Sav a chick

[Papagena]

Does it have to be used at the recommended concentration of one packet for one gallon of water?

I have a bird who doesn't seem interested in drinking much and I was wondering about dissolving it in a smaller amount of water and giving it to her through a dropper

 

[rosemarythyme]

Sav-a-chick isn't medication, it's vitamins and some other stuff. I never measured it out, I just sprinkled some in my waterer and sometimes there was more, sometimes a little less than recommended.

You can mix a small batch in a cup or something if that makes it easier, and then use a dropper from there. Though if the chick isn't drinking there might be something wrong and I'm not sure if the sav-a-chick will really help all that much.

 

[Papagena]

Well she's a 1 1/2 yr old hen that was "played with" by a dog on Friday. No obvious external injuries but acting weak and lethargic. Checked for egg binding... no dice. I've been trying to get her to drink electrolytes to get her energy up. She will drink if I put her beak to water, but she may not drink enough to benefit if it's such a low concentration

 

[rosemarythyme]

She's probably in shock and hopefully, there's no actual injuries that you haven't spotted. I supposed it doesn't hurt to try it to help her out. If you do want to measure it out you can get a jar or measuring cup and dose it with the appropriate amount of sav-a-chick and then use the dropper from there (so a 1 quart jar of water would get 1/4 of a packet, I found that to be the easiest amount of mix).

 

[Papagena]

So it's reasonable to still be in shock at this point? I've had birds have similar reactions before but never lasted this long. Now, we did have two days with wind chills below zero over the weekend so maybe those two things combined just weakened her more

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Well she's a 1 1/2 yr old hen that was "played with" by a dog on Friday. No obvious external injuries but acting weak and lethargic. Checked for egg binding... no dice. I've been trying to get her to drink electrolytes to get her energy up. She will drink if I put her beak to water, but she may not drink enough to benefit if it's such a low concentration

That is a long time to be in shock. Even though you see no external injuries, there could be internal (crushing) injuries if she was roughed up by a dog. Dogs tend to squeeze hard, but may not leave any puncture wounds.

Keeping her hydrated is the most important thing. If she will not drink the electrolytes, then try plain fresh water or you can try a little sugar water if necessary. Once your sure she is properly hydrated, then offer some wet feed, egg or tuna. If she is having a hard time drinking, then you may need to consider tubing water and then food into her.



https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

 

[Papagena]

Ok so an update for anyone reading this with a similar issue...

It's been two weeks and the bird is still alive. I did give her some electrolytes concentrated a little bit than they normally would be. At that point, she was so bad off that I didn't think there was anything to lose. I don't necessarily recommend that except as a last resort because you can overdose them (electrolytes have a lot of salt). I might do sugar water next time instead

She acted pitiful for a couple more days after this (sitting on haunches, refusing to leave the coop in the morning, difficulty walking, lethargic), then started to show small signs of improvement. She still isn't 100% but she was also going through a really bad molt at the time all this happened

So right now, she's hanging out with the other birds during the day, eating and drinking like normal

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ok so an update for anyone reading this with a similar issue...

It's been two weeks and the bird is still alive. I did give her some electrolytes concentrated a little bit than they normally would be. At that point, she was so bad off that I didn't think there was anything to lose. I don't necessarily recommend that except as a last resort because you can overdose them (electrolytes have a lot of salt). I might do sugar water next time instead

She acted pitiful for a couple more days after this (sitting on haunches, refusing to leave the coop in the morning, difficulty walking, lethargic), then started to show small signs of improvement. She still isn't 100% but she was also going through a really bad molt at the time all this happened

So right now, she's hanging out with the other birds during the day, eating and drinking like normal

Thank you for the update.

I'm glad to hear she is improving. She had a doubly whammy didn't she-a dog attack and molting too. You can try giving her an extra boost with some poultry vitamins a couple of times a week and giving a bit of extra protein.