Sick Bird

[eick61161]

Ok folks my hen hasn't eaten for 8-12 days. will only drink when you hold her and tip the bowl for her. She is pooping watery green, not much or often. I have given her Tylan 50 for a couple of days, chicken vitamins in her water. She can stand on her own, her neck looks all scrunched down, which makes her chest look puffy but there is nothing in her crop. When I do try to massage that area she doesn't really like it. She presented at the start of this all wobbly and couldn't stand, but since has gotten better in that regard.

 

[Lacrystol]

Ok folks my hen hasn't eaten for 8-12 days. will only drink when you hold her and tip the bowl for her. She is pooping watery green, not much or often. I have given her Tylan 50 for a couple of days, chicken vitamins in her water. She can stand on her own, her neck looks all scrunched down, which makes her chest look puffy but there is nothing in her crop. When I do try to massage that area she doesn't really like it. She presented at the start of this all wobbly and couldn't stand, but since has gotten better in that regard.

8 to 12 days without eating. WOW. have you tried softening up her food see if she will drink/eat that way. She has to be very boney, . Is she sneezing or any other symptoms? Why are you massaging her if she's emptied? May want to tube feed her, could possibly be a case of mereks? 12 days is a long time without food...does she have any crestiness to her eyes? does she look like she may have an injury? I would examine her throughly looking for any kind of injuries. Got to get something down her perhaps try a liquid diet see if that will help. Doesn't sound good, with her not eating that long she could end up with permanent damage to inside parts.

 

[eick61161]

that lump keeps me thinking that her crop is impacted so i try to massage it out, but there is really nothing there to massage. How would i go about tube feeding her? I have tried to feed her mashed eggs with vitamin water, she will take some but not much before she stops.

 

[Lacrystol]

Tube feeding isn't hard but only want to use it as a last resort, because if you do it wrong you could kill her. Are there any other signs? If the tylon didn't help I wouldn't say an infection, if she's pooping that's good then her system is still working, try the liquid diet without tube feeding first. If she can eat or rather drink let her.

Here's the recipe:
1 Hard boiled egg
2 tablespoons or so you can add more or do less Plain original yogurt
Mix with electrolyte water as much as u want
Add vitamins, I'm a big fan of ployvisol without iron I usually add 1 cc of this blend all this well until its liquified
Get a dropper and keep feeding her let her try to do this on her own. Don't give her anymore regular food, if she crop bound this will help, she really needs as much nutrition as you can.

Oh one more thing warm up the water. This will break up anything in her crop even though it doesn't sound like she's got anything in it but just in case.

To switch to tube feeding use the same recipe get a tube, the kind you use for fish tanks works good. You will need a syringe you basically stretch the neck and head upwards and gently put the tube down her throat until you can feel it in her crop. Then you syringe the recipe food down the tube into her crop about 15 cc you don't want to to to much it will come back up this can choke them.

This usually requires to people. Good luck.

 

[eick61161]

She's just not interested in eating, a couple of pecks and that's it of eggs mashed with vitamin water. So I did tube feed her this morning, with some applesauce and vitamin water. So far no better no worse. Now that I have done it once I will try the eggs and vitamin water tonight. How often and how much each feeding and how long should I continue this if she still won't eat or drink on her own?

 

[Lacrystol]

I would pass on the applesauce, stick with the diet recipe but I'm afraid this is not going to be a good outcome if she doesn't get those nutrients in her.

Try to feed her twice a day, about 15 cc's so she should get about 30 cc's in her per day but let her rest at night and in the morning before feeding her again check to make sure her crop has emptied and she is going poop. Do not offer her any other food. if her crop doesn't empty theres no point in tubing more food in her, in this case it sounds like things are shutting down for her.

But You'll have to massage that crop and get that to pass threw before doing another feeding.. Well after a couple of days hopefully she can get some strength back and eat on her own but if she stays in this condition. I'm afraid one day she will probably just give up. But lets think positive and work with her until then...

 

[casportpony]

Your hen needs to be weighed and tube fed fluids if she isn't drinking on her own. I tube mine at 30ml/kg every 6-8 hours, but I adjust that down if their crop does not empty as I do not want them to aspirate. This is a copy and paste from a post of mine:
When mine get sick, this is what I do:

• *Thorough* physical exam which includes inserting a gloved, lubed finger into the cloaca to check for an egg, check for cuts, bruising lumps, smells, etc.
• Dust for mites/lice with poultry dust even if I cannot see any. DE does not work.
• Weigh on digital kitchen scale (see avatar), record weight and weigh daily. any weight loss is bad.
• Place bird in a warm, quiet place on towel with food and water that it can't drown in.
• De-worm with Safeguard or