My Crop Tube Feeding Journey With My Bird (Pics For Visuals- VERY detailed Post)
- Thread starter kuntrygirl
- Start date
- Jun 24, 2012
- 184
- 26
- 146
What a great tutorial. Wish the vet had given me even half this instruction when I had to do it.
What is the medical name for Baytril? Part of it is cut off in your photo.
What is the medical name for Baytril? Part of it is cut off in your photo.
Glad you found this helpful!
The name for Baytril is enrofloxacin. It's a great antibiotic, but it is banned for use in poultry, so read up on the ban before you use it:
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2005/07/fda-ban-enrofloxacin-use-poultry
-Kathy
MasonJarJuls
In the Brooder
@casportpony I will be ordering tubes for feedings as soon as possible to add to my emergency kit. I have another question though and you seem to be a pretty good authority on the subject, so I figured it would be best to ask here.
I have a single Australorp hen (Violet) and we lost her coop mate to fly strike a month ago and were going to get a few more hens, but they weren't ready to be picked up until 10 days ago (local breeder was out of town.) Well she got an impacted crop and after clearing it we gave her an epsom salt bath because she had a little mud butt. Upon drying her we noticed that she had some spots just under her breast where she was missing feathers and now I am pretty sure she is molting because she is not laying (plus there are a ton of feathers in the coop and she is acting like her normal self and is not egg bound.) About 5 days ago she began to wheeze a bit so I went to my local feed store and picked up some Tetracycline HCl to mix with her water as well as VetRx. She seemed to be doing just fine and is still eating, running around, acting normal, but this morning when I went to check on her and put some more VetRx on her nose, she seemed to be wheezing more loudly, sneezing and shaking her head a bit. She isn't sticking her neck out like she has gape worm, but I am wondering if I should order some dewormer as well as Baytril instead of the powdered Tetracycline that the woman at the feed store recommended. Or can I mix the Tetracycline in a syringe with some pedialyte and give it to her orally?
Sorry this is so long. I am a total newbie and this is my last living hen out of the 3 we were given by my friend about 6 months ago. Violet is approximately 3 years old, if not a littler younger and before she started molting she was laying every other day and was in great spirits besides being the only hen (probably because I spoil her and she is a little ornery, my husband calls her the "bad *** biker hen.") I am going to give her some greek yogurt as well to make sure she is holding on to some good bacteria.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
I have a single Australorp hen (Violet) and we lost her coop mate to fly strike a month ago and were going to get a few more hens, but they weren't ready to be picked up until 10 days ago (local breeder was out of town.) Well she got an impacted crop and after clearing it we gave her an epsom salt bath because she had a little mud butt. Upon drying her we noticed that she had some spots just under her breast where she was missing feathers and now I am pretty sure she is molting because she is not laying (plus there are a ton of feathers in the coop and she is acting like her normal self and is not egg bound.) About 5 days ago she began to wheeze a bit so I went to my local feed store and picked up some Tetracycline HCl to mix with her water as well as VetRx. She seemed to be doing just fine and is still eating, running around, acting normal, but this morning when I went to check on her and put some more VetRx on her nose, she seemed to be wheezing more loudly, sneezing and shaking her head a bit. She isn't sticking her neck out like she has gape worm, but I am wondering if I should order some dewormer as well as Baytril instead of the powdered Tetracycline that the woman at the feed store recommended. Or can I mix the Tetracycline in a syringe with some pedialyte and give it to her orally?
Sorry this is so long. I am a total newbie and this is my last living hen out of the 3 we were given by my friend about 6 months ago. Violet is approximately 3 years old, if not a littler younger and before she started molting she was laying every other day and was in great spirits besides being the only hen (probably because I spoil her and she is a little ornery, my husband calls her the "bad *** biker hen.") I am going to give her some greek yogurt as well to make sure she is holding on to some good bacteria.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
- Aug 22, 2012
- 1,370
- 149
- 281
you did try bravo
And I am sorry
Hello everyone!!
I'd like to share my experience after reading your wonderful post in an effort to help others who may run into the problem I had in which I could find next to NO information on.
