Is this penicillin okay to use?

[gritsar]

I have an injured hen, my favorite broody Doe.

Rather than buy rarely used chicken meds., I ask my neighbor for most. He has commercial chicken houses and cattle, has all the meds. in huge quantities, and it's no biggie for him to draw me up a bit into a syringe.

Anyhow, yesterday I asked him for a bit of pen. and he gave me a whole bottle. The label reads:

Penicillin Injectable - Sterile Penicillin G Procaine Injectable Suspension, U.S.P.

Injectable antibiotic in aqueous suspension 300,000 units/ml. (It's the 'procaine' part that troubles me)

The bottle includes directons for giving to cattle, swine, sheep and horses; but not chickens.

If it is appropriate, what would be the proper dosage and best injection site for a small (3 - 4 lb.) hen?

TIA

 

[purpletree23]

How injured is she? Is the wound infected? Chickens are remarkable healing machines. Penicillin is usually not needed if the wound is kept clean and bandaged to keep out flies and dirt.

This is a post I have always kept handy: I can't take credit for the information below. Orpington Manor explains everything very clearly. (I don't know how to copy and paste and have the cute little grey box surround it)

yes, that is correct. 0.01cc per lb.

You'll be fine! hugs

Here is my handy-dandy guide to giving injections....

Draw up the dose. Shake the bottle first. Then draw the same amount of air into the syringe as the dose you want to give, then inject that air into the bottle (put the needle right through the rubber stopper on the top), to keep a vacuum from building up.

Then, with the needle still in the bottle, tip the bottle upside down (with the needle pointed up) Hold onto the bottle, (the needle will stay put in the rubber without any help from you,) and draw the Pen G into the syringe. Then, flick the syringe with your finger to get the bubbles to go to the top (needle end) and inject the Pen G back into the bottle quickly, which puts the bubbles in the bottle. Then you can draw up the correct dose without any bubbles. if you still have bubbles, you can repeat the process.

Giving the injection. Once you have the correct dose drawn up, loosely recap the syringe and put it down where you can reach it. Get ahold of the bird with one hand, and move the feathers on the breast until you see skin. Pick up the syringe and uncap the needle. Dart the needle into the breast meat quickly. Don't do this part slowly, or it will hurt her. Once the needle is in the muscle, pull back gently on the plunger to make sure you don't see blood (so you didn't hit a vein). If all is well, then inject slowly, or it will sting, and the bird will fight you.

Rotate from one breast to the other each day so the bird doesn't get too sore. Ideally you would use a new needle and syringe each day. The needle gets dull after use, and then the bird hurts more, and you have to clean the needle. They are pretty cheap. Just get several.

ETA - This whole process is a lot easier if you have a helper to hold the bird. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Last edited by OrpingtonManor (11/07/2009 8:05 pm)

 

[gritsar]

She has a long tear under her wing. It's clean, no flies or other insects bothering her. She is isolated on the screened porch. Her comb and wattles color, activity level and eating/drinking are good.

I wanted to give her the Pen. as a boost to help her heal. Can't really bandage it I don't think. I may give it a shot later today with some vet wrap.

Thanks for your reply. I know how to give shots - am both an LPN and hold a degree in medical assisting, just wasn't sure about the "caine" part.

 

[Opa]

Pen G is fine for birds I'd give 1/2 cc for 3 to 5 days

 

[luvinrunnin]

Get some Veterycin and spray on it twice a day. Will heal up in no time.

 

[purpletree23]

IMHO I would keep the wound clean using a weak provodone iodine solution and neosporin.

My dosage reccomendation is a lot different than Opa. He/She recommends .5 cc and I recommend .02 cc. Read more on the subject and make your own informed decision.

 

[gritsar]

Thanks y'all

 

[tellynpeep]

The dose for poultry is about 30000 U/Kg. If your bird is 2 kg, the dose is 60,000U. At 300,000 U/ml, that is about 0.2 ml. Once a day. Birds are susceptible to procaine toxicity though. Why not dose oral meds? They are easy and probably safer.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Because those meds. are hard to come by around here (never seen any available at our feed store that caters mainly to the commercial poultry trade). About the only thing available is tetracycline, which I keep on hand.

I'm going to research tonight on closing the wound somehow. It's a clean wound, but it's longer than I thought.

 

[ranchhand]

Kat, I had a hen with a hole the size of my hand in her back- through the skin and down to the bare muscle showing. I injected 1/2 cc per day in the breast, switching sides, for 5 days. She healed and refeathered. The advice came from Opa, trust him. It did seem that the less I messed with the wound, the better, after the initial cleaning. Chickens have remarkable healing abilities.

Best of luck, Ms. Doe, just don't go broody in there!