Alpha-chloralose as a capture and restraint agent of birds: therapeutic index determination in the chicken.

The median effective dose for capture (ED50) and the median lethal dose (LD50) of alpha-chloralose given orally to domestic chickens (Gallus domesticus) were determined by probit analysis to be 45 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg, respectively. The therapeutic index (TI = LD50/ED50) was 6.7. This indicates that alpha-chloralose is only a marginally safe capture agent in domestic species and particularly in field applications involving other wild avian species in which the amount of the drug ingested by an individual bird is not controlled.