Chicken can't stand or walk, paralyzed??

[Gotalotofpetstoo]

I can't see clearly enough to count the legs. One way you can tell a mite from a louse is to squash them. Lice do not suck blood. They eat dry skin flakes. Mites suck blood and if you smash one, it will leave a red spot.

Mites are a serious danger to chickens as they suck blood and can cause anemia. Most often, mites will only come out at night to feed on the chickens as they conveniently roost. Then the mites return to their dark crevices during the day to sleep it off.

A simple dusting of the chickens with poultry dusting powder containing permetrin, a non-toxic insecticide will take care of lice. It won't kills nits, so you will need to dust again in a week or two to get the ones that hatched.

Mites are usually not treated on the chicken because it's not usual you find them there. Deep treatment with a liquid insecticide such as permetrin, Sevin or spinosad should take care of any mites hiding in the coop.

I'm having a hard time determining if there's anything in her crop. I can't feel it and don't really know that I'm feeling in the correct spot. I'm going under her chin to the tip of her breast bone, going down her right side, but I'm not feeling anything. And I can't find a video that shows it. It's been several hours since the first 60ml of lactated ringers with .5ml nutri-drench. Getting ready to do it again but don't want to overload her. I have a paper towel under her so I can tell if she poops or pees since she is sitting in a bed of hay. She definitely peed and pooped, so is it safe to give more fluids or go ahead with the Kaytee food? I have a heater outside her crate to make sure she is staying warm. I read from another poster that it's very important that she is well hydrated before feeding her. How do I know if she's well hydrated?

 

[Gotalotofpetstoo]

I'm having a hard time determining if there's anything in her crop. I can't feel it and don't really know that I'm feeling in the correct spot. I'm going under her chin to the tip of her breast bone, going down her right side, but I'm not feeling anything. And I can't find a video that shows it. It's been several hours since the first 60ml of lactated ringers with .5ml nutri-drench. Getting ready to do it again but don't want to overload her. I have a paper towel under her so I can tell if she poops or pees since she is sitting in a bed of hay. She definitely peed and pooped, so is it safe to give more fluids or go ahead with the Kaytee food? I have a heater outside her crate to make sure she is staying warm. I read from another poster that it's very important that she is well hydrated before feeding her. How do I know if she's well hydrated?

Is where i have my finger pointing where I should feel her crop?

 

[Gotalotofpetstoo]

Make sure the hen is HYDRATED before tubing food.

How can I tell for sure that she is hydrated enough to start giving her the Kaytee food?

 

[azygous]

I don't believe it matters if you give fluids before tubing the food. I've never been concerned about it. There is plenty of water in the food mixture.

There is one instance that I am adamant about the necessity to hydrate before performing draining a chicken with ascites. I had a hen die because I had failed to hydrate her. It's doubtful tube feeding is going to cause death if you fail to hydrate the chicken before tubing in the liquid food.

 

[Gotalotofpetstoo]

View attachment 3373982I don't believe it matters if you give fluids before tubing the food. I've never been concerned about it. There is plenty of water in the food mixture.

There is one instance that I am adamant about the necessity to hydrate before performing draining a chicken with ascites. I had a hen die because I had failed to hydrate her. It's doubtful tube feeding is going to cause death if you fail to hydrate the chicken before tubing in the liquid food.

So I'm getting ready to feed her with the Kaytees food. I don't know how to mix it based on the directions on the canister.

 

[Gotalotofpetstoo]

So I'm getting ready to feed her with the Kaytees food. I don't know how to mix it based on the directions on the canister.

And 9nce mixed, how much to give her for the 1st feeding. Also, I don't mind to get up in the middle of the night to feed again, but how long should I wait (until her crop is empty, if I can find/feel it)? And how much with each additional feeding?

 

[azygous]

Chickens normally eat half a cup to one cup of feed daily. I go from that when tube feeding a chicken to replace what they should normally eat.

When I tube feed, I measure out a fourth of a cup of the liquid concoction and tube it into the crop until I've tubed it all in. I usually do one more feeding in six hours. Two fourth-cup feedings per day because I have lots of other chores and projects besides tubing a chicken every hour. I've never lost a chicken due to my selfish ways.

Try not to overthink this. You are putting food into your hen because she can't consume half a cup of food a day she would normally eat. You are giving it to her in liquid form solely because it's pretty darned hard to tube solid food. Don't forget to add a dropper full of Nutri-drench.

 

[casportpony]

How can I tell for sure that she is hydrated enough to start giving her the Kaytee food?

2 pounds 10 ounces is 1200 grams. If she were mine, I would give 40 ml warmed Pedialyte or Gatorade now, wait 60-90 minutes, then repeat. Depending on how her poop looked, I might do it again in two hours.

Once she's had 80-120 ml of oral fluids, I would start tubing Kaytee. Start off by mixing one part food with 2-3 parts warm water.

I gotta be honest and say she's very thin, and when they get this thin, it's tough to bring them back.

Someone mentioned bathing - Please do not bathe her, she is way to fragile and a bathe could send her over the edge.

Have you purchased the Gordon's permethrin? If not, get the powder (poultry dust) instead.

I don't believe it matters if you give fluids before tubing the food. I've never been concerned about it. There is plenty of water in the food mixture.

It does matter. All sick birds are dehydrated, and hydration should always be corrected before giving food.

 

[Jenni Hen]

If your husband is willing to help by either holding your hen or inserting the tube, that will make the procedure much easier, especially the first time. As far as opening her beak, pull one wattle gently downward, which will cause her beak to open. She may then pull back and struggle to get you to release her wattle, depending on how much strength she has. If she fights you, keep a gentle hold on the wattle until she quits struggling. At that point it should be easy to correctly insert the feeding tube, even easier if your husband helps you.

Thank you very much, this makes sense and I can imagine how it would work. I was trying to think how to do it alone.

He wasn't brought up with animals or gardening and finds it all a bit strange so the first step would be, for him to learn how to hold a hen...

 

[Gotalotofpetstoo]

Ethel made it through the night. No poop or pee overnight though. She had her first poop and lots of 0ee after the lactated ringers we gave her then she had a feeding before bed and no pee or poop since. I am finally able to feel her crop after this mornings feeding. I plan to feed her again in about 4 hours if her crop has gone down. I did put a dropper full of the nutri-drench in her food, so should I do that at each feeding? She doesn't have much more, if any, energy today than yesterday, but I'm hoping 9ver the next few days she will start to show some improvement.