Topic of the Week - Emergency/First Aid Preparedness

[The Welch Chickens]

- Electrolyte/vitamin powder
- Antibiotic ointment (and some blue food dye, as I occasionally color the ointment instead of buying Blu-Kote spray)
- Tylosin
- TiaGuard
- Calcium tablets
- VetRX
- Acidified copper sulfate
- Coconut oil
- B-complex vitamins
- Cotton balls and cotton swabs
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Salve (homemade by a friend for pasty butt, vent "greasing", irritated skin, etc.)
- Epsom salt
- Disposable gloves
- 2 dog crates (for housing sick/injured birds indoors)
- Heat Lamp (hung above dog crates)
- Old towels/blankets
- Plastic storage bin (that I use for bathing them if needed)
- Extra feeders/waterers

 

[Wills saxonys]

My arsenal against injury and illness, along with my ability to recognize the onset of such, has grown over the years from nothing to a pretty sizable cache.

The first time a chicken died occurred just a couple days after I began my flock with two adult chickens adopted from a friend's flock after she died in a horrible accident. I had no idea why the hen died, and I just assumed it was something that just "happened" with chickens.

Now, nearly ten years later, I've learned the signs of a sick chicken, and even without being a vet, I can often figure out what's wrong and how to treat it. However, I still need to come back here and ask questions when I have a chicken with an ailment I can't figure out, as I just did recently, surprising a few of my friends here.

I keep amoxicillin and penicillin on hand to treat a chicken who suddenly becomes ill. A normally chatty hen will suddenly go mute. She will seclude herself in a corner, often facing a wall, tail held low and flat. Last spring, I lost a new layer to a sudden illness and it took her life before the antibiotic could take hold, but I was in time to save her sister a week later when she came down with the same thing. I strongly suspect my compost pile was responsible.

A very wet winter and spring had made a soggy mess out of the compost bins, and I had been disposing of a lot of spoiled apples and squash in it that turned normally present botulism spores into a deadly toxin called Clostridium perfringens. It can kill in 24 hours. With an antibiotic, a chicken can be cured.

I get my antibiotics from KV Pet Supply. They're for fish, but work just fine on chickens, and I can cope with the new US federal law which requires a vet prescription starting in 2017.

I also have on hand antibiotic eye drops, steroid drops, and anti-inflammatory drops for eye infections and sinus infections, as well as simple lubricating saline eye drops. I and a few of my friends have had cataracts removed and these drops were prescribed for our surgeries. They work splendidly on chickens.

I've dealt with my share of injuries, and vet wrap is one of the most important items to keep in a chicken first aid kit. Chicken beaks are sometimes even more dexterous than human fingers, and vet wrap is practically chicken proof since it adheres to itself. I use it cut into one-inch wide strips twelve inches long with telfa pads on the wound. Bandaging a bumblefoot patient with vet wrap enables me to return them immediately to the flock to avoid re-entry stress later.

Bag Balm is a helpful product for frostbite prevention. It's better than Vaseline since it has lanolin in it and lubricates and protects deep into the tissue.

Vetericyn is another valuable wound care product, protecting against infection while promoting tissue regeneration.

Here's more:

Epsom salt
Triple antibiotic ointment
Electrolyte powder
corn starch
worm meds
Corid
Elector PSP or permethrin dusting powder
Castor oil
Coconut oil
Mineral oil
Betadine
alcohol
Miconazole for sour crop
Copper sulfate for sour crop and other yeast infections
Blu-kote or Blue lotion
hydrogen peroxide
soap
Q-tips
cotton balls
Baby aspirin
Antibiotics
Poultry nutri-drench and B-vitamins and selenium
Calcium citrate
Vet wrap and telfa pads
sharp, small scissors



Start your own kit. It can save the life of your favorite chicken!

Just out of curiosity how do you administer the fish antibiotics? And how much ?

Thank you your information input is really helpful!!

 

[azygous]

I push the pill into the patient and she swallows.

Here's my tutorial on why chickens have an easier time swallowing a bulky pill than humans do.

We think chickens must have a problem swallowing a large pill just because we do. But their digestive process is different from ours. We begin the digestive process by chewing first, then swallowing. We aren't meant to swallow large chunks. We naturally choke.

Chickens don't have teeth for a good reason. They don't need them. Their digestive process begins after they swallow. The food goes directly into their crop without passing "Go", and then it trickles down into their gizzard where the "chewing" action goes into full swing.

Therefore, chickens can amaze us by swallowing things that we think would choke them, large pills included. But they actually have no problem. Slip the pill into the beak and you'll see it disappear like magic. Unless you don't get it far enough back on the tongue. Chickens can rival dogs and cats at firing a pill across the room like a guided missile, but it's not because they aren't able to swallow it easily.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Epsom salts!

Oh yes! I have those too! See... I knew I forgot something!

 

[TJAnonymous]

I've had horses for 20+ years so my chicken first aid kit grew out of our Equine first aid kit.

A general list of items in my kit:

Dewormer
Corid
Nystatin for birds
Tricide-Neo
Metronidazole tablets
Amoxicillan/Penicillin tablets
Liquid Drench
Flock Recover 911 powder
Tobramycin eye drops
Betadine
Bluekote
Vetricyn
Vetricyn eye wash
Poultry wound spray
Hydrogen Peroxide - spray bottle
Calcium Citrate
Neosporin/Triple Antibiotic
Vaseline
Mineral Oil
Permethrin
Ivermectin
Epsom Salts
Gauze (non-stick & regular - multiple sizes)
Vetwrap (multiple sizes)
Liquid bandage
Scalpel
Scissors
Tweezers
Syringes

I'm sure there's probably more that I'm forgetting...

Forgot to add Terramycin! I keep it on hand as well!

I also have a variety of quarantine cages. I have 2 dog crates, 2 large (2 ft x 4 ft) rabbit cages, an 18" x 16" hamster cage, a 4 ft diameter pop-up puppy pen with top, and a 2 ft x 6 ft outdoor quarantine cage. I also have 60+ chickens and 11 ducks. Basically I wanted cages I could use as brooder or for sick/injured birds.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I have never treated a chicken for anything I decided early on that I would cull for injuries or illness, which I have not had to do yet ( I have culled for other reasons) They are tough birds.