I don't want to be an alarmist, but I did think this was interesting and wanted to share.
One of the other chicken forums I belong to just posted a thread about medicated chicken feed being poisonous for horses and other animals. It started out with a really harrowing story about how two horses who'd gotten into a bag of chicken feed were rushed to the vet
"I called the vet as a routine reflex and got the surprise of a life
time.....The vet went into a frantic mode...... said this was a dire
emergency....immediately life threatening.....I said what???
They said that there was an ingredient in chicken feed that affects the
horse's heart and kills them.....yikes.
So I trailered the boys down to the referral hospital ( Steinbeck) and in
they went into intensive care. Immediately there was a medical team of
three people working on each horse....tubing them with oil, charcoal,
medications, etc.....then catheters were placed so fluids could be poured in
to flush the horse's intestines..."
One of the follow up posts summed the problem up like this: "this can, also, be fatal to dogs, sheep & goats. My dogs love the chicken feed. The specific drug is ionophores: monensin, lasolocid, laidlomycin, narasin, salinomyson.
It is used as a growth hormone in ruminants & coccidiostats in poultry.I just checked the Purina feeds I use & it is not in them. Be sure and check any medicated poultry feeds you use. "
I don't have horses (just cats), but some of you might - or might know someone who has both. It seems that the medication in the feed can also harm dogs and other animals. And I know some of you have dogs. The original poster included this link to the Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and Cooperative Extension newsletter from 1997. http://www.microvet.arizona.edu/AzVDL/newsletters/Dec97.pdf
I don't think most of us have anything to worry about if we're not using medicated feed, but for anyone who is, you might want to investigate it for yourself.
One of the other chicken forums I belong to just posted a thread about medicated chicken feed being poisonous for horses and other animals. It started out with a really harrowing story about how two horses who'd gotten into a bag of chicken feed were rushed to the vet
"I called the vet as a routine reflex and got the surprise of a life
time.....The vet went into a frantic mode...... said this was a dire
emergency....immediately life threatening.....I said what???
They said that there was an ingredient in chicken feed that affects the
horse's heart and kills them.....yikes.
So I trailered the boys down to the referral hospital ( Steinbeck) and in
they went into intensive care. Immediately there was a medical team of
three people working on each horse....tubing them with oil, charcoal,
medications, etc.....then catheters were placed so fluids could be poured in
to flush the horse's intestines..."
One of the follow up posts summed the problem up like this: "this can, also, be fatal to dogs, sheep & goats. My dogs love the chicken feed. The specific drug is ionophores: monensin, lasolocid, laidlomycin, narasin, salinomyson.
It is used as a growth hormone in ruminants & coccidiostats in poultry.I just checked the Purina feeds I use & it is not in them. Be sure and check any medicated poultry feeds you use. "
I don't have horses (just cats), but some of you might - or might know someone who has both. It seems that the medication in the feed can also harm dogs and other animals. And I know some of you have dogs. The original poster included this link to the Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and Cooperative Extension newsletter from 1997. http://www.microvet.arizona.edu/AzVDL/newsletters/Dec97.pdf
I don't think most of us have anything to worry about if we're not using medicated feed, but for anyone who is, you might want to investigate it for yourself.
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