Avian First Aid Kit

The Essential Avian First Aid Kit

Be Prepared For That Emergency …The Essential Avian First Aid Kit.

We all hope that we will never have to face an emergency situation with our beloved feathered family; however, a simple first aid kit is easy to assemble and could save the life of your bird.

The essential items for your kit include:

· Emergency phone list including the telephone number of your avian veterinarian, the Poison Control Hotline and a trusted and knowledgeable friend to help in an emergency.

· A card for each bird that contains pertinent information including hatch date, previous veterinary visits and medical history.

· Travel carrier for transportation to vet

· Towels to secure and restrain an injured or sick bird

· Hemostat for removal of blood feathers

· Needle nose pliers to bend wire or chain

· Wire cutters to cut wire or chain

· Bolt cutters to remove leg bands. PLEASE NOTE it is possible to break a bird’s leg while attempting to remove a band. The best thing to do is to have your veterinarian remove the band before an emergency situation arises.

· Tweezers to remove splinters or blood feathers from small birds.

· Bandage scissors to cut bandages and tape.

· Suture scissors to cut small strings that may become wrapped around a toe.

· Vet tape or gauze wrap to secure bandages or wrap broken bones.

· Corn starch or flour for bleeding feathers, skin, nails or beak. (Styptic powder or pencil may be used on nails or beaks only, as it will burn the skin, however, there some studies have shown if the bird ingests Styptic there may be adverse effects to the bird’s health.)

· Pedialyte or Infalyte for rehydrating sick birds.

· Betadine for disinfecting of wounds and hands. PLEASE NOTE dilute betadine with sterlile saline to a VERY weak solution, just so it has a slight color.

· Sterile saline solution for flushing eyes and cleaning wounds.

· Q-tips for cleaning small wounds.

· Gauze bandages for covering wounds.

· Nail clippers.

· Nail file.

· Pen light or small flash light.

· Aloe Vera for very minor burns. BE SURE it is 100% Aloe Vera … additives may be poisonous to birds.

· Ziplock bags for samples of droppings, etc.

· Liquid bandage for emergency skin repairs.

Supplies can be kept in a tackle or tool box and should be kept in an easily accessible place. Be sure to check the supplies every three months for expired products (hint: check on the 1^st day of each new season of the year) and be sure to re-stock supplies after an emergency.

I would like to emphasize that these items are for EMERGENCIES ONLY. In no way does a home emergency kit replace a visit to a qualified avian veterinarian.

Here’s hoping you never need to use a first aid kit, but the knowledge that you are prepared will give you peace of mind.

For a PDF file (printable version) press here!

This page was last updated on 11/25/2024

Busy Beaks, LLC • 458 Lucher Rd • Willis, TX 77378 • Voice: 936-344-8400 • Fax: 936-344-8406
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