My Crop Tube Feeding Journey With My Bird (Pics For Visuals- VERY detailed Post)

[Jaxdrisc]

The current outside temp is 81, and she seems comfy. That wasn't the case the last 5 days or so....high 90's! A bit ago, I tired to get another 20ml of Pedi in her. Stupid syringe. It locked up on me. Wouldn't plunge. Two tries to get maybe 15 cc in. Gah! Another thought. I wonder if my concentration of liquid food is too much. I have been using a 1:3 ratio(powder:water)....the middle value on the carton. Couldn't find a "recipe" anywhere on mixing and how much water to powder for ailing hens. Might be too hard for her to digest. Thinking out loud. She weights 5lb 11.5 oz or 2593gm. as of this time yesterday.

 

[casportpony]

Her minimum daily fluid intake should be no less than 125 ml.

81 outside with even a slight breeze might not be warm enough for her.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Got any mineral oil? Lube the plunger with mineral oil and that should fix it.

-Kathy

 

[Jaxdrisc]

I tried olive oil. Would work for a bit, then lock up. Tossed em. Luckily, I have a med. supply pharmacy 5 miles down the road so I could pick up some more. Also ordered 30ml ones, since I saw the 60ml break down faster. Had to buy a box....56 of them, but hey! I figure if I have them, I may not need them, right?? No less than 125ml. Ok. She's under. Noticed since the Pedi was given to her, she perked up more. I'll try more in about 30 min. (now that I have new syringes that actually work!), more Pedi 2-3 hours after, then some highly diluted food at "bedtime". Sound ok? Thank you so much Kathy! You can't know how much I appreciate all of this!

 

[Jaxdrisc]

Technical ?. Does the 125ml include the fluid in the food prep, or just water/Pedi intake?

 

[Jaxdrisc]

Annnddddd.....here are the poop pics. To be honest, it did not smell as absolutely foul as all the others have. Progress?

 

[Jaxdrisc]

Update: At 6:30 this morning, I tubed another 30cc of Pedi into her. She was panting a lot, but it is warm and humid. I'm now guessing it was labored breathing? About 5 min. after tubing her, I heard a loud squawk, turned and saw her flapping all over the place. She looked like she was seizing. By the time I crossed the room, she was dead. Her crop was emptying out of her mouth. I hope I didn't somehow kill her....anyway.....again, thanks Kathy for all of your help. I have learned a lot through this experience. I need to go have a good cry now.....;(

 

[JensChickies]

Update: At 6:30 this morning, I tubed another 30cc of Pedi into her. She was panting a lot, but it is warm and humid. I'm now guessing it was labored breathing? About 5 min. after tubing her, I heard a loud squawk, turned and saw her flapping all over the place. She looked like she was seizing. By the time I crossed the room, she was dead. Her crop was emptying out of her mouth. I hope I didn't somehow kill her....anyway.....again, thanks Kathy for all of your help. I have learned a lot through this experience. I need to go have a good cry now.....;(

Oh my goodness I'm so sorry you didn't kill her, you did the best you could for her.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: X2!

-Kathy

 

[8HopefulHens]

I had a long month of heartbreaks. My chicken was attacked by a predator either a raccoon or fox and she was dragged into the woods just outside my fence. She was an 8 lb beautiful Colombian rock and the queen of my flock. She even attacked me a few times to protect her girls when I moved to quickly to pick them up. Anyhow, she was in bad shape when I found her and the flies got to her first. Her neck had soft tissue injury along with holes from fangs, two opened wounds on each side, missing feathers on her tail and sore to the touch on her backside, and a bleeding crop and small sore or gash on her head, and lastly her left eye injured( turned black). I noticed a few hrs after I got her inside she had yellow blobs of either worms or lice just under her vent and stuck in her feathers. I put her in the tub, got some gloves and started pulling them off. Weird cause there were dead flies mixed in. I figured flies must had flew inside her vent and laid eggs and they were maggots. Yuck! That was so disgusting. I started throwing the clumps in the toilet too. Wish I had a plastic sink in the garage for times like this. a few hrs later,i notice some crawling on her feathers. Wasnt sure if any managed their way into her open skin. I was pretty certain she pooped out what was in her vent when I administered her water in a syringe (from my daughter's Tylenol/advil applicator). After about a week of her not eating despite everything I offered her, I started giving her Ensure 2x a day. She perked up after I gave it with some left over amoxicillin from my co-worker's son for 2-3 weeks. Also applied neosporin to her gaping wound. She gave me a fight and wouldn't let me feed her once she was stronger and her wounds were almost healed. She was drinking water on her own a few times, but mostly when I stuck her beak in the water to prompt her. She even tried to peck at the crushed up pellets. Just couldn't open her beak enough to get it in her mouth. Not sure if too weak, into much pain or had a head injury & forgot how. Anyhow she made it nearly impossible to get food down her. I tried even yogurt, fruit, put Ensure in her water dish. Which she wouldn't drink once water changed color. Even used aspirin dissolved in water until a gallon jug with 5 tablets was used up for pain. I knew she was losing weight and starving. I tried letting her walk through the yard this week for 20 min for 2 days in a row and let her see her old flock. I thought maybe she'd peck at some grass. I even saw her scratch the ground like a heathy chicken. The next day she took a turn for the worse and became unbalanced. Didn't drink. The last 2 days started shivering. I believe she must be dead down. I'm so sad. I really had high hopes that she'd make it. Something was really wrong that she didn't eat on her own. Maybe Edema in her brain from being shook up? Worms still inside her after nearly 6-8 weeks? I had seen 2 maggots two days later pop out of her open wound but they quickly wiggled back inside. I tried to spray my contact lens cleaner inside her opening since I read that will kill them. Maybe only 2 were there or were there like 50? I feel horrible but I really put a lot of hard work and my heart into it. If she survived, she maybe never have been the same. Perhaps if I was home more (I work a lot of hours and commute 40 min each way) or spent the money at a vet, she'd be alive. Was the refusal to eat a sign? I've had 2 other chickens survive an injury buy a hawk and a husky dog, but not flies! If I only found her sooner and followed her trail of feathers at 9 am instead of 11am. I thought she was eaten. Didn't expect to find her. Wish i remembered to close up the coop.