My 2 yo EE hen suddenly was found sitting in a corner, eyes closed, not eating and after picking her up.. seeing that she'd lost an enormous amount of weight!! She was nothing but feathers and bone!! I also noticed her crop was large and felt like a huge ball of dough nearly the size of a tangerine!! Lastly I noticed there was basically no poop under her in the roost in the morning. Instead the bedding was wet without any solid material?? It smelled really bad in there also!! Ugh... REALLY BAD!! I knew I was going to lose her and COULD NOT allow that to happen!! I have two hens.. this one, Livie, and a BR named Daisy. They are my pets and are very very much loved!! In my opinion, due to the huge amount of weight she'd lost.. getting some food and nutrients in her was the first thing I needed to treat. I had guessed there was no solid poop in the roost only because she wasn't eating and thus only the liquid waste was being expelled?? I really had no idea why for sure though and no idea what to do about this.
I immediately began getting info on how to tube feed her. Being a nurse of 25 yrs it really wasn't an issue to me. I simply needed to know a chicken's anatomy and once I'd studied that I was good to go. I used the Exact baby bird formula mixed up with something called Nutri-Drench (2cc) which is a vitamin supplement for use in an emergency situation with chickens as it can be detected in the bloodstream in just 10 minutes!! I HIGHLY recommend the use of this product as I've had very good results with it. I've even used it in between tube feedings with her if she looked a little slow and less active again thru this entire illness. So keep this handy and in mind as a quick "pick me up" if it is necessary!!
I began doing tube feedings twice a day for about 2 to 3 days until she began eating on her own again well and began walking around and showing interest in things again. However there STILL was no poop under her in the roost?? I knew then that she had a good chance if I could now only get rid of the doughy stuff in her crop and get her pooping again. I massaged her crop several times a day without results.
I was told to heat approximately 3cc of vegetable oil to a very warm temp, but of course not hot enough to burn her, and put it all down deep into her throat with a syringe. I did this. The next morning there was poop all over the roost under her once again!! Thru this entire process there would be days where again I'd find barely no or not any poop again, so I'd again give the 3cc of heated vegetable oil. It seemed to work very well. However when using a syringe to give ANYTHING to a chicken you MUST BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO GET ANY INTO THE TRACHEA!! I DO NOT recommend that anyone do this until they have become very familiar with a chickens anatomy!! When doing this, it is very important to go deep down into the throat, behind the tongue and tracheal opening as well as to put the liquid in slowly to be certain that there isn't any backflow of liquid that could easily flow into the birds trachea!! AGAIN.. please ONLY do this once you are familiar with the chickens anatomy and are comfortable with it.
Time to see a vet!! Well we saw TWO vets.. neither of which knew a thing nor could find a single thing wrong with her??!! She had a blood count, a full blood chemistry panel, a fecal float test, etc!! $400+ later I knew it was up to me to find a way to save her!!
As far as nutrition, she was eating on her own her crumbles. I supplemented twice a day with white rice, potatoes, veggies of all kinds which I rotated around, eggs, cantaloupe, grapes, etc etc. I made everything boiled and very soft then mashed it all up well for her. I gave her basically as wide a variety as I could in an effort to get some really good nutrition in her as it was obvious she was NOT able to absorb 100% of her intake with that huge ball of dough in her crop!! I could have continued tube feeding but since she was eating very well on her own I chose NOT to continue putting a tube down her throat unless it was absolutely necessary to feed her in that way. That was MY choice only and just MY decision to do it this way. Others may have another preference. All are fine as long as the bird is getting the most nutrition in her possible in my opinion.
Now for the doughy crop. I searched high and low EVERYWHERE for some info on this and found only ONE treatment for it!! It sounded RIDICULOUS!! The vets said NO WAY!! So I looked some more!! NOTHING!! All the while this doughy crop seemed to be getting harder and I had to do something FAST. I decided to try that "ridiculous" treatment!! This treatment is as follows:
1/2 teaspoon of each of the following:
Cinnamon
Ginger
Chile powder
Baking Soda
Next a good squirt of lemon juice
2 Tablespoons of water
This is to be tube fed 3X day for 2 to 3 days. Thus this is what I did crazy as it sounded!! I did it the two full days. It became softer and became more liquid like with each treatment. On the third morning HER CROP WAS EMPTY folks!!!! YES INDEED THAT "RIDICULOUS" TREATMENT HAD SAVED MY GIRL!!!! I couldn't be more grateful to whomever posted that treatment as I found no way to contact that person??
