That's great news!
Kathy
Kathy
My Crop Tube Feeding Journey With My Bird (Pics For Visuals- VERY detailed Post)
- Thread starter kuntrygirl
- Start date
- Jul 18, 2013
- 731
- 58
- 111
Thanks to all you wonderful people for sharing all this information. Bless you! I got here by accident when reading up on my chick with sour crop. I had a favorite chicken who (I later imagined) had clocked her head on the door frame of the coop when flying down from the too high (has been lowered) roost, causing her to have a concussion resulting in amnesia of all things. She went kinda stoic, couldn't remember how to eat or drink and the vet could find nothing wrong with her, wanted to do all kinds of expensive tests which I refused. We did do an x-ray which showed an egg, not "bound" that she laid that nite in the wrong place. So being new to chickens and not knowing this forum existed I put her layer feed in the blender with yogurt and chicken electrolyte water and syringe force fed her til she learned to eat again. It was the strangest thing to watch her emulate the other chickens, at first only putting her head to the water, feed or grass but not pecking at it or taking any in. Little by little she got back to perfectly normal. I only guessed as to what had caused it and the Dr. at Texas A&M said my guess was probably right. Good Luck with your chickens! : )
- Thread starter
- #43
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this thread. I'm glad that it helped you all and hope that you don't ever have to tube feed again and that your birds are forever healthy.
kuntrygirl, you have NO idea of how much this post helped me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!
I have a young peahen, 1 1/2 years old that just looked off. She let me pick her up without a struggle and I was horrified at how very thin she is! She doesn't really like the other peas she was in with, so I thought maybe they were keeping her from eating enough. With winter temps that kept dropping to at least -20 F, that wouldn't be good for her. I brought her in the house and set up a small pen for her. I noticed she wouldn't stand up, so of course I contacted Kathy (casportpony). We discussed a few possibilities, then I had to head out to work. I spoke to her the next morning, and she told me that she thought about it the night before and 'thought outside the box'. She asked me if I checked her feet for infections or anything. I went up right away to do that and when I looked at her feet I was sick. She has severe frost bite on one foot and is going to lose all of those toes. I called around to some vet offices, the one I use for pets apparently 'has an employee who is severely allergic to birds, but they *might* be able to work her in next Monday...' Call the next vet, pet side who told me the only thing they did to birds was beak and claw trimming, and to call their livestock side and speak to a certain person. I spoke to her and she said there was nothing they could do, just watch for pus and the toes will fall off on their own. (Remember I said before that none of these vets really want to treat poultry?). I called a vets office that is about an hour away. The vet there was our state vet until about a year ago when he quit and went into private practice. He doesn't really know a lot about poultry but told my friend who lives closer that he is willing to make some calls for answers. They could see her the following Tuesday so I made an appointment. Once there, he looked at her foot, told me that there was some damage to the other foot as well, and gave me DMSO gel to rub on her feet twice a day. I was a bit surprised that he didn't weigh her or check her body condition, I mentioned at least twice that she is severely underweight. We discussed the option of putting her down, but as I watched her calmly look around, I didn't get the feeling that she wants to give up. So I stopped at the pet shop on my way home and picked up KayDee and came home to look for info on tube feeding. You post is what I found.
After reading your post, I realized that I needed to find a tube. She is eating some, mostly scrambled egg, some meal worms, and a bit of fruit (watermelon, strawberries, pineapple). But she is just eating enough to maintain her weight, not gain. At this point she has been in the house for a week.
My story on finding a tube... I got off work this morning, went out to my truck and called my pet vet. I see them often enough that I have their phone number memorized. The front desk answered and it went like this:
Me: Here is your odd question for the day... do you guys have anything that can be used as a feeding tube to force feed a peacock? (didn't think she would understand if I said peahen).
Her: Oh boy, that is a different one! Hmmm... Hold on a minute (puts me on hold).
Another person comes to the phone: This is Dr T, how can I help you? (Perfect! The vet I saw for 7 years with my kidney failure cat!)
Me: Hi Dr T, this is Shirley L. I need a feeding tube for a peacock.
Dr T: Uh, oh. Whats going on?
Me: I have a peahen with frost bite on her feet and she is about half the weight she should be. I took her to Dr V since someone in your office has allergies, he thinks she isn't eating due to pain.
Dr T: Well... you just need something like a catheter tube, is it an adult?
Me: Yes.
Dr T: I'll leave one set aside for you, do you need a syringe with it?
Me: I could use 3 syringes.
Dr T: Ok, they'll be ready when you stop by.
It was that easy. He did offer me some kind of feed they carry, but I already had baby bird food.
Anyhow, long story short, I was on my own to feed her (my family disappears when I have anything like that to do) so I wrapped her in a towel and knelt on the floor with her between my knees. It was actually surprisingly easy! I only gave her 65 ml for this first feeding, and I'll increase from there. Then I fixed her a bowl of scrambled egg.
Now I've been looking online at making prosthetics for birds. Surprisingly enough, there is quite a bit out there! Someone even suggested making feet out of spatulas so they bend when the bird walks. If she makes it, she'll be spending winters in the house from now on.
But thank you again for the EXCELLENT post that helped me and I am sure will help many more for years to come. If it isn't already, this one should be a sticky!
