# giving a shot



## daisymae (Jan 23, 2015)

can i use a insulin needle to give my chicken a shot? i don't have any sick chickens just trying to stock up on meds.wanting to keep tylan on hand and i have plenty insulin needles.thanks!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You can. Since its a sub-q needle then you would have to double the dose of antibiotics since they are formulated to be injected deeply in to the muscle. You will run in to an issue with some antibiotics not working well with the smaller needle due to their thickness. If you don't have screw on needles chances are you'll blow the needle off of the syringe trying to force the thicker mixture through the smaller diameter.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

I know with the penicillin I use, I have to use at least a 20g needle or I'm going to cause a lot of pain trying to beat it through the hub into the bird. Insulin is very thin and therefore the needles can be extremely fine, other medications are frequently much thicker. Definitely check and see the proper needle gauge for the medication.


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## littlelimabean (Oct 21, 2014)

Tractor supply carries needles for poultry. Some pharmacies will also sell you needles. Yeah insulin needles are very thin and may not deliver the medication properly. The higher the gauge# in needles the smaller they are I have some insulin syringes that are 30 gauge and are about the smallest you can get. The poultry needles I got are 20 gauge and I had to use them for a sub Q injection because the 30 gauge were way too thin. Now if you do not have a vet, and the pharmacy will not sell them to you, you can ask your doctor (especially one that you have known for years) to give you a prescription for say a 22/23 gauge needle which are smaller than the 20 to minimize pain.


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