ideas for poultry first aid/emergency kit

[bibliophile birds]

i've been meaning to put together a first aid kit for my birds. i'm leaving for a business trip in 3 weeks and will be leaving my Mother in charge, so i figured now was a good time to get this together, especially since we just lost Lucy Goose. i raise my birds naturally and am wondering if anyone has any ideas or tips on what all should be included in the kit.

my thoughts so far:

vet wrap
peroxide
iodine
saline solution
blue kote
blood stop (do you guys prefer the spray, the powder, or the little gauze squares?)
neosporin
surgical superglue (for small cuts)
water soluble probiotics
scissors
medical tape
syringes (needle-less)

i'm sure i'm forgetting something obvious. help fill in the gaps?

also, would you bother including items for treatment of things like avian botulism that you might feasibly never have to use? i know in situations like that, treatment needs to be done really soon after symptoms appear so would you go ahead and have them on hand?

 

[FarmerDenise]

Here is my list (in addition to the stuff already mentioned). I don't have all of it yet, but am working on it.

magnifying glass
nail clippers and metal nail file
penlight
Scalpel blades and handles
Tweezers
Eye dropper
syringes of various sizes
feeding tubes (if you are trained how to use them, if you get it in the wrong tube you can suffocate your bird!!)
suturing kit (if you are brave enough to try it!)
cotton swabs
cotton balls or pads
disposable gloves
stethoscope
needle-nose plyers or hemostats
heating pad or heat lamp
thermometer
square gauze of various sizes
non-stick pads
first aid tape
bandage rolls
wooden sticks for splints
rubbing alcohol
band aids
electrolite solution
wound disinfectant such as Betadine or Nolvasan ( I found Betadine in a spray!!!)
triple antibiotic like neosporin without pain med added
Eye wash solution ( the kind for cleaning contact lenses is fine)
Sterile saline
Aspirin (use 1 1/4 aspirin disolved in 1 quart water, let bird drink at will)
rescue remedy


I also print out various information on sick or wounded chicken care and keep it in a binder. That way I have fairly quick access to the information/directions when I am in a panicky mode!!!

 

[urban dreamer]

One more thing I think would be useful is a hair-dyer. I've heard of several people using them to treat birds found in the cold or who have fallen into water.

 

[patandchickens]

I did a page or two on this for Countryside magazine a couple years ago, I forget which issue, if you have that around.

IMO most of the medical type things you'd want are things you'd likely already have around ANYhow, especially if you have animals (gauze, vetrap, betadine, thermometer, etc). The main chicken-specific thing I keep on hand is a packet of Sulmet powder in case of coccidiosis problems with chicks.

Should have one or more cages or carriers in case some or all chickens have to be moved, or confined elsewhere. Also a couple of plastic washbasins, and a coupla lidded buckets for hauling warm water out to the coop from the house.

I think that repair supplies are at least as important though -- some extra wire and staples and lumber abd plywood and tarps and screws and wire to patch "incidents" to the run or coop, coupla pallets in case of flooding, spare bulbs for heatlamps, spare heatlamps, etc.

Fire extinguisher isn't a bad idea either

JMHO,

Pat

 

[Libertyhomestead]

#1 on my list is colloidal silver.

Use internally and externally, and it sanitizes too. It was very common before chemical antibiotics where invented. 100% non toxic unless you are a one celled organism.

http://colloidalsilver.freeservers.com/whatiscs.html

 

[Mackay]

#1 on my list is colloidal silver.

Use internally and externally, and it sanitizes too. It was very common before chemical antibiotics where invented. 100% non toxic unless you are a one celled organism.

http://colloidalsilver.freeservers.com/whatiscs.html

CS is a great idea. Do you make your own or purchase? I haven't opened your link yet. Is there dosage recommendations for chickens?

Personally I would use MMS, I give it to my dog all the time cause he drinks bad ditch water.

Oh back in the old days a silver lined milk pail was an item to covet. It kept bacterial growth down. Farmers who couldn't afford one would throw a silver dollar in the bucket.
Same deal with silverware in general. True silver was thought to prevent disease if your utinsels were made out if it, ditto for the silver baby rattle... all linked up with that old saying... born with a sliver spoon in his mouth....

I really doubt eating with silver silverware does anything though, but I have always wondered about the silver lined milk pail

 

[Libertyhomestead]

I make the colloidal silver myself. By the gallon for the cost of distilled water. My kit consists of 9 volt batteries, pure silver wire, a resistor, ohm meter, also, distilled water and powdered citric acid. I got it from the link below. It works great, the ohm meter gives you an idea of the ppm and the laser pointer gives you an idea of the size of the silver particles as they form. Smaller particles are better and you can't gage that by eyesite alone.

I have found no information on poultry use but there is quite a bit on parrots, other bird species etc. The link below lists some good uses and the dosages.

Interesting thing you might run across in the poultry processing news. A new "magical" sanitizer called SDC (silver dihydrogen citrate). Its actually just CS with citric acid as a stabilizer. They gave it a scientific sounding name and patented it. Everyone thinks it's newly discovered, pretty funny since I've been brewing it myself for a decade! BTW dihydrogen is another name for WATER, ha ha they're so clever.

""Based on the silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC) antimicrobial, Axen50 is the newly registered sanitiser, so called because it boasts a food contact tolerance of 50 parts per million of silver.
....The disinfectant active kills standard indicator bacteria in 30 seconds and provides 24-hour residual protection. It also has a two-minute kill claim on MRSA, CA-MRSA, PVL-MRSA and VRE. SDC-based disinfectants have the added benefits of being odorless, colorless and non-corrosive. They do not demand hazardous materials procedures or gear, and rinsing is not required after use. Axen50 and other SDC-based disinfectants from Pure Bioscience will join the fight against foodborne pathogens, which continue to cause serious health problems and economic damage in the US and elsewhere. ""

It's about time mainstream re-discovers CS.

Here's what I use to make it: http://www.atlasnova.com/ColloidalSilverStarterKit.htm

Uses and dosages for birds:
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/features_colloidalsilver.mgi

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

We keep fermented cod liver oil on hand as well.
We have used it succesfully for illness in our poultry.

Raw honey on cuts has been a good item for use as well.

 

[i_am2bz]

my thoughts so far:

vet wrap
peroxide
iodine
saline solution
blue kote
blood stop (do you guys prefer the spray, the powder, or the little gauze squares?)
neosporin
surgical superglue (for small cuts)
water soluble probiotics
scissors
medical tape
syringes (needle-less)

Ok, I give up...what's blue kote, & what is it used for...?

 

[BarredBuff]

I have sulmet and corid. Then animal anti biotic cream, and a bunch of other medical powders. Ive only ever used the sulmet, corid and anti biotic cream.