My Crop Tube Feeding Journey With My Bird (Pics For Visuals- VERY detailed Post)

[casportpony]

The Metronidazole dose for I use for clostridium is 50mg/kg twice a day, and the Baytril dose I use is 20mg/kg once a day.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/exo...et_birds/bacterial_diseases_of_pet_birds.html

-Kathy

 

[Bird2break]

I have the metronidazole on order and expect it to arrive tomorrow. However, I don't understand the dosages you gave since they refer to mg/kg instead of ml/cc per gallon. Please explain.

Is this contagious to my flock???

I really appreciate all the advice you offer to us!!

Also, when isit the earliest that I can de-worm my new chicks?

 

[Bird2break]

Also, I'm thinking that I shouldn't tube feed her bc I'm afraid that if her organs are compromised, I would be adding to her problems. Thought??

Sandi

 

[casportpony]

I have the metronidazole on order and expect it to arrive tomorrow. However, I don't understand the dosages you gave since they refer to mg/kg instead of ml/cc per gallon. Please explain.

Is this contagious to my flock???

I really appreciate all the advice you offer to us!!

Also, when isit the earliest that I can de-worm my new chicks?

Did you order the 250mg pills?

The metronidazole dose is 50mg per 2.2 pounds of body weight *orally* twice a day, *not* in water. Ignore anyone or any website that says to put it in the water. If she weighs 5 pounds that's 5 divided by 2.2 (that converts pounds to kg), times 50mg = 113.63 mg. Metronidazole pills are usually 250mg, and it's a very safe drug, so a five pound hen would get 1/2 a pill twice a day. Dose that make sense?

How old are the chicks and how long have they been on dirt?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Also, I'm thinking that I shouldn't tube feed her bc I'm afraid that if her organs are compromised, I would be adding to her problems. Thought??

Sandi

Is she drinking? If not, she needs warmed fluids tubed until her hydration is corrected, then tubed food.

-Kathy

 

[Bird2break]

It's quite a long story. And it goes back over a long period of time, but here goes. I've never lived in the country before I got married so I knew NOTHING about chickens. However, the previous owners of our house/land had chickens (and coops, which were quite dilapidated). We've been told that they raised Game Cocks for fighting. At any rate, the coops hadn't been used for several years until my husband came home one day about 1-1/2 yrs. ago, with a hen and a rooster.

Everything was going fine until shortly after Spring of this year. The hen got broody and started setting. We had no idea how many eggs she was setting on. She ended up with 13 healthy chicks. I lost a couple to predators and a couple died suddenly for no known reason. However, (about 5 mos. prior) we had acquired about 6 more hens. Everyone was healthy. However, I didn't know anything about mites, lice, Bumblefoot, worms, etc. so, long story short, I didn't de-worm them, or do anything preventative-wise. Two of the hens developed vent fleet, they all got mites, several got Bumblefoot, and they all got Gapeworms.

They're all recovered from the mites, I treated them for the worms, following the rigorous course of treatment recommended by Dawg53 with Valbazen. But I've never been able to get rid of the vent gleet on the 2 hens. Now, it has progressed and I've been treating them both. One looks much better but the other one is the one I'm most worried about. They were originally on dirt. Now we've added 1-1/2 truckloads of sand to their coop and I've been rather thorough with regard to sanitation, etc.

I never imagined that keeping chickens was such an ordeal! I've absolutely fallen in love with all my chickens. But my husband thinks I'm crazy for doing so much. He just keeps saying things like, "My grandpa and Grandma never had these kinds of problems." I try to explain to him that they probably did; however, if one got sick, they just culled it and cooked it for supper!

I'm worried that this may be contagious to my other hens, and 1 rooster. Is it? They are now on sand in their coop and the run. But we have now fenced in a much, much larger are (maybe an acre, at most). We also let them free range when it's an especially nice day.

Also, our property borders 15,000 acres of Texas Game Management property and we have been fostering an environment for wildlife refuge, especially where it concerns songbirds.

I've performed several Bumblefoot surgeries. I've been successful with all but one, whom I'm still dealing with. And ever since the gapeworm infestation, all chickens look better with the exception of one that seems to have a respiratory illness that I'm thinking must be a fungal pneumonia or something bc she hasn't responded to the antibiotics. Don't know how to go fwd with her; however, she's eating and active.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you.

Worried in Rawhide,
Sandi

 

[Bird2break]

Okay, but I don't have any feeding tubes. She has been drinking off and on. I've been treating her with Neomycin Oral Solution for the past 2 days. No, noticeable improvement yet.

I just ordered the Baytril. What size feeding tubes should I get for my first aid kit? I've never done it, and so afraid I'll kill her.

Contagious??

 

[Bird2break]

No, the metronidazole is 500 mg.

 

[casportpony]

Okay, but I don't have any feeding tubes. She has been drinking off and on. I've been treating her with Neomycin Oral Solution for the past 2 days. No, noticeable improvement yet.

I just ordered the Baytril. What size feeding tubes should I get for my first aid kit? I've never done it, and so afraid I'll kill her.

Contagious??

If I were you I would not wait to order tubes and syringes, I would find a vet that will sell them or get some aquarium air line. The sizes I use most are 8, 10, 16,18 and 30. The 18 and 30 are for adult birds, the smaller ones are for chicks.

I will teach you how to tube and If you can hold your bird still I can guarantee you won't kill her if you can follow directions. I am available by phone to help you.

Remember that it's not usually the disease that kills them, it's dehydration and starvation.

-Kathy