Medication question....

[SunAngel]

This might be a dumb question, but I want to be sure before I buy anything to keep onhand.

Almost all the meds our TSC carries are made for Cows/Sheep and Horses. Are these the meds everyone on here refers to? Like Taramycin (sp?), Tylan, Sulmet? They have nothing for chickens and I was scared to spend the money on something that might harm my flock. Even their packs of electrolyte stuff is for large animals.

Would I just get that stuff and lower the doses dramatically?

I don't have any sick chickens, but I want to make sure I know what to get 'if/when' it ever happens.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Jenski]

As I understand it, the reason there are so few medications out there that have been FDA approved for poultry is that there is no financial return for it. The enormous battery hen operations would not spend the $ required to back a drug through this process, as they only use their hens a short amount of time and then send them on to a processing plant. It is more financially sound for them to simply cull than treat.

That said, there are several drugs out there that have been approved for other livestock that are also safe for poultry, and many experienced chicken folks have gone through the trouble of calculating safe dosages for chickens. I have located a few of these dosages, and there are others out here who probably have even more info than I have. In fact, I believe someone on the forum has a chart they made up, but unfortunately I can't recall who it was. You might do a search to find it.

When I research, I try to find more than one source for a dosage amount, and then I use my own best judgment. I write my dosages on the bottles I keep in my med cabinet so I don't have to do calculations in an emergency.

The three drugs you mentioned are all pretty common for poultry these days, and there are many here who can give you dosages. When collecting this info, you will want to make sure you are clear on 1) oral or injectible (some injectible wormers can be dosed orally); 2) concentration of medication (for example, my Amprolium is 9.6%); 3) heavy breed chicken or bantam (weight of chicken must be calculated pretty accurately for safety); 4) age of chicken being treated (some meds are not appropriate for young chickens).

I hope that helps.

P.S. - not a dumb question at all ~ it's an excellent question, and I think it's great that you are planning ahead and doing your research.

 

[SunAngel]

Thanks! That does help a lot.

So more than likely anything mentioned on here medicine wise is probably the stuff for cows/sheep in TSC?

I just never know if someone elses store carries a different item, or if what they are getting is the same stuff as I am seeing in my store here.

 

[Jenski]

Several of the bottles I have feature large livestock (swine, sheep, cattle) on the bottle. Those are from the farming folks who sponsored the FDA approval process.

I don't have my med chart handy, but if you don't find any dosages in a search of threads, post the question in this section and you'll get an answer. Good luck!

 

[SunAngel]

Ok will do, thanks!

 

[chickenlady]

Here is a website I use frequently. It originally came from a member on BYC that I found to be highly knowledgeable. It is a wonderful tool.

http://ultimatefowl.atwiki.com/page/Poultry Disease

All these meds can be found for some livestock, whether they list it as cattle, swine, or poultry.

 

[SunAngel]

Thanks so much!! I am sure that page will come in handy quite often!