Kody Hanner
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Keeping your livestock first aid toolbox handy on the homestead
It seems like farm animals are constantly needing some form of assistance. It’s a goat that got all scrapped up from barbed wire, a sow needing a shot of oxytocin from a rough delivery or a beef calf that needs their 7-way out in the field. So, I make sure I have a good amount of first aid and vet supplies on hand at all times. We have a couple of shelves in the barn office that are packed full as well as the standard butter shelf in the garage fridge fill of vaccines. However, the item that makes my life infinitely easier when working with the animals is my first aid toolbox!
Why this toolbox works great for me
I love this method because I can always have all the basic with me when I am working with the animals. I remember when I was kid, my dad had an old milk crate between the seats of his old jeep scrambler. We would have to go back and forth between the jeep and whatever animal we were doctoring for whatever item that we needed. It was a pain and always wasted time.
I put together our box as soon as we got our ranch on its feet. And its well-used as you can probably see from my photo. It gets cleaned out regularly but gets nasty just as quick. That’s just farm life. I have it organized to where all my bottles of medications and antiseptics are on the bottom along with vet wrap and large syringes. Then in the pull-out tray, I keep any tools that I may need such as scissors, snips, gauze, blades, anything that I need to take into a pen with me. In the little top trays, I keep all the small sharp items. That way they are easy to find and I’m not poking myself digging for one.
This toolbox fits great on a quad, front seat of a pickup, and you can lock the lid so that other curious animals in the pen aren’t helping themselves to vet wrap.
What I keep in my toolbox
I’m always changing some of what I keep in here and its going to vary based on what animals you raise on your homestead. So here are some of the basics that I think are key.
Antiseptics – rubbing alcohol, peroxide, Vetericyn (this one is my favorite because its also an anti-fungal), or Blu-Cote
Wound Care – gauze and vet wrap
Shelf stable vaccines
OTC Medications specific to my animals – Noromectin (for worming), B12, Iron, Selenium paste
Tools – snips, needles and syringles, sciccors, blades
Why you should have a first aid toolbox
Besides convenience, you can save money, time, and lives by having a well-stocked first-aid toolbox.
What are your first-aid go tos?
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