worried, chickens ate a poisoned squirrel

[justtoni44]

Hi, We put one bite out for rats, then found a few dead ground squirrels in the barn. The squirrels must be eating it.
Today the chickens had eaten about half of a dead squirrel.needless to say, I am worried.
Does anyone know if the chickens were poisoned from this.........
I am certain I will know tomorrow.
Any input appreciated.
Thanks You

 

[annep]

I dont know, but I sure hope not!

 

[annep]

Might want to consider putting this in the sickness portion of the list too

 

[Denninmi]

Well, you didn't say how many chickens were sharing this dead squirrel -- if it's more than a few, hopefully the dose each one got wasn't enough to cause harm.

Check the container the bait came in, or check the Material Safety Data Sheet that should be posted online for the product, and it will tell you what the antidote is.

Most commonly used rodenticides are anti-clotting agents that cause internal bleeding, and the antidote is Vitamin K, which is available at any pharmacy. You could add some to their feed. As far as I know, Vitamin K isn't toxic to birds.

Check out this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5926205

 

[GallusGal]

The Vit K advice is spot on. Hopefully your chickens were not heavily poisoned and will recover. I would definitely feed them plenty of k-rich greens in the weeks following this, after the initial treatment.

This is why I hate poison; indiscriminate and risky. Better to set up an army of snap traps and kill what you're aiming for than wind up with dead non-target wildlife and pets. If the chickens are in an area where they can reach snap traps, putting a simple box with a hole large enough for a rat over it does wonders - and will actually increase your rat catch anyways, since they prefer to enter dark, tight spaces.

 

[krcote]

I suppose only time will tell.

 

[vtchickenlvr]

Hi, Your chickens should be fine. This is according to my boyfriend who is a small animal vet. Vit K is used for animals who eat the bait. But, the poison should be out of the squirrel's digestive tract by the time it died.

 

[jhm47]

Just one bite is very safe for "secondary" poisonings. It is usually cleared from the target animal before it dies, so the risk of a secondary poisoning is minimal. The hype about these secondary poisonings is mostly unwarranted.

 

[zazouse]

Quote:
I agree,
i have used one bite sense it came out and have never lost an animal to secondary poisoning and i have 100's running aroud free here.

 

[Judy]

I agree, if you mean Just One Bite, which is bromadiolone, I have used it safely for rats, with dogs who love to eat rats on the property. It is not a blood thinner (warfarin) as most rat poisons have been in the past, and Vitamin K is not an antidote for it, as it is a completely different chemical. Vitamin K is the antidote for warfarin.

Here is the MSDS for bromadiolone:

http://msds.farnam.com/m000368.htm