Need to Tube Severely Molting Hen

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Actually, I don’t think she’s been aspirated. I don’t think she’d be able to vocalize like this. Do you? I think the temperature change was probably just too much for her.

She sure has plenty to say for herself!

She looks like she is complaining about the interlopers in her personal spa to me!

 

[tripletfeb]

If you give 14 ml per pound, repeat in 60-90 minutes, then one more time in 2-4 hours, and they are pooping semi-normal poop, it's usually okay to start food. The most important though, are the first two. I cannot stress enough how one really needs to do this.

I've seen this before and am just curious. Why do they need to be fully hydrated before they get tube fed? Does it just help with crop function?

 

[micstrachan]

If you give 14 ml per pound, repeat in 60-90 minutes, then one more time in 2-4 hours, and they are pooping semi-normal poop, it's usually okay to start food. The most important though, are the first two. I cannot stress enough how one really needs to do this.

@casportpony
Kathy, I just checked this against what I gave Ester last Saturday. She wasn’t too far off from that. 15 + 40 + 60, then a 15mL feeding, then another dose of fluids (didn’t write it down... maybe 50?) followed by one last feeding of a more reasonable volume (guessing 50 again?)

I just wanted to confirm... there is never any reason not to give fluids, correct? I was shocked to see that mostly water poop from Ester today, as she had been fed 4-5 times today before that. Could it have just been the shock from the (guessing 15-20°F) temperature drop?

 

[micstrachan]

Ester does a loud tidbitty type call when she wants something. Just to be safe, she’s getting 50mL warm pedialyte before her next meal.

 

[micstrachan]

I've seen this before and am just curious. Why do they need to be fully hydrated before they get tube fed? Does it just help with crop function?

I don’t know the answer, but hydration is so important in all bodily functions, I assume it’s a stabilization thing? Don’t tax the systems until they are in good working order?

 

[tripletfeb]

I don’t know the answer, but hydration is so important in all bodily functions, I assume it’s a stabilization thing? Don’t tax the systems until they are in good working order?

That makes sense. I still have so much to learn!

 

[micstrachan]

@casportpony and @Overo Mare in your experience, if I had at any point gotten fluid or feed in the wrong area in Ester, would she throw a coughing fit? I’m very confident the tube has always filled her crop. But a couple times I took it out quickly when she protested and it was still dribbling just a little. No reaction from Ester of coughing or anything. But does she look to be breathing heavily to you? I had turned off her heat lamp for a bit to see how she did, but she ended up shivering a little, so I warmed things back up.

 

[Painted Calls]

If she aspirated at all, you would know. She would cough and hack and carry-on.

When you go to tube her, wrap her up like a burrito to secure her wings, and place her between your legs. When you place your hand on her head to open her beak, grab a hold of her upper beak and don't let go. Make sure you're getting that tube all the way in. When she bucks with the tube in, stop depressing the plunger and keep a firm grip on her beak and tube. Just roll with the protest and continue pushing food once she calms down. That way you're not pulling out and dribbling/having to reinsert, etc.

I'm going to try and make a video tomorrow showing what I mean. I have a hen that I haven't ever tubed. She also doesn't appreciate being handled. She's sure to protest. I'll tube her (not give her anything through it) so you can see what I mean by "roll with it". I'll give her some scrambled egg after so she doesn't hate me more than she already does.

 

[Painted Calls]

She does seem to be breathing a bit heavy. Had she just been tubed or active before that video?

 

[micstrachan]

If she aspirated at all, you would know. She would cough and hack and carry-on.

When you go to tube her, wrap her up like a burrito to secure her wings, and place her between your legs. When you place your hand on her head to open her beak, grab a hold of her upper beak and don't let go. Make sure you're getting that tube all the way in. When she bucks with the tube in, stop depressing the plunger and keep a firm grip on her beak and tube. Just roll with the protest and continue pushing food once she calms down. That way you're not pulling out and dribbling/having to reinsert, etc.

I'm going to try and make a video tomorrow showing what I mean. I have a hen that I haven't ever tubed. She also doesn't appreciate being handled. She's sure to protest. I'll tube her (not give her anything through it) so you can see what I mean by "roll with it". I'll give her some scrambled egg after so she doesn't hate me more than she already does.

Thank you!