How much water per day syringe

[Weeg]

Can I put whole corn in her mouth? I have that!

You can, but it is not a balanced diet. Corn does not have any nutritional value, its mostly fat. You should get the baby bird food and tube feed her. That will have the most nutrients. You can also make a soupy mash with her feed, and place little spoonfuls of that inside her beak. I've had success with this. Or wetting it so that it is dodgy. Then making little pucks to pop into her beak.

 

[chickengr]

You can, but it is not a balanced diet. Corn does not have any nutritional value, its mostly fat. You should get the baby bird food and tube feed her. That will have the most nutrients. You can also make a soupy mash with her feed, and place little spoonfuls of that inside her beak. I've had success with this. Or wetting it so that it is dodgy. Then making little pucks to pop into her beak.

when they feel better I also give them boiled egg yolk. but when they are in a really bad shape the only thing I manage to give them is corn/wheat. that keeps them warm and their stomach is not empty. if they survive they usually start eating on their own after 2-3 days.

 

[Painted Calls]

Here is a good article from a seasoned pro. Lots of good info in it.

Thread 'Step-by-Step Tube Feeding Guide - Pictures - Under construction' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-guide-pictures-under-construction.1064392/

 

[casportpony]

The first ones are from two days ago. The second ones are from yesterday. Today it's back to white but really hard.

All that white is a sign that she's dehydrated, so keep giving the fluids, and do *not* force-feed food until she is hydrated. FYI, I have a sick one now too that I just started treating. Below is my treatment plan, it's one that I've been using for years, and if the bird has a treatable disease, this works very well.

Done so far:

• Weighed - 2kg at 10 am
• Gave antibiotic, Corid, & Baycox
• Tubed 60 ml at 10 am
• Tubed 60 ml at 11:30 am

Later today

• Will tube another 60 ml at 1:30 pm
• Will tube 60 ml baby bird food at 3:30 pm
• Will tube 60 ml baby bird food 9:30 pm

Tomorrow

• Weigh
• Medicate
• Tube 60 ml baby bird food ever 4-6 hours

The above plan guarantees that the bird will not die from dehydration or starvation, and will buy the extra time needed for medications to start working.

 

[Painted Calls]

All that white is a sign that she's dehydrated, so keep giving the fluids, and do *not* force-feed food until she is hydrated. FYI, I have a sick one now too that I just started treating. Below is my treatment plan, it's one that I've been using for years, and if the bird has a treatable disease, this works very well.

Done so far:

• Weighed - 2kg at 10 am
• Gave antibiotic, Corid, & Baycox
• Tubed 60 ml at 10 am
• Tubed 60 ml at 11:30 am

Later today

• Will tube another 60 ml at 1:30 pm
• Will tube 60 ml baby bird food at 3:30 pm
• Will tube 60 ml baby bird food 9:30 pm

Tomorrow

• Weigh
• Medicate
• Tube 60 ml baby bird food ever 4-6 hours

The above plan guarantees that the bird will not die from dehydration or starvation, and will buy the extra time needed for medications to start working.

Great plan! Hope your patient shows improvement soon.

 

[casportpony]

Chickens do drink a lot more water than we think:

https://lafeber.com/vet/fluid-therapy-in-the-avian-patient/
https://www.dvm360.com/view/avian-fluid-therapy-proceedings
https://avianmedicine.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/15.pdf
https://veteriankey.com/an-overview-of-avian-therapeutics/

 

[Tinabuglaw]

Good morning everyone! So just an update, we have been syringe feeding and giving her water via syringe. She seems to be doing much better and pooping several times throughout the day. I can also feel her crop which is very soft like a waterbed. She has a lot of energy and she's doing much better I think. I'll keep everyone posted. I did buy the syringe with the tube but I just couldn't do it. I don't think she needs to be tubed at this point. But the syringe is really helpful because it's so big I'm able to put the food in there as well instead of spoon feeding her! I still have cord and her water and I'm giving her the special vitamins in the dropper everyday. And I gave her the dewormer safeguard one time. I don't think she has worms though, I think it's coccidosis.

 

[NatJ]

You can also make a soupy mash with her feed, and place little spoonfuls of that inside her beak. I've had success with this. Or wetting it so that it is dodgy. Then making little pucks to pop into her beak.

I agree, wet chicken feed is a better choice than most other common ideas for sick chickens. It is a properly balanced diet, unlike most other suggestions that are commonly given.

it is not a balanced diet. Corn does not have any nutritional value, its mostly fat.

Corn is not a balanced diet: true.
Corn has no nutritional value: false.
Corn is mostly fat: also false.

Corn has more protein than it does fat (measured by weight), and much more carbohydrate than either protein or fat.

Corn is a fine source of energy for chickens (all those carboyhdrates). The protein is incomplete (not the right balance of amino acids), and there is not enough total protein, but it's not completely useless.

As something to tempt the appetite of a sick chicken, corn is not a bad choice. Scrambled egg or egg yolk is another good choice, and is probably better than corn (although some of each would be better yet. The egg has more fat, more and better protein, and a different set of vitamins & minerals.)

 

[Tinabuglaw]

I'm just getting the feed and using the syringe. It's really fast and not as messy.

 

[casportpony]

That's great. Are you using a tube too?