Is Bag Balm toxic?

[darkbrahmamama]

With the horrible temps that we've been having in the North East, my roosters have a little bit of frost bite on their combs & wattles. Popeye has a VERY little bit on the skirts of his wattles, nothing on his comb. Peter has more on his wattles, and a very little bit on his comb. I know it's due to when they drink, they dunk their wattles in the water. Peter's wattles are larger than Popeye's, and his comb is about twice as big, so when he bends over to get a drink every now and again he dunks his comb in.

I've been putting Bag Balm on them daily. The only problem with this, is that a little big of food tends to stick to their wattles. Mostly a little scratch feed, sunflower meaties, and lay crumbles as their the only things light enough to stick The hens see the food and peck it off. Now my concern is with the hens eating food that has bag balm on it. Should I switch over to plain Vaseline? I worry about future infection with the little bit of frost bite they have, and know that Bag Balm is an antiseptic, so I'd prefer to use that.

 

[sourland]

Bag Balm was initially a product created for treating chaffed udders on cows. It does contain 8 - Hydroxyquinoline Sulfate which may be toxic in massive amounts, but not at the level present in Bag Balm. Use it without fear.

 

[1muttsfan]

I would suggest using less, just enough to very lightly coat affected areas without leaving a lot behind for debris to stick to

 

[sourland]

I would suggest using less, just enough to very lightly coat affected areas without leaving a lot behind for debris to stick to

I agree, and remove any excess with a soft cloth.

 

[darkbrahmamama]

I guess I may be a little too liberal when I apply it liberally!

So it doesn't take much to help protect against the cold? I know it's not a cure all, but with it being low of 15 below (colder with the wind chill) & highs of low to mid 20's (if we're lucky - usually it's a couple of degrees below 0 at night & in the low teens during the day) for the past & future couple of weeks, I want to make sure that I'm protecting them the best I can. All the hens are doing find, but they (obviously) don't have the combs & wattles like the roos do.