Abstract
The comparative efficacy of Diazepam, Ketamine, and Ketamine-Diazepam combination was assessed in adult chickens. The chickens (n=30) were divided into three equal groups (G-1, G-2 and G-3), and were administered with Diazepam dosed at 0.5 mg/kg body weight (b.wt.), Ketamine HCL dosed at 20 mg/kg b.wt., and Ketamine HCL (dosed at 10 mg/kg b.wt.) combined with Diazepam (dosed at 2 mg/kg b.wt.) through intramuscular (IM) route. The means of induction period, duration of sedation or anesthesia, full recovery period and duration of analgesia were significantly (p≤0.05) differed among the groups. Also, the clinical and hematological parameters measured before and after the sedation or anesthesia within the groups were found to be differed significantly (p≤0.05) from each other. It was concluded that Diazepam dosed at 0.5 mg/kg b.wt. (IM) can be used in cockerels. However, combination of Ketamine (at 10 mg/kg IM)-Diazepam (at 2 mg/kg b.wt. IM) is preferably recommended as this combination is comparatively safer, and minimizes the pains elicited from the surgical procedure of using Diazepam alone.
Highlights
Various sedatives and tranquilizing agents are used as pain killers and/or chemical restraints while animals undergo minor or major surgeries
The results indicated that the means were significantly differed (p≤0.05), and on further separation by Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference (HSD), these were statistically different (p≤0.05) from one another
The fastest onset of anesthesia was seen in Ketamine injected group (G2), which might be due to rapid distribution of ketamine into all body tissues primarily adipose tissue, liver, lung and brain (Lanning and Harmel, 1975)
Summary
Various sedatives and tranquilizing agents are used as pain killers and/or chemical restraints while animals undergo minor or major surgeries These drugs are needed in veterinary practice and are indispensable as they help in overcoming resistance of the animals during examination, maintaining depth of anesthesia, reducing the amount of anesthetic agents and increasing margins of safety (Habib et al, 2002). For these purposes, the commonest drugs used in Nigeria are Ketamine, Diazepam and Xylazine. In view of the sparse literature reports about the use of anesthetics in chicken, this study was designed to compare clinical, sedative/anesthetic and hematological efficacies of Ketamine, Diazepam, and combination of Ketamine and Diazepam in cockerel chickens
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