I've got to tube feed one of my hens for the first time.
She has a tread wound in her side from our rougher rooster's spurs. He has been removed.
In the meantime, she's in the infirmary. I wasn't able to catch her injury for three days due to the fact that she hid it well and it was pouring rain for days. I'm guessing the rooster got muddy and slipped when he was treading her... which then lead to poopy mud getting shoved into her side day after day as he flayed her.
Now she's off her food and water. She pecked half-heartedly at some boiled eggs yesterday and took a big gulp of water but that's all I've seen her do. I don't feel like she's eating or drinking enough to keep her alive long enough to fight the injury/infection and heal. She's limping and can't put weight on her leg at all. I am sick with worry that we didn't catch it in time and now it is horribly infected. There's no puss, no odor, but she's really unhappy and hunched.
I'm headed home to get aquarium tubing from
Walmart, per something I read by Eggcessive, because it's the easiest thing I have access to. I'll also get a kitchen scale (finally) to weigh her and the Kaytee baby bird food (or can I use chick starter mixed with water?).
I'm reading on here that for a standard hen it's 120ml/kg of food-water twice a day? I also read 30ml/kg of just water/liquids. She's a large fowl Australorp, and I'm not feeling a sharp keel.
Just wanting to verify "dosing" information before I shove tubes down her throat and traumatize her. She's a moody chicken anyway.
Thank you, @casportpony for doing all you do.
And yes, I cleaned (warm water, saline, and a squirt of Tylan50 mixed in) and dressed her wound with antibio ointment as best I could (done that twice so far). I just need to keep her alive for the treatment to work.
Any advice on dosage would be greatly appreciated, since I've never done this before!
MrsB