Last issue I had to resolve was that her crop was now not emptying all the way every morning. It seemed to be kind of slow or sluggish from having all that doughy stuff in there for so long?? In fact I'm pretty certain the crop muscles had even stretched some as well. I decided to start her on probiotics. All I had on hand was the human brand called Culturelle. I looked it up and found that it was fine to use the human grade. So I opened a probiotic capsule and sprinkled the powder into her food.. (in the home food I am giving her). The following morning her crop was much smaller than the last day?? Wow that was really odd but I wasn't going to complain!! After giving her a second capsule the following day, on the following morning HER CROP HAD EMPTIED COMPLETELY!!!! I really don't know HOW this could have happened this way... but it DID. I CANNOT however swear that it was due to the probiotics that her crop emptied... it could have been coincidence?? I personally DON'T buy that though. I truly believe it was due to the probiotics that her digestion began working properly again and thus she arose with an empty crop!! I will now swear by them as far as how well they've done in OUR case however!! I am giving them to both my hens once a day and they are doing GREAT!! Livie now has A RAVENOUS APPETITE and is slowly gaining her weight back. Both are looking very very well. Their poop is nice and solid. I will continue them on probiotics as they HAVE helped my hens in so many ways.
THIS IS MY STORY AND MINE ALONE. I AM NOT A VET NOR ANY MEDICAL AUTHORITY ON CHICKENS BY ANY MEANS!!!! So, please do not take this as proven fact and proven cures for a chicken!! This is simply our story of the way I was able to save my chicken from this type of illness. IT WORKED FOR US... I HAVE NO IDEA IF IT WILL WORK FOR YOU!! However, I feel confident enough with it, that I feel it's worth sharing!! I wish anyone who chooses to use my method all the luck in the world that they should have the same WONDERFUL OUTCOME that I had!!!!
This is my Olivia, AKA Livie, now well and thriving and I couldn't be a happier chicken mom!!
And here are BOTH my girls, Daisy and Livie!!
I'd like to share my experience after reading your wonderful post in an effort to help others who may run into the problem I had in which I could find next to NO information on.
My 2 yo EE hen suddenly was found sitting in a corner, eyes closed, not eating and after picking her up.. seeing that she'd lost an enormous amount of weight!! She was nothing but feathers and bone!! I also noticed her crop was large and felt like a huge ball of dough nearly the size of a tangerine!! Lastly I noticed there was basically no poop under her in the roost in the morning. Instead the bedding was wet without any solid material?? It smelled really bad in there also!! Ugh... REALLY BAD!! I knew I was going to lose her and COULD NOT allow that to happen!! I have two hens.. this one, Livie, and a BR named Daisy. They are my pets and are very very much loved!! In my opinion, due to the huge amount of weight she'd lost.. getting some food and nutrients in her was the first thing I needed to treat. I had guessed there was no solid poop in the roost only because she wasn't eating and thus only the liquid waste was being expelled?? I really had no idea why for sure though and no idea what to do about this.
I immediately began getting info on how to tube feed her. Being a nurse of 25 yrs it really wasn't an issue to me. I simply needed to know a chicken's anatomy and once I'd studied that I was good to go. I used the Exact baby bird formula mixed up with something called Nutri-Drench (2cc) which is a vitamin supplement for use in an emergency situation with chickens as it can be detected in the bloodstream in just 10 minutes!! I HIGHLY recommend the use of this product as I've had very good results with it. I've even used it in between tube feedings with her if she looked a little slow and less active again thru this entire illness. So keep this handy and in mind as a quick "pick me up" if it is necessary!!
I began doing tube feedings twice a day for about 2 to 3 days until she began eating on her own again well and began walking around and showing interest in things again. However there STILL was no poop under her in the roost?? I knew then that she had a good chance if I could now only get rid of the doughy stuff in her crop and get her pooping again. I massaged her crop several times a day without results.
