Chicken First Aid
One thing I didn’t think about before getting chickens was first aid. Really, I just assumed they did their thing and lived happily ever after. No one is outside wrapping bandages on wild birds, right?! Now that I have more experience, I realize having some things on hand is important. I am not a vet. I do not know the answers for every ailment. I do know that it is my job to care for them and be prepared.
The first thing you should do is find a vet who will help you treat your chickens if necessary. The vet I use is an hour away. It is not something I have to do often, but I like knowing that I have back up if I can’t treat my chickens on my own. I get messages daily asking for help with sick or injured chickens and because I am not trained to treat animals, I will always refer you to a vet. I can’t be held responsible for your sick chickens. If you are too far from a vet, contact a local vet and ask if they will run fecal tests for you. This is not everything but it is helpful in identifying parasites and bacteria. One thing you should know is that I don’t treat for worms on a regular basis. According to my vet, treating for worms will create a resistance over time (even if you rotate medications…it will just take a little longer). It is also difficult to determine what kind of worms are causing the issue. Different medications treat different worms. What I do instead is take a fecal sample once a year or when I notice an issue and have them tell me what kind of worms (if any) that I am dealing with. Then I use their suggestions for what to use as a treatment.
A good website that I like to use to identify ailments is www.poultrydvm.com . There is a symptom checker and a search feature with a boat load of information for your chicken issues. Another option is to join a facebook group or forum for backyard chicken keeping and ask in the group. You will get a variety of answers and they won’t all be correct, but if you have to treat a chicken on your own, this is a good start. Everyone is welcome to join my facebook community, Purely Chickens. Everyone is kind and helpful and it is a fun place to hang out!
Ok, here are all of the things you’ll find in my chicken first aid kit! I have the ones I bought online linked for you.
Brooder/Infirmary to keep them separate and calm during healing.
Tweezers and scissors. These are helpful for many reasons but cutting bandages, pulling out foreign objects, cutting away feathers and dealing with bumble foot are just a few.
Styptic Powder. I use this for broken nails, beaks, or feathers that won’t stop bleeding.
Recover 911 is a electrolyte, probiotic, prebiotic, and oregano water supplement to help severely stressed, sick or injured chickens.
Chlorhexidine .5% dilution
Saline for flushing wounds.
Curved syringe for flushing or medicating.
Eye dropper for applying or giving medication.
Gloves
Chicken saddle to cover wounds or raw skin
Warming panel to keep injured hens warm.
Heat lamp to quickly warm baby chicks who are in severe stress (not to be used long term because of fire hazard)
Epsom salt and personal lubricant for egg bound hens.
Preparation H for prolapsed vents
Asprin for pain relief. (Read more about it here)
Popsicle sticks, vet wrap, clean non gauze pads, Neosporin and vetericyn spray for injury care.
Terramycin for eye issues.
Pet nail trimmers
Corid (powder or liquid-both aren’t needed). This is used for coccidiosis and is fairly common so keep this on hand.
Elector PSP is the fastest and most effective way to get rid of mites. Check here for it: https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=ac577859-6e1d-4028-b018-888e771b573f
I also use essential oils to keep my chickens healthy. For more about the oils I trust click here.
Onguard and lemon in their water when ill. These oils support immune system health. I add 3 drops each per gallon of water and replace daily.
Oregano and thyme in their feed. It is hard to disperse oils throughout their dry feed so I add this to fermented feed right before I feed it to them or in a mix of kitchen scraps. Just one drop of each in a pan of feed and mix well. Oregano and thyme are amazing oils for when their immune systems are compromised as well as just maintenance.
Lavender and tea tree for wound care. Both of these oils are helpful when dealing with wounds and infections. I mix 10 drops each in a small 4 oz glass spray bottle and fill the rest with fractionated coconut oil. Spray wounds a few times a day.
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