarin is not the only one and yes volumes probably are at play. So again there will be debate unless you actually know and have irrefutable proof. I am using many sources I can find to form an opinion and actual discussions with a national park ranger who watch a bird eat rat poison in front of us. Based on the evidence I have so far that is my view and that is why there is debate. So unless you have proof or are a scientist ........................