I was told to heat approximately 3cc of vegetable oil to a very warm temp, but of course not hot enough to burn her, and put it all down deep into her throat with a syringe. I did this. The next morning there was poop all over the roost under her once again!! Thru this entire process there would be days where again I'd find barely no or not any poop again, so I'd again give the 3cc of heated vegetable oil. It seemed to work very well. However when using a syringe to give ANYTHING to a chicken you MUST BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO GET ANY INTO THE TRACHEA!! I DO NOT recommend that anyone do this until they have become very familiar with a chickens anatomy!! When doing this, it is very important to go deep down into the throat, behind the tongue and tracheal opening as well as to put the liquid in slowly to be certain that there isn't any backflow of liquid that could easily flow into the birds trachea!! AGAIN.. please ONLY do this once you are familiar with the chickens anatomy and are comfortable with it.
Time to see a vet!! Well we saw TWO vets.. neither of which knew a thing nor could find a single thing wrong with her??!! She had a blood count, a full blood chemistry panel, a fecal float test, etc!! $400+ later I knew it was up to me to find a way to save her!!
As far as nutrition, she was eating on her own her crumbles. I supplemented twice a day with white rice, potatoes, veggies of all kinds which I rotated around, eggs, cantaloupe, grapes, etc etc. I made everything boiled and very soft then mashed it all up well for her. I gave her basically as wide a variety as I could in an effort to get some really good nutrition in her as it was obvious she was NOT able to absorb 100% of her intake with that huge ball of dough in her crop!! I could have continued tube feeding but since she was eating very well on her own I chose NOT to continue putting a tube down her throat unless it was absolutely necessary to feed her in that way. That was MY choice only and just MY decision to do it this way. Others may have another preference. All are fine as long as the bird is getting the most nutrition in her possible in my opinion.
Now for the doughy crop. I searched high and low EVERYWHERE for some info on this and found only ONE treatment for it!! It sounded RIDICULOUS!! The vets said NO WAY!! So I looked some more!! NOTHING!! All the while this doughy crop seemed to be getting harder and I had to do something FAST. I decided to try that "ridiculous" treatment!! This treatment is as follows:
1/2 teaspoon of each of the following:
Cinnamon
Ginger
Chile powder
Baking Soda
Next a good squirt of lemon juice
2 Tablespoons of water
This is to be tube fed 3X day for 2 to 3 days. Thus this is what I did crazy as it sounded!! I did it the two full days. It became softer and became more liquid like with each treatment. On the third morning HER CROP WAS EMPTY folks!!!! YES INDEED THAT "RIDICULOUS" TREATMENT HAD SAVED MY GIRL!!!! I couldn't be more grateful to whomever posted that treatment as I found no way to contact that person??
Last issue I had to resolve was that her crop was now not emptying all the way every morning. It seemed to be kind of slow or sluggish from having all that doughy stuff in there for so long?? In fact I'm pretty certain the crop muscles had even stretched some as well. I decided to start her on probiotics. All I had on hand was the human brand called Culturelle. I looked it up and found that it was fine to use the human grade. So I opened a probiotic capsule and sprinkled the powder into her food.. (in the home food I am giving her). The following morning her crop was much smaller than the last day?? Wow that was really odd but I wasn't going to complain!! After giving her a second capsule the following day, on the following morning HER CROP HAD EMPTIED COMPLETELY!!!! I really don't know HOW this could have happened this way... but it DID. I CANNOT however swear that it was due to the probiotics that her crop emptied... it could have been coincidence?? I personally DON'T buy that though. I truly believe it was due to the probiotics that her digestion began working properly again and thus she arose with an empty crop!! I will now swear by them as far as how well they've done in OUR case however!! I am giving them to both my hens once a day and they are doing GREAT!! Livie now has A RAVENOUS APPETITE and is slowly gaining her weight back. Both are looking very very well. Their poop is nice and solid. I will continue them on probiotics as they HAVE helped my hens in so many ways.
THIS IS MY STORY AND MINE ALONE. I AM NOT A VET NOR ANY MEDICAL AUTHORITY ON CHICKENS BY ANY MEANS!!!! So, please do not take this as proven fact and proven cures for a chicken!! This is simply our story of the way I was able to save my chicken from this type of illness. IT WORKED FOR US... I HAVE NO IDEA IF IT WILL WORK FOR YOU!! However, I feel confident enough with it, that I feel it's worth sharing!! I wish anyone who chooses to use my method all the luck in the world that they should have the same WONDERFUL OUTCOME that I had!!!!
This is my Olivia, AKA Livie, now well and thriving and I couldn't be a happier chicken mom!!
