advise on first aid for a snake bite

[aldarita]

Hello everybody!
I have had chickens for 2 and a half years now and thankfully so far no bites from snakes, although I have removed 3 or 4 from the yard, My girls and boys free range all day so I would like to be prepared in case that one happen to get bitten by a snake. My vet is one hour away so it might be late to do anything by the time I get to her.
Is there anything I could do right away to help?
A friend of mine who used to have chickens told me that when one of her hens got a snake bite, she pushed a benadryl pill thru her throat. The hen lived but I wonder about this treatment.
There are a lot of copper heads and cotton mouth snakes in my area so I want to be prepared just in case.

Any one there with experience in treating snake bites?

thanks

 

[dawg53]

Your friend is correct. For stings and venomous bites, benadryl is best.

 

[aldarita]

Your friend is correct. For stings and venomous bites, benadryl is best.

Thanks for your response, do you think it will be better to give some liquid benadryl rather than the pill and if so, how much should I give? I am just thinking that the liquid benadryl will act faster.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
You can dose 1/2cc children's benadryl only. Redose in 24 hours only if needed. Do not overdose using children's benadryl.

 

[aldarita]

You can dose 1/2cc children's benadryl only. Redose in 24 hours only if needed. Do not overdose using children's benadryl.

Thank you. I will get a bottle of children's benadryl and keep it handy.

 

[Michael Apple]

We have rattlesnakes here, but they are rarely seen beyond certain hill regions. I had a hen get attacked by yellow jackets once, her breathing was labored and obviously stressed. Dawg advised me with children's liquid Benadryl due to my lack of memory. It worked very well with just two doses about 8 hours apart. I often wonder about such problems arising where poisonous insects, snakes, or even capillaria species of worms could have been the culprit behind rapid decline of health/respiratory/crop problems among posters in the Emergencies/Diseases/Injuries and Cures section.

 

[aldarita]

We have rattlesnakes here, but they are rarely seen beyond certain hill regions. I had a hen get attacked by yellow jackets once, her breathing was labored and obviously stressed. Dawg advised me with children's liquid Benadryl due to my lack of memory. It worked very well with just two doses about 8 hours apart. I often wonder about such problems arising where poisonous insects, snakes, or even capillaria species of worms could have been the culprit behind rapid decline of health/respiratory/crop problems among posters in the Emergencies/Diseases/Injuries and Cures section.

I appreciate you sharing your experience, I always trust Dawg's opinion. I got the benadryl bottle today. This year yellow jackets were pretty bad, they kept on building nests all over the overhang of my chicken run. Little wonder my chickens didn't get attacked. I had to go around very often to catch and destroy the nests before they got big.

 

[Michael Apple]

I appreciate you sharing your experience, I always trust Dawg's opinion. I got the benadryl bottle today. This year yellow jackets were pretty bad, they kept on building nests all over the overhang of my chicken run. Little wonder my chickens didn't get attacked. I had to go around very often to catch and destroy the nests before they got big.

Wasps may be what you are seeing under eaves. They are not as aggressive as yellow jackets but do pack a nasty sting. The nest I found and eradicated was as big around as a soccer ball, layered like pancakes under a log. Wasps make nests up high and yellow jackets make nests in the ground.