What should be in a basic chicken first aid/medical kit?

Hey all. I'm putting together a chicken first aid kit to have around the house and I am looking for advice on what should be included. I'm also interested in what people think are the best antibiotics to have around on hand. I don't normally medicate the gals, but if they look sick...

thoughts?

come on folks! I'm counting on you!

I would say some benadine solution, triple antibac. ointment, guaze pads hmmmmm let me think more, water soluble electrolytes, I have no clue which antibotics to keep on hand

I always keep some Bluekote on hand in addition to Lora's list....

hmmm... addition to that i also keep on hand all purpose flour to stop bleeding incase they loose a nail, spur or blood feather. I usually use oxytetracycline in the water for antibiotic. i also keep on hand bags of electolytes/vitamins, wazine for round worms, sevin dust for lice mites ect. dog nail clippers for cutting hang nails. vaccines for ilt-ib and mereks since i show my birds to help protect them. alchohol, peroxide, gloves, cotton balls, lap pads, scissors, stitching kits in case they get wounds that need stitched. i think that's most of it.
hope that helps,
silkie

thanks!

one of my girls has a large pecking wound on her back from self pecking. I covered it up with that newskin liquid bandage and put a cover on it ( see chicken saddle) what else would you suggest or how would you have handled it?

I had a chick that was pecked pretty bad last year and I used Wonder Dust. She healed in about a week and is still doing fine.

wonderdust, eh...what is that?

Wonder Dust is a dressing powder and blood coagulant that you use on animals for wounds, cuts, abrasions and capillary bleeding. It's a caustic and drying agent for slow-healing sores and infecting lesions. It contains activated charcoal to aid in the prevention of proud flesh. A blood-stopping powder after castrating, docking and dehorning. Stops the bleeding fast. It dries up wounds quickly and controls granulations. It's made by Farnum and can be purchased at any farm, feed, animal health supply or animal supply catalog. I swear by it. I've even used it on our daughters dog when she was injured.
We live in Bend, OR and have lived on our farm for 20 years. We've had horses, now raise cattle, have a couple of Barbados sheep and chickens. I also used to have a animal health supply business.
I hope you can find it, it's a fantastic product. Blondie (the chicken) can testify to that.

Gardener34 - I am new to poultry, but I've used Wonder Dust for years on my horses and I was wondering if it was okay to use it on chickens. I have a little Polish rooster who had some of his crest feathers pulled out by one of my hens, and it just seems like I should put something on it. You must have been reading my mind!

beth_donovan - Definitely, I used it on a 10 week old chick (Blondie) last year that had been pecked to the point of bleeding. I took her out of the pen, put the Wonder Dust on her backside (as they had pulled all of her tail feathers out), put her in a large cage and kept her in it inside the chicken pen, she healed up in about a week, I kept her in the cage for about 2-3 weeks until she was all feathered out again. Unfortunately though, upon letting her out of the cage, it was a repeat incident. So, after she healed the second time, she was released into the yard and shared it with an Americana rooster (Cruiser) until he broke his neck trying to lure a Redtailed hawk away from Blondie and Littleone a little bantam hen (of which I lost to the hawk later that winter). Blondie is now back in the chicken pen with one of Cruiser's daughters, 3 grand-daughters and 1 grandson. Blondie is a Golden Sex-link. The majority of my other hens are Sex-link as well and have the terrible trait of plucking. Unfortunately, they're going to be history in the spring as I am getting a dozen new chicks ( Aurucana/Americana and Rhode Island Reds 6 of ea.) in Feb. I won't have Sex-links again, they're nice layers but have a terrible plucking habit. Blondie is the only one that doesn't pluck other birds. Unfortunately one of the hens that's included in the culling is Cruiser's daughter as she is about 5 yrs. old and is getting tired. That's a nice Polish rooster. Good luck!

Hi all,
Just wanted you to know that I've changed from gardener34 to gardener105.

Here is a picture of the Rhode Island Red rooster I got after I lost Cruiser and Littleone to the Redtailed Hawk. I got him to protect Blondie and keep her company, but since she was his only girlfriend her back was a mess by the time I gave him to a lady that had 5 Rhodie girls. He was a nice bird but was starting to get a liitle aggressive towards people and was scaring my 3 grandkids that were going to stay here for the summer, so he went bye-bye. Yes, his name was Red, Rainbow Red as a matter of fact. That's what the people had named him, I just called him Red. After that, that's when I put Blondie in the chicken pen, she looks much better now.

This message was edited Nov 27, 2007 1:19 PM

This message was edited Nov 27, 2007 1:23 PM

Wonderful question-I was wondering the same thing. So far I have Bag Balm, Blue lotion (actually purple if you ask me!) and I picked up some Tetracycline (I think...have to look at bag) I had one pullet that was sneezing, but haven't noticed any other symptoms. My father in law said to pick that up, it's what they always used. I was reading about it afterwards though-and even on the package, it says not to use on chickens that are producing eggs for human consumption. My fil said they used it anyway, lol! So I haven't put it in their water yet...and haven't really noticed much sneezing now.

I'm definitely going to pick up some Wonder Dust, I was also wondering if it could be used on chickens, so hadn't picked it up last time I was at TSC.

Gardner105, I'm glad I read this. I have an order I'm working on (have a window open to Murray McMurray constantly, and am changing all the time, lol!) that has the breeds I love, plus a couple I'm going to try-that sound good for my farm. Brahmas, Ameracaunas (have already) and some Salmon Favorelles and Cochins. I was going to do an order of 25 sex links later on though-Red star from MM, or the Gold star I like better-from Welps. Anyway, I'm glad I read your post, I don't need any more pickers, I already have some and don't know which ones. I just know I have some roosters that are never going to grow a tail. Little turds.

BeautifulBrahma, At least you're nice by calling them little turds!! LOL They're great layers but my poor little rooster is scared to death of those "little turds"!! He's supposed to be the man of the house, now I know where the phrase "HEN-PECKED" comes from!!! LOL

Heehee! No doubt!

oh yeah, I figured I'd get in trouble for calling them anything worse on the forum, lol!

Dawn

That's true, but I'm sure we all have our special names for "little turds" at times. LOL

Susan

This message was edited Nov 29, 2007 9:04 AM

I'm sure, lol!

OK, i keep colloidal silver in a spray bottle, dandelion extract [you can also feed dandelion greens], myrrh gum all for help with poisoning.

i recall seeing a kit listed on a site. if i find it i will post it here

tf