911'ASAPB Tube feeding a duck (no one responded in the duck forum )

SilkiesnFrizzle

Crowing
10 Years
Sep 23, 2012
699
529
261
Lakeland, Florida
long story short I have a baby Muscovy about a month old that looked like yesterday might have sour crop it was having problems standing and I was speaking with a wildlife rehab or that specializes in Muscovy ducklings. I asked her yesterday if it could be neurological because it was twisting its neck a little bit yesterday she said it probably wasn't that but today the duck got much worse can it barely stand and is twisting his neck it's very weak at this point. she also thinks it could be a toxicity thing but the birds have no access to anything that would make them toxic all the other ducks the same age are just fine. I am going to be giving it niacin, Kaytee baby parrot food, critical Care, cod liver oil all mixed together (actually not niacin but some poultry vitamins that have niacin in it) but my question is how long does a tube need to be and is there somebody that can show me how. I've two fed chickens before I'm very familiar with it so I just need to know if it's the pretty much the same process I assuming the two needs to be longer. I just need some help ASAP.
 
smallest tubing I can find right now, none of the feed stores had any catheter tubing and the medical stores were closed today.
IMG_20220521_171352536.jpg
 
Step 1:
Bring duck inside and place in a warm room, 80-85 degrees is ideal (watch for signs of over-heating).

Step 2:
Weigh the duck

Step 3:
Once warmed, correct hydration and this should not be done until the duck is warmed up. Tube warmed (102 degrees) Pedialyte or Gatorade at 14 ml per pound of body weight, wait 60-90 minutes and repeat. If no poop is produced by 3 hours after first tubing, repeat once more.

Step 4:
Once the duck is pooping you can start tubing warmed Kaytee Exact baby bird food or a non-lay crumble (lay crumble has too much calcium). Start by tubing 14 ml per pound of body weight and increase a little at each feeding. Do not exceed 23 ml per pound of body weight. Sick birds are tube fed 2-4 times a day.


"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 the granivore (including psitacine, passerine and galliform species) secondary to a relatively high metabolic rate. Another important indication for gavage feeding is a documented drop in body weight of 5% to 10%."
Source: https://lafeber.com/vet/tube-feeding-birds/

The duck crop looks like the one on the left:
crop_types_1-jpg.1202205


 

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