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Not sure whether to post this here or in livestock! But I know you Ishers swear blind by tea tree oil so when my OH was making an order from an online chemists in UK for all the things we can't get in France, I noticed the tea tree antiseptic and ordered some.

Could be handy for us but I'm also thinking of my chook with bumblefoot and any other reasons I might need to use antiseptic on them. I don't even know exactly what tea tree is or what it is good for (yes I know I should go and read through all the threads on this forum about it!!! ) but maybe some kind person could just give me a brief precis?

I was always really careful about using essential oils in the house when we had our dog. Although I have some books which have recipes for pet pest problems that have recipes including essential oils I just stuck to plain water as much as possible.

Couldn't resist sending a piccy of the old fella, who would be loving the snow if he was still with us.


His sense of smell was much more sensitive & that concerned me with EOs and also didn't want to risk him licking it and ingesting any. There are stories on the net about small animals dying from tea tree oil exposure but I have no idea if these are true or just hype

You use pretty low concentrations of EO on humans for massage (half the number of drops to the number of mililitres carrier oil), so at the very least I would think you'd need to take that down by a ratio to take account of the smaller body size and so smaller internal organs to deal with toxicity.

I have a book suggesting infusing olive oil with calendula, as a gentle anti-bacterial & antiseptic for irritated areas.

Maybe I am overcautious and know nothing about chickens, so hopefully someone more knowledgeable can help

have a look up on neem oil, its used in asian an awful lot for all kinds of skin conditions from eczema to scabies and warts, im not 100% sure if its animal safe but ive used it on all of us humans to treat lice and its helped ease the severe scalp problem ive had. think it was an allergic reaction to shampoos and the like.

with tea tree oil i used to use a few drops in combination with a few drops of lavendar and thyme as a flea shampoo ( mixed in to a base oil) for the dog and it seemed to help cut down the number of fleas. didnt use it on the cats though as they have a tendancy to lick their coat more.

i may have to come back to this after referencing a few books as i cant remember everything off the top of my head

It's this product
http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/australi ... 58288.html
which is already diluted into a spray for use on humans.

It's just that on several chicken threads people have mentioned using things like Savlon (I've used that myself) and Germoline (I think that's what it is called) which are all for human use!

I have just bought some antiseptic spray for animals/birds from the vets, which is basically just a load of essence of various different plants (!) which they said they use a lot in surgery ........ but which cost me a whopping €15.

Hence wondering whether I can use human antiseptics which don't cost a fortune. And tea tree I remember being mentioned umpteen gazillion times on this site.

Sorry, I can't help, I don't know much about tea tree as I can't bear the smell of it but would think if its diluted correctly would be ok, I will go and look in my books

I did a bit of googling this morning and found a tea tree cream on an animal site for use on animals.

I've no idea what it smells like!

And also I think the reason I was attracted to it (personally) was mention of it being good for insect bites, of which I get a lot in summer. So it won't go to waste even if I have to use it only on me.

Is also good for acne which I suffered horrendously from in my teens...probably why I can't bear the smell

i spoke to a friend of mine about this and he was told if its safe to use on a baby its generally safe to use on pets such as cats and dogs, but again im not 100% sure and id keep doing a bit of research.

but surely it has to be better than chemical/synthetic antiseptics.

My concern would be any diluents used - they're likely to be more harmful for an animal than the tea tree. So check what else is in it before using it. If it's no good for the animals you can always use it to clean your loo!

One drop of the essential oil, swished in a big bowl of warm water would be much better. You can dip the hen's foot, or use a soaked cottonwool pad to wipe it.

Having consulted my books I came to the same conclusion as Green Aura, I think that would be fine

Thanks guys - I already use betadine in the water when I'm washing her feet as I know that is safe for all animals and poultry. Ho hum, maybe I'll keep the tea tree stuff for me and use just the ridiculously overpriced vet stuff for animals. I really begrudge paying their silly prices though.

You're right - horrible smell and it's all oily. Seems to be just natural stuff as ingredients.

Is good stuff but blimey it does stink

Well I slathered Mrs Bumblefoot with the vet's stuff which is all plant extracts too and that was a very similar smell, I really reeked all evening despite washing my hands umpteen times. This morning my jacket smelt and I could still smell it in the chook shed!

Is this a prudent time to say......I warned you