I have a young peahen, 1 1/2 years old that just looked off. She let me pick her up without a struggle and I was horrified at how very thin she is! She doesn't really like the other peas she was in with, so I thought maybe they were keeping her from eating enough. With winter temps that kept dropping to at least -20 F, that wouldn't be good for her. I brought her in the house and set up a small pen for her. I noticed she wouldn't stand up, so of course I contacted Kathy (casportpony). We discussed a few possibilities, then I had to head out to work. I spoke to her the next morning, and she told me that she thought about it the night before and 'thought outside the box'. She asked me if I checked her feet for infections or anything. I went up right away to do that and when I looked at her feet I was sick. She has severe frost bite on one foot and is going to lose all of those toes. I called around to some vet offices, the one I use for pets apparently 'has an employee who is severely allergic to birds, but they *might* be able to work her in next Monday...' Call the next vet, pet side who told me the only thing they did to birds was beak and claw trimming, and to call their livestock side and speak to a certain person. I spoke to her and she said there was nothing they could do, just watch for pus and the toes will fall off on their own. (Remember I said before that none of these vets really want to treat poultry?). I called a vets office that is about an hour away. The vet there was our state vet until about a year ago when he quit and went into private practice. He doesn't really know a lot about poultry but told my friend who lives closer that he is willing to make some calls for answers. They could see her the following Tuesday so I made an appointment. Once there, he looked at her foot, told me that there was some damage to the other foot as well, and gave me DMSO gel to rub on her feet twice a day. I was a bit surprised that he didn't weigh her or check her body condition, I mentioned at least twice that she is severely underweight. We discussed the option of putting her down, but as I watched her calmly look around, I didn't get the feeling that she wants to give up. So I stopped at the pet shop on my way home and picked up KayDee and came home to look for info on tube feeding. You post is what I found.
After reading your post, I realized that I needed to find a tube. She is eating some, mostly scrambled egg, some meal worms, and a bit of fruit (watermelon, strawberries, pineapple). But she is just eating enough to maintain her weight, not gain. At this point she has been in the house for a week.
My story on finding a tube... I got off work this morning, went out to my truck and called my pet vet. I see them often enough that I have their phone number memorized. The front desk answered and it went like this:
Me: Here is your odd question for the day... do you guys have anything that can be used as a feeding tube to force feed a peacock? (didn't think she would understand if I said peahen).
Her: Oh boy, that is a different one! Hmmm... Hold on a minute (puts me on hold).
Another person comes to the phone: This is Dr T, how can I help you? (Perfect! The vet I saw for 7 years with my kidney failure cat!)
Me: Hi Dr T, this is Shirley L. I need a feeding tube for a peacock.
Dr T: Uh, oh. Whats going on?
Me: I have a peahen with frost bite on her feet and she is about half the weight she should be. I took her to Dr V since someone in your office has allergies, he thinks she isn't eating due to pain.
Dr T: Well... you just need something like a catheter tube, is it an adult?
Me: Yes.
Dr T: I'll leave one set aside for you, do you need a syringe with it?
Me: I could use 3 syringes.
Dr T: Ok, they'll be ready when you stop by.
It was that easy. He did offer me some kind of feed they carry, but I already had baby bird food.
Anyhow, long story short, I was on my own to feed her (my family disappears when I have anything like that to do) so I wrapped her in a towel and knelt on the floor with her between my knees. It was actually surprisingly easy! I only gave her 65 ml for this first feeding, and I'll increase from there. Then I fixed her a bowl of scrambled egg.
Now I've been looking online at making prosthetics for birds. Surprisingly enough, there is quite a bit out there! Someone even suggested making feet out of spatulas so they bend when the bird walks. If she makes it, she'll be spending winters in the house from now on.
But thank you again for the EXCELLENT post that helped me and I am sure will help many more for years to come. If it isn't already, this one should be a sticky!
Last edited:
- Apr 16, 2013
- 93
- 1
- 43
I know this thread ended last month but I was hoping someone could let me know that what I purchased will work. I picked up Nutri-start baby bird formula at my
local Petsmart, as that's all they had. The TSC had feeding tubes but only in 15. It got hem anyways along with 35 ml syringes. I picked up pedialyte as well. My pullet isn't eating and I've been feeding her with a dropper but she isn't getting nearly enough. I had her on penicillin for 4 days after she hurt her leg,which is what instigated all this. Can an injury bring on worms? Does it cause their bodies to lower it's defenses? I have wormed her with one dose safeguard and will do another three doses this week as her poops look pretty bad. I'm hoping this isn't mareks. I did post an emergency thread but no one has responded in 5 days since I started it. I'm running out of ideas and could really use the help as I'm a newby. Thanks!
local Petsmart, as that's all they had. The TSC had feeding tubes but only in 15. It got hem anyways along with 35 ml syringes. I picked up pedialyte as well. My pullet isn't eating and I've been feeding her with a dropper but she isn't getting nearly enough. I had her on penicillin for 4 days after she hurt her leg,which is what instigated all this. Can an injury bring on worms? Does it cause their bodies to lower it's defenses? I have wormed her with one dose safeguard and will do another three doses this week as her poops look pretty bad. I'm hoping this isn't mareks. I did post an emergency thread but no one has responded in 5 days since I started it. I'm running out of ideas and could really use the help as I'm a newby. Thanks!
- Apr 16, 2013
- 93
- 1
- 43
Oh she is a 6 mo old BR that hasn't laid yet.
That should work just fine. Try giving her a little sugar Pedialyte, then pedialyte to make sure she's hydrated. The amount that works for me is about 30 ml/kg (30ml per 2.2 pounds). Start with that, add more if she doesn't vomit. If her crop clears, give more, then give pedialyte and formula.
How much does she weigh and how much wormer did she get?
-Kathy
How much does she weigh and how much wormer did she get?
-Kathy
- Apr 16, 2013
- 93
- 1
- 43
She only weighs 2 1/2 lbs, she has lost weight, and I gave her .5 cc of safeguard. What do you think of her poop? Do you need a better picture? It looks similar to pics I've seen of mareks but then it also looks like it could be a bad case of worms. Would an injury bring on a bad bout of worms?
- Apr 16, 2013
- 93
- 1
- 43
Do I mix the pedialyte into the formula?
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