Chicken Health For Dummies
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Your chicken-keeping philosophy will determine how well stocked your backyard flock first aid kit should be. At a minimum, every flock keeper should have a hospital cage in which to assess and isolate a sick or injured chicken, and have the ability to humanely euthanize a hopelessly ill bird. Other items you may find useful in your first aid kit are

  • A spare heat lamp and bulb (non-shatterproof) or other heat source to warm a chilled bird (especially chicks). Steer clear of clamp-style heat lamps; get the kind you can hang securely from the ceiling.

  • An electric fan, mister, or other cooling device to cool an overheated chicken.

  • An antiseptic solution and a 10ml syringe for flushing wounds.

  • A pair of forceps (tweezers) for examining wounds and picking out debris, and a pair of scissors for removing bandages.

  • A package of gauze sponges for blotting and cleaning wounds.

  • A method to stop bleeding, such as blood-stop powder, a styptic pencil, cornstarch, or a tea bag.

  • A roll of 1-inch wide adhesive cloth bandaging tape, and a roll of 2-inch wide self-cling bandaging tape for dressing injured feet or wings.

  • A package or bottle of a poultry vitamin and electrolyte preparation to mix with drinking water.

  • A tube of water-based personal lubricant for dealing with a prolapsed vent or suspected egg-bound bird.

  • Your veterinarian’s phone number.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Julie Gauthier is board certified in veterinary preventive medicine. Rob Ludlow is the coauthor of Raising Chickens For Dummies and Building Chicken Coops For Dummies. He runs the leading chicken information resource on the web, www.BackYardChickens.com.

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