What's in your chicken medicine cabinet?

[aart]

Do any of these medicines that you guys suggested need to be kept inside in temperature controlled area of can they go out in the shed? I have nutridrench, does that need to be kept warm?

I would keep them all in the house...cool, dark place.

 

[Kimmyh51]

My duck medicine cabinet has whatever I can scrounge from unused prescriptions of family and friends, as antibiotics and most useful drugs cannot be brought without a prescription here.
The fact that not one single antibiotic can be purchased here is most frustrating... As is my jealousy that apparently in the US you guys can just go to a department store (walmart) and buy a bottle of decent antibiotics for a few dollars? I would LOVE TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT!

Here if I do find a vet to prescribe antibiotics it costs me $40-60 for the vet consult, $10-20 for the prescription, $10 dispensing fee, and then $70 to well over $100 for enough medication for one duck.

I paid $70 for a few ml of enrofloxin at one vet which did two 2 week old ducklings only 2 days, then I had to switch them to oxytetracycline to finish treating their respiatory infection because the enrofloxin ran out(at dose the vet prescribed for the ducklings).

Oxytetracycline is the only antibiotic that seems to be available (on prescription only, like all of them) at q reasonable cost. I can get it for $88 (plus additional vet consult, plus dispensing and prescribing fees) for a 500g container. Any other antibiotic in that quantity would be literally $500-$100 or more.

I normally have
some antibiotics (doxycycline, penicillin/augmenton)
Pain relief (nsaids celebrex which can be given to ducks, and is easier to get than metacam which id prefer to give) prednisone, asprin.
Syringes
Self adhesive bandages
Colloidal silver
Hyaluronic acid powder
Calcium
Metachlopramide
Herbs in the vegie garden
Lubricants, water or silicone based (for hatching assistance)
Topical Antibacterial or antibiotic creams/ointments
Antibiotic eye drops or ointment
Steriod topical
Super glue (crazy glue) for 'stitching' wounds
Sterile water, saline, or colloidal silver for wound rinsing.
Scalpel or new stanley knife
Tweezers
Nurses scissors or similar
Sterile bandage, pad, or dressing.
Peroxide
Potassium permanganate
Ice cream sticks (for making splints etc)
Clean dry hand towels, rags, pillow cases etc for covering heat pads, use as bedding, and for using in minor procedures to cover the table, and covering the ducks head(ie removing bumblefoot)
Abamectin




In a perfect world I would also have

Oxytetracycline, erythromycin
Metacam
Diazepam, midazolam, Buprenorphine
A range of dressings, including dressings that adhere directly to wounds, these are expensve but sometimes my nurse friend has some she can give me
Iodine dressings and ointments
Anti fungal oral (flucanazole) oral/topical (nystatin)
Needles and sterile syringes
Sterile scalpel
Sterile forceps/tweezers
Ivermectin


In a perfect ideal world Id also have

Baytril
Enrofloxin
A nebuliser
An autoclave, or a pressure cooker with a working diy steam evacuation system (to steralise things then suck all the steam out, inother words a poor mans home made autoclave)
Oxygen and equipment to administer it.
Local anesthetic
Oh, and a veterinary science degree lol.

 

[aart]

As is my jealousy that apparently in the US you guys can just go to a department store (walmart) and buy a bottle of decent antibiotics for a few dollars?

Not really, and not anymore for oral AB's for animals...rightly so, IMO,
because of blatant mis-use and over-use and the problems that causes.

Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, then it's always there!

 

[MickWithChicks]

Liquid Calcium -- Avi-Calcium
Liquid Multi/Amino -- Avi-Vital
Liquid de-Wormer -- Kilverm
Ivermectin Oral Drench
Ivermectin Pour On
Permethrin
Mineral Supplement -- Dine-a-chook
Epsom Salts
Preparation H - non-medicated
KY
Peroxide

Standard first aid kit with bandages, scalpel, scissors, plasters, liquid plaster.
Needleless syringes
Latex gloves

Pipe cutters for the inevitable (which I've been fortunate enough to not need to use yet).

 

[aart]

Pipe cutters

What kind of pipe cutter?

 

[MickWithChicks]

What kind of pipe cutter?

Just standard hand-held 42mm PVC cutters. This exact one:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/crescent-3-42mm-conduit-cutter_p6110171

 

[aart]

Just standard hand-held 42mm PVC cutters. This exact one:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/crescent-3-42mm-conduit-cutter_p6110171

Ahh, thank you, that's what I thought.... does the blade close all the way quickly, or ratchet down with multiple 'squeezes'? Bet it's sharp as hell.
Not that I wish you to have had to use it, but sure wonder how effective it is.

 

[MickWithChicks]

does the blade close all the way quickly, or ratchet down with multiple 'squeezes'?

It does ratchet and would require two or three squeezes depending on the size of the chick/hen/rooster you were culling. It makes a very clean cut on PVC, and used right (blade facing the spine) would reduce the amount of suffering from a standard slit throat or the inaccuracies of a hatchet.

It is possible to get non-ratcheting versions too: https://www.bunnings.com.au/holman-universal-poly-pipe-cutter_p3120192

Given the choice, I'd probably choose the broomstick method in most circumstances, but a pipe cutter for processing birds or culling chicks seems the most humane to me and the hardest to stuff up.

 

[jolly wattles]

Curious how most of yall accurately weigh your birds? For dosage purposes.

 

[casportpony]

Curious how most of yall accurately weigh your birds? For dosage purposes.

I use a kitchen scale for anything under 5 kg, a bathroom scale for birds over 5 kg, and sometimes I use a luggage scale. When I use the luggage scale I place the bird in a feed sack and weigh bird in sack.