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

[PrimroseMom1]

Even an 18 is too small for crumbles unless you put them in a blender first. I'm too lazy, so I use "big Bertha", the 30... Takes less than three mintutes to make the mixture, catch the bird and tube 120ml-180ml (2-3 60ml syringes for the bigger birds).

*Start off giving 2-3 ml per 100 grams of body weight and slowly work up to 5 ml per 100 grams of body weight. The average 5 pound hen should get 45-70 ml to start.

Great info. Thanks!!

 

[PrimroseMom1]

I have tubed with a sick bird. The first tubing I used Exact but half water half powder. If no eating maybe a little pedialyte first. I really does sound ominous but then they snap back. I just lost my oldest girl RIR she was a vigorous eater but in the fall she was loosing weight. She is geriatric because of her feet that were terribly arthritic. Only took about a week from her hobbling to not walking only looked like she needed a cane. She has been like that for two years. When I brought her in for supplemental care she was fine. But I noticed she had some nose filling with pus. So I did give her the doxycycline. It gave her diarrhea. I gave her one more dose. But it caused the diarrhea again I lost her. She just was not up to eating. She was just too far down. I am now aware that the geriatric girls do not have the spunky come backs like the young girls.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

I have tubed with a sick bird. The first tubing I used Exact but half water half powder. If no eating maybe a little pedialyte first. I really does sound ominous but then they snap back. I just lost my oldest girl RIR she was a vigorous eater but in the fall she was loosing weight. She is geriatric because of her feet that were terribly arthritic. Only took about a week from her hobbling to not walking only looked like she needed a cane. She has been like that for two years. When I brought her in for supplemental care she was fine. But I noticed she had some nose filling with pus. So I did give her the doxycycline. It gave her diarrhea. I gave her one more dose. But it caused the diarrhea again I lost her. She just was not up to eating. She was just too far down. I am now aware that the geriatric girls do not have the spunky come backs like the young girls.

Thanks!!

 

[PrimroseMom1]

I have tubed with a sick bird. The first tubing I used Exact but half water half powder. If no eating maybe a little pedialyte first. I really does sound ominous but then they snap back. I just lost my oldest girl RIR she was a vigorous eater but in the fall she was loosing weight. She is geriatric because of her feet that were terribly arthritic. Only took about a week from her hobbling to not walking only looked like she needed a cane. She has been like that for two years. When I brought her in for supplemental care she was fine. But I noticed she had some nose filling with pus. So I did give her the doxycycline. It gave her diarrhea. I gave her one more dose. But it caused the diarrhea again I lost her. She just was not up to eating. She was just too far down. I am now aware that the geriatric girls do not have the spunky come backs like the young girls.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Just wanted to share some crop feeding videos that I found.

Crop feeding videos

These are using a crop needle, not a plastic tube.

This one uses a tube like I use

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:

​

-Kathy

This is incredible. Thank you.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Best tube feeding video:

• https://lafeber.com/vet/tube-feeding-birds/

The link above requires a login, but I have the video saved to my drive and can email it if anyone wants it.

Two great threads on how to tube feed:

• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...cken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid#post_9910754
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-guide-pictures-under-construction.1064392/

From Technical Procedures for the Avian Patient, by
Amy B. Johnson, CVT

Crop Feeding
Crop feeding is the main way to provide nutritional support to sick birds. There are many different formulas on the market including; Harrison’s, Kaytee Exact, Zupreem and Pretty Bird. Kaytee Exact makes a formula exclusively for macaws, which require a higher fat content. Crop feeding should only be administered to well hydrated, normothermic birds that are able to stand on their own. Formula should be mixed to an appropriate thickness to provide adequate caloric intake and should be administered at a temperature between 100˚-102˚F. Crop burns can happen at temperatures greater than this and are often not seen for several days. Symptoms of a bird with a crop burn are decreased appetite and drooling. If the burn is severe enough, a fistula will open in the crop and formula will drain from it.

When crop feeding a bird, calculate the volume to be fed at 3ml per 100gms up to every six hours for adults. Juveniles are fed 10 percent of their body weight several times a day. Always check the crop first for food contents or decreased crop motility before feeding. Weighing the bird at the beginning of every day will help determine if it is receiving the appropriate amount of calories.

