How much should I be trying to get this crossbeak to eat daily? And can I train her to eat sideways?

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vivaciouswoman said:
At each feeding, we have to be guided by the size of the crop. We want to fill 'er up, but not stretch 'er out. No bras here. Right now, she can have 10-15 ml/feeding.
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vivaciouswoman said:
The number of feedings is guided by the amount she should be eating for her age. She has a lot of catching up to do! I'll be tube feeding 3-4 times a day until she gains some weight. Hopefully by then her crop will be able to handle closer to 20 ml at a time, and eventually we should be able to get away with 2-3 feedings per day.
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Tubing is part art, part science. Since your vet suggested the 10-15 ml now and work up to 20 ml, I think that's a good plan, just don't overfill. I Just tubed 10 ml to one that weighs 140 grams and it was borderline too much. 2-3 ml per 100 grams is always where I start, knowing that once they start feeling better I can increase to 5 or more ml per 100 grams.
 
casportpony said:
Tubing is part art, part science. Since your vet suggested the 10-15 ml now and work up to 20 ml, I think that's a good plan, just don't overfill. I Just tubed 10 ml to one that weighs 140 grams and it was borderline too much. 2-3 ml per 100 grams is always where I start, knowing that once they start feeling better I can increase to 5 or more ml per 100 grams.
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Wow! Thanks for that guidance! I feel better now! I'm definitely not under-feeding, though there was no weight gain from yesterday to today. Other days, there have been slight weight gains.

I also realized that if I don't push the food through the tube before I insert it, I'm putting about 5 ml of *air* into her crop. Now I'm taking the time to prep the tube and push about 4-5 ml into it, vacating most of the air before inserting the tube.
 
KikisGirls said:
The only source I would recommend is this book.
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/2114/nutrient-requirements-of-poultry-ninth-revised-edition-1994

It does have amounts but I have not gotten to make a sheet for those amounts...yet.

Amounts are based on age and weight of bird.
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Holy cow, already finding gems:
  • Page 15: "It has been generally assumed that birds drink approximately twice as much water as the amount of feed consumed on a weight basis, but water intake actually varies greatly."
  • Page 16: "Water deprivation for 12 hours or more has adverse effects on the growth of young poultry and egg production of laying hens, and water deprivation of 36 hours or more results in a marked increase in mortality of young and old poultry (Bierer et
    al., 1965a,b; Haller and Sunde, 1966; Adams, 1973). Water restoration, after extended periods of water deprivation (36 to 40
    hours), may cause a ''drunken syndrome" or "water intoxication," leading to death (Marsden et al., 1965). Young turkeys are
    especially susceptible to this condition." That's what I was worried about the first couple of days when I was giving a very, very thin feed/water combination. I'm glad we're past that!
  • Page 20, Table 2-1: "0 to 6 Weeks; 500 g (should be the final weight at 6 weeks) 2,800 (typical energy concentration)" which means Little Miss Crossbeak is only 1/3 the weight she should be. :th
  • ...
 

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