And here are BOTH my girls, Daisy and Livie!!
Money saving tube feeding tip.
Baby bird food is expensive, right? Well I just tried an experiment... Took some turkey starter crumbles, soaked them in warm water for about an hour, then used a stick blender until smooth. Doing this crumbles pass easily thru a size 18 French catheter.
-Kathy
Baby bird food is expensive, right? Well I just tried an experiment... Took some turkey starter crumbles, soaked them in warm water for about an hour, then used a stick blender until smooth. Doing this crumbles pass easily thru a size 18 French catheter.
-Kathy
@DarleneE , how are your hens?
-Kathy
-Kathy
Kathy,
They are doing GREAT!!!! My Livie is back 200%!! She's eating great, she's gaining all her weight back and she's even laying GORGEOUS eggs already again!! I totally saved this gals life!! I couldn't be happier and I would HIGHLY recommend that recipe with the spices for any chicken with a doughy crop!! In fact there is another lady on here who asked for my help and she did exactly the same and her baby is also totally well with an empty crop again and eating, thriving, and doing great!! So that I know of there are at least 2 success stories now!!
As for the bullying issue, once Livie got well and her crop empty of the doughy material and became HUNGRY again it became no problem separating the two for dinner treats!! Before she wasn't that interested in food so she'd instead of eating.. would just worry that Daisy was on the other side of the run!! But once she got well and hungry again, she totally quit worrying WHERE Daisy was and instead went to her plate and never moved until her plate was clean!!!!
So they've been doing great!! I give them their evening "treats" before going to roost, as well as I leave them apart an hour or so AFTER they've eaten their treats, so as Livie has a chance to also fill her crop with their layer feed as well!! Daisy also has layer feed on her side too. This works out beautifully and they're SO smart that they've learned the drill. At feeding time I just open the door to the run and Daisy comes right out and Livie runs to her feeding area!! It's just perfect!!
So YES, my girls are really doing beautifully and both laying some gorgeous, delicious eggs!! In fact, my Daisy is a regular egg laying machine!! She's laying 6 eggs a week.. only taking her one day off!! Livie averages about 4 eggs per week, which is also great for an Easter Egger!!
Thanks so much for checking on us and for the nice ovation!! Hope all is well with you and yours!!
Darlene
They are doing GREAT!!!! My Livie is back 200%!! She's eating great, she's gaining all her weight back and she's even laying GORGEOUS eggs already again!! I totally saved this gals life!! I couldn't be happier and I would HIGHLY recommend that recipe with the spices for any chicken with a doughy crop!! In fact there is another lady on here who asked for my help and she did exactly the same and her baby is also totally well with an empty crop again and eating, thriving, and doing great!! So that I know of there are at least 2 success stories now!!
As for the bullying issue, once Livie got well and her crop empty of the doughy material and became HUNGRY again it became no problem separating the two for dinner treats!! Before she wasn't that interested in food so she'd instead of eating.. would just worry that Daisy was on the other side of the run!! But once she got well and hungry again, she totally quit worrying WHERE Daisy was and instead went to her plate and never moved until her plate was clean!!!!
So they've been doing great!! I give them their evening "treats" before going to roost, as well as I leave them apart an hour or so AFTER they've eaten their treats, so as Livie has a chance to also fill her crop with their layer feed as well!! Daisy also has layer feed on her side too. This works out beautifully and they're SO smart that they've learned the drill. At feeding time I just open the door to the run and Daisy comes right out and Livie runs to her feeding area!! It's just perfect!!
So YES, my girls are really doing beautifully and both laying some gorgeous, delicious eggs!! In fact, my Daisy is a regular egg laying machine!! She's laying 6 eggs a week.. only taking her one day off!! Livie averages about 4 eggs per week, which is also great for an Easter Egger!!
Thanks so much for checking on us and for the nice ovation!! Hope all is well with you and yours!!
Darlene
Here's our eggs as of yesterday, Kathy!!
Aren't they pretty??
Here is a picture of Livie I just took two days ago!! You can see how much weight she's gained already!!
And lastly, my Daisy Dukes!! She's HUGE actually!! Eats like a horse!! This chicken REALLY lives to EAT!! Lol
Kathy,
Hope you enjoyed my pics..
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