Crop feeder or crop needles come in several different sizes depending on the size bird. Crop feeders are stainless steel tubes with a ball at the end. They can be purchased through www.vetspecialtyproducts.com. The bird should be restrained properly while the crop feeder is inserted in the bird’s left side of its mouth and directed toward the right side advancing into the crop. The trachea should be palpated separate from the crop feeder with the ball of the crop feeder in the crop. Once placement is confirmed and with the esophagus occluded by the head, the formula is given quickly. While maintaining occlusion of the esophagus the crop feeder is removed and the bird returned to the cage feet first and slowly letting go of the head, making sure the bird does not regurgitate. In the event that the bird should begin regurgitation, leave the bird alone. Aspiration is more likely to happen if the bird is stressed causing increased respiration and inhalation of formula. Monitor the bird for further respiratory signs and adjust technique or volume at next attempt at crop feeding.

Thank you.

 

[Erin80]

I’m new to tube feeding and I need help.
First attempt went fairly well. Second attempt was pretty much a fail. I can’t get her to relax, at all....and keep her head still while I’m sliding the tube down. She panics, shakes her head back and forth, pulls her head into her feathers and won’t stop until I let go....at which point she squawks and tries to get away. It’s terrible and I feel I’m just traumatizing her further.
She was attacked by a raccoon 6 days ago. She’s definitely blind now. She’s a 17 week old blue Ameraucana, weighs just over 2lbs. All the videos on you tube show nice calm birds getting tube fed, but Fern is a fighter.
We wrap her in a towel, I use a headlamp to see in her mouth but she shakes her head as soon as I try to open her mouth. By the time we are done she’s so exhausted she can’t even stand up. It’s terrible and it’s no way to live.
Advice/guidance on here is my last effort to save her. I don’t mind committing to feeding her a few times a day, but feeling like I’m further traumatizing her is awful and makes me feel like a selfish human! Is there any way to calm a chicken who hates tube feeding?

 

[Jspringer]

Best tube feeding video:

• https://lafeber.com/vet/tube-feeding-birds/

The link above requires a login, but I have the video saved to my drive and can email it if anyone wants it.

Two great threads on how to tube feed:

• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...cken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid#post_9910754
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-guide-pictures-under-construction.1064392/

From Technical Procedures for the Avian Patient, by
Amy B. Johnson, CVT

Crop Feeding
Crop feeding is the main way to provide nutritional support to sick birds. There are many different formulas on the market including; Harrison’s, Kaytee Exact, Zupreem and Pretty Bird. Kaytee Exact makes a formula exclusively for macaws, which require a higher fat content. Crop feeding should only be administered to well hydrated, normothermic birds that are able to stand on their own. Formula should be mixed to an appropriate thickness to provide adequate caloric intake and should be administered at a temperature between 100˚-102˚F. Crop burns can happen at temperatures greater than this and are often not seen for several days. Symptoms of a bird with a crop burn are decreased appetite and drooling. If the burn is severe enough, a fistula will open in the crop and formula will drain from it.

When crop feeding a bird, calculate the volume to be fed at 3ml per 100gms up to every six hours for adults. Juveniles are fed 10 percent of their body weight several times a day. Always check the crop first for food contents or decreased crop motility before feeding. Weighing the bird at the beginning of every day will help determine if it is receiving the appropriate amount of calories.

Crop feeder or crop needles come in several different sizes depending on the size bird. Crop feeders are stainless steel tubes with a ball at the end. They can be purchased through www.vetspecialtyproducts.com. The bird should be restrained properly while the crop feeder is inserted in the bird’s left side of its mouth and directed toward the right side advancing into the crop. The trachea should be palpated separate from the crop feeder with the ball of the crop feeder in the crop. Once placement is confirmed and with the esophagus occluded by the head, the formula is given quickly. While maintaining occlusion of the esophagus the crop feeder is removed and the bird returned to the cage feet first and slowly letting go of the head, making sure the bird does not regurgitate. In the event that the bird should begin regurgitation, leave the bird alone. Aspiration is more likely to happen if the bird is stressed causing increased respiration and inhalation of formula. Monitor the bird for further respiratory signs and adjust technique or volume at next attempt at crop feeding.

Could you please send me the video? Currently trying to nurse a hen with wryneck back to health and have never done tube feeding before.
[email protected]
Thank you!!

 

[Mhornyak]

Hello! Thank you for all the wonderful info!
I have a 4.4 lb hen, so that would be about 2000 grams, correct? Just want to Make sure I'm giving her the right amount of liquid

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hello! Thank you for all the wonderful info!
I have a 4.4 lb hen, so that would be about 2000 grams, correct? Just want to Make sure I'm giving her the right amount of liquid

@casportpony