Go team "Tube Feeding!" - Updated 12/29/2019

[DwayneNLiz]

Much easier than dripping it in, yes?

yes! and so much faster!

 

[casportpony]

yes! and so much faster!

And so much less stressful for bird and humans. Curiously, what did your daughter do to help?

 

[DwayneNLiz]

And so much less stressful for bird and humans. Curiously, what did your daughter do to help?

at first she wanted to hold open the birds mouth, but that was a little 'too much' for her to handle, lol, so once the mouth was open i showed her the 3 openings and explained where it needed to go, she held the syringe while we got it position, she felt the crop as it filled
and was fascinated, as she states she wants to be a 'peterinarian'

 

[Spinning Carrie]

I just want to thank you for this thread. I have an 18 month old CCL hen who is in rough shape. It started with her molting pretty hard, then she got fowl pox on top of it. I was worried about her and was doing some hand feeding, giving her scrambled eggs, etc to try to help her but she was getting more and more listless and so thin! I found this thread late last night and went out for aquarium tubing at 4:30 this morning because after picking her up last night to coax her with hand feeding I was worried she wouldn't make it to the morning. I burned and rounded the edges of the tubing (I ordered a proper kit after not finding anything today) and blended a mix of egg, layer pellets, pedialyte and warm water up and tube fed her with the help of my 13 yo son. I used a cake decorating tube with a small tip to fit into the tubing As I had no syringe on hand. She is definitely more alert this afternoon, I saw her eating some pellets, but am going to continue tube feeding to help put some weight on. Her poo is green and watery, and I've seen her stretch her neck several times. I don't see any evidence of parasites, but if you have anything else you suggest for Galadriel (son is a LOTR fan, she is his hen) let me know. When I weighed her this morning she was 2 ponds 14 oz.

 

[DwayneNLiz]

When I weighed her this morning she was 2 ponds 14 oz.

good luck!! she sounds really skinny, i would def keep up with the tubing

 

[casportpony]

Glad you found this thread helpful. The one suggestion I can make is to get lots of fluids into them.

 

[Hebandgene]

Thank you casportpony and everyone else who offered instructions and support here and on other tube feeding threads. I am writing to encourage others who may be nervous about or struggling with tube feeding. Last month my 3 lb sizzle rooster stopped eating, drinking, and moving about much. He slept in one spot most of the day. Fecal sample negative, no sour/impacted crop, no respiratory or eye issues, no parasites, nothing at all that matched any of the common chicken ailments. His droppings looked pretty normal but were dark green and white. Comb was healthy. He would eat if force fed, but that wasn't enough. My only option was to tube feed.

Long-time chicken keeper sent me instructions. I didn't find this thread until we were several days into feeding. I didn't know to weigh him, didn't know exactly what kind/how much water/food to give but did the best I could with general guidelines from chicken friend. About 5 days in, I was wondering how long to keep it up but felt pretty certain I was not giving him enough nutrition so increased his feedings and water. Then I found this thread and knew that I was on the right track with slight adjustments. After 9 days of him being down and seven days of tube feeding 3-4x/day he finally improved. Now a week later he is back to normal, and I am so glad I didn't give up on him. Still no clue what could have been wrong and if it will happen again. Wondering if maybe he ate something he shouldn't have.

So if you are considering whether it's worth a try or how long to keep going, I encourage you to go for it. Use what you have on hand until you can get better supplies/food. Even if your bird doesn't make it, the confidence you gain from facing the challenge and learning this new skill will be well worth it.

 

[katefollot]

Is it normal for them to protest a lot? My duck is not nearly as cooperative as any of the birds in the videos. He positively hates me anyways, but when I'm actually tubing him it makes me terrified that I've put it in wrong. His feathers are so ridiculously thick that it's hard to tell what is what and while I would love to feel his crop fill, I can't even find it! I've tubed him 3 times now so if it went into his lungs I would certainly know, but I'm still quite uneasy about it all. If he had fur I would clip him just to be able to be able to know what is where, oh well.

 

[casportpony]

Is it normal for them to protest a lot? My duck is not nearly as cooperative as any of the birds in the videos. He positively hates me anyways, but when I'm actually tubing him it makes me terrified that I've put it in wrong. His feathers are so ridiculously thick that it's hard to tell what is what and while I would love to feel his crop fill, I can't even find it! I've tubed him 3 times now so if it went into his lungs I would certainly know, but I'm still quite uneasy about it all. If he had fur I would clip him just to be able to be able to know what is where, oh well.

The hardest part is getting them to hold still. Ducks have a different shaped crop, so that's probably why you can't feel it filling. Duck looks like the one on the left:

My internet is acting up, so I haven't watched all of this. Let me know if it helps:

 

[sbhkma]

If you think about it, you'd protest too if someone stuck a tube down your throat
Just make sure you have a good hold on them. I got really good at it and I also use a small flashlight with a rubber handle so I can hold it in my mouth to see easily into their throat to make sure it's going where it needs to go. No clue if ducks have similar anatomy for tubing. I also have a long sleeved t-shirt with the neck opening sewed really small-just enough to fit a chicken head through. Slip the shirt on, then I wrap the sleeves around their body and tie it loosely. Great way to hold a reluctant bird.