Intensive Supportive Care for Newly Hatched Ducklings - Preliminary - Will Have pictures and Videos!

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casportpony

casportpony

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Jun 24, 2012
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The Golden State
Supplies needed:
  • Digital Kitchen Scale
  • Pedialyte or Gatorade
  • Kaytee Baby Bird Food
  • Size 8 or 10 french rubber catheter or crop tube
  • 1 ml syringe
  • Incubator or hatcher

Ducks don't have crops like chickens, theirs look more like the one on the left in this picture:


Here is the size 8






Here are the sizes:
French
Gauge Diameter
(mm) Diameter
(inches)
3 1 0.039
4 1.33 0.053
5 1.67 0.066
6 2 0.079
7 2.3 0.092
8 2.7 0.105
9 3 0.118
10 3.3 0.131
11 3.7 0.144
12 4 0.158
13 4.3 0.170
14 4.7 0.184
15 5 0.197
16 5.3 0.210
17 5.7 0.223
18 6 0.236
19 6.3 0.249
20 6.7 0.263
22 7.3 0.288
24 8 0.315
26 8.7 0.341
28 9.3 0.367
30 10 0.393
32 10.7 0.419
34 11.3 0.445​



The 30
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351030.htm

The 28
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351028.htm

The 26
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351026.htm

The 24
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351024.htm

The 22
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351022.htm

The 20
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351020.htm

The 18
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351018.htm

The 16
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351016.htm

The 14
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351014.htm

The 12
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351012.htm

The 10
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351010.htm

The 8
http://www.greatmedicalsupplies.com...l-purpose-robinsonnelaton-catheter-351008.htm


More to come.

-Kathy
 
Last edited:
"Tube feeding, also known as gavage feeding, is an essential part of avian supportive care. Sick birds are often presented with a history of anorexia and glycogen stores may be depleted within hours in small species with relatively high metabolic rates. Another important indication for gavage feeding is a documented drop in body weight of 5% to 10%."

-Kathy
 
Last edited:
"Estimated crop volume is 50 ml/kg. Begin feeding one-third to one-half of estimated crop volume to the critically ill patient.
Always tube feed warm formula (100-105°F or 38 to 41°C).
Tube feeding should always be the last treatment performed.
Most birds are tube fed between two to four times daily."

-Kathy
 
Last edited:
The above post has info from Laferbervet that says "Estimated crop volume is 50 ml/kg. Begin feeding one-third to one-half of estimated crop volume to the critically ill patient.", but I have found that amount to be too high for newborn ducklings.

Last one I did weighed about 40 grams and I started off giving it 0.1ml pedialyte every 30 minutes. Once I was sure that 0.1 was okay and that he was not going to vomit, I increased to 0.2ml and finally settled at 0.3ml as the safe amount of fluid for a 40 gram duckling.

-Kathy
 
Last edited:
Here are my two problem children:


Little chocolate pipped internally five days ago, then I pipped it externally 24 hours later because it was slowing down. For those that hatch lots, I think you know what I mean.
wink.png
I let it sit for another 24, then peeled away some of the shell and saw it still had a *huge* yolk. I thought seriously about culling it, but decided to leave in in a cup. So it sat in the cup for a couple of days and the yolk hadn't really gotten smaller, and now it was starting to smell like a rotten egg. I then rinsed off the nastiness and poured chlorhexidine over the yolk and abdominal area. Since there was a risk of a yolk sac infection I gave it 1mg of Baytril orally and have been giving it fluids as often as possible as well.

Do I have medical training? No, but I do have lots of experience giving fluids via a tube, syringe or subcutaneously as well as picking out proper doses of medications for all types of waterfowl and poultry.

If anyone here wants to learn how to tube, just get the tube, and I can teach you. No reason anyone should ever have to pay a vet to tube feed for them. See tube feeding videos in post number 2, then PM me and I'll help you.

-Kathy
 
Today I found a chicken chick outside that look off, so I stuck it in the hatcher to warm it up. Once warm I weighed it at 90 grams, then tubed 5 ml of fluid to it.

-Kathy
 
Last edited:

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