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How to Assemble a Chicken First Aid Kit

Assembling a first aid kit for your chickens is always a good idea so you're prepared when disaster strikes.

If you raise chickens long enough, the day will come when you need to administer first aid. 

Whether it be a sprain, hurt foot, broken toenail, puncture wound, insect sting, respiratory infection, cuts, frostbite, bumblefoot, open sores, mites, worms, or an injury from another chicken or a predator, you want to be prepared in advance with your chicken first aid kit so you aren't running around trying to find what you need, or making a trip to the store, an emotional mess, with a hurt chicken on your hands.

How to Assemble a Chicken First Aid Kit

To get started assembling your chicken first aid kit, you will need a sturdy plastic container with a cover.

Small fishing tackle boxes work well as do small plastic craft boxes from Walmart or the Dollar Store. Of course I keep so much on hand now that it all no longer fits into this small container !

Write your vet's telephone number as well as the phone number of our local feed store on the lid in permanent marker. Although your vet might not treat chickens per se, they will still be an important contact in many situations and many feed store owners are familiar with common maladies.

What to Put in your Chicken First Aid Kit

Inside your Chicken First Aid Kit you will want to keep the following:

Bach Rescue Remedy for Pets natural stress reliever
 
Coconut Oil to prevent frostbite on combs or feet

Epsom salts for soaking feet with splinters or bumblefoot, neutralize and help flush toxins, help with intestinal tract blockage, reduce diarrhea and treat vent gleet

Fresh Eggs Daily Herbal Salve to use in place of Vaseline or petroleum jelly on minor cuts and scrapes, frostbite or other raw skin

Honey is a natural antiseptic with healing properties

Kochi Free all-natural anti-parasitic and coccidiosis remedy

Liquid Calcium to help an eggbound hen

Poultry VetRx cures respiratory ailments, scaly leg and eye worm

Nutri-Drench liquid vitamins and other nutrients for ailing chickens

Saline solution to rinse dirt or dust out of eyes

Theracyn Wound and Skin Care Spray non-toxic spray that can be used to treat cuts, scratches, sores and minor injuries as well as bumblefoot
 
Vitamins & Electrolytes or Plain Pedialyte to replenish electrolytes during extremely hot weather



I'm excited to have helped to develop Fresh Eggs Daily Herbal Salve. I keep one container in our coop first aid kit and another in the house. 

I love that it's natural, we can use it on all our animals - chickens, ducks, geese and dogs - and ourselves, and that it helps to protect and heal cuts, abrasions, and and bug bites. It's 100% natural and not only helps keep wounds from getting infected, it helps speed healing - naturally.

Also good to have on hand:

  • Gauze pads
  • First Aid Tape
  • Sharp Scissors
  • Blood Stop Powder (available from your vet) or Cornstarch to help stop bleeding
  • Cotton Balls
  • Wooden Popsicle Sticks
  • Q-Tips
  • Eye Dropper
  • Tweezers
  • Small Pliers
  • Rubber Gloves
  • Dawn Dish Detergent 
  • Dog Toenail Clippers
  • Small Flashlight with Spare Batteries

WARNING:  Any antibiotic or pain killer that ends in 'caine' or 'cane' (bactine, novacaine, lidocaine, benzocaine, etc.) can be harmful or even fatal to chickens and should NEVER be used.





In addition, you should keep a small pet carrier and a soft blanket nearby for a possible trip to the vet.

A dog crate or large bird cage should also be kept handy. It will make a perfects 'recovery room' for a hen who needs to be separated while recovering from an injury or illness.

That way any medication that needs to be administered can be easily limited to your patient's diet and you can monitor the hen's eating/drinking/pooping while keeping her safe from pecking by the others. 


The crate needs to be sturdy, safe, large enough that the chicken can move around a bit and preferably in a quiet corner. You can also drape a towel over it to allow your patient more privacy. 

Keeping the crate outside in the run while your patient is recovering (if weather permits), and what she is suffering from isn't contagious, will avoid the injured chicken from being at the bottom of the pecking order when she is ready to be returned to the run and make re-integration easier.



Your brooder box also makes a nice sick bay turned on its side for recovering hens.

Keep the crate handy and your first aid kit stocked (and if you use something or it expires, replenish right away with a new supply). Keep the kit where you can access it quickly.  With a well-stocked first aid kit you will be set for almost any chicken emergency - but hopefully you will never need to use it.



For my recommendation of the top essential all-natural first aid items you absolutely need to keep stocked, click HERE.

(As a side note: I also find having a stocked first aid kit comes in handy down at the barn for when I injure myself, which happens more often than I would like to admit. I've had my share of splinters, stapled fingers, dust in my eyes and other minor maladies which are quickly remedied with items from my chicken first aid kit.)
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