-this article appeared in JAVMA(Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association)Vol 247, No. 12, December 15, 2015   FARAD Digest. (Food Animal Residue and Avoidance Program) All credit to the authors. 

Numerous challenges are associated with the treatment of backyard poultry flocks. There are a limited number of drugs approved for use in laying hens in the United States, and the few drugs that are approved were designed for administration to birds in large commercial operations, which makes their administration to individual birds or a small number of birds tedious. Consequently, veterinarians often end up administering drugs to backyard poultry in an extralabel manner. Unfortunately, the extralabel use of most of those medications is hindered by the availability of only a limited number of pharmacokinetic studies on drug residues in eggs. This is compounded by the fact that owners of backyard poultry flocks are likely to consider their birds pets and are agreeable to or demand more complex treatment regimens than those traditionally used in commercial flocks. The purpose of the digest reported here is to provide veterinarians with summary background information on appropriate drug use in modern backyard poultry flocks.

Egg residue considerations during the treatment of backyard poultry 2015