crookneck and force-feeding vitamins

aymer

In the Brooder
10 Years
Jul 17, 2009
53
0
32
san francisco, ca
i am brand new to chicken raising. i have five two week old chicks. one of them has crookneck. the feed store was going to let nature take its course so i took her home with me. i have read many of the posts about crookneck treatments.

she is still eating and drinking on her own (not nearly as much as her siblings). she sleeps a lot. she is always exhausted. is this normal for a crookneck chick? her siblings are not picking on her but it can be difficult for her to sleep when they are busy...

i am on day three now with little change (no worse but no better). i am giving her vit E/selinium (capsule) and b-complex (liquid). i am making her egg/yogurt/apple sauce to eat with more vitamins mixed in. i am also adding electrolytes to all of the chicks water.

i am concerned that she is not getting enough of the vitamins. i squeeze the vit e in my hand but she only eats 1/4 of the tablet. should i be force-feeding her the vitamins? how do i do this? she does not gobble up the egg mix like other people have mentioned. is this normal? what else can i give her to supplement her limited diet?

thanks for all of your previous post!
 
Sounds like you are doing all you can do.

I don't think there is any way to force feed a chicken that is safe. If they don't lick it off the side of the bill, and you just squirt it in the mouth, you run the risk of aspiration. Most often they are better off without the nutrient than having it forced into their lungs, IMO.
 
you dan cook up some human oatmeal (with water > I do in the microwave) and then take a tablespoon (when it starts cooling off it will begin to gel up) and mix in the vitamins/ supplements and make little "pills" of it... put in beak and the bird should swallow it thinking it is feed.
 
thanks for the advise and good idea! i will try the "oatmeal pills" this morning.

do either of you know if the exhaustion is normal with crooked neck?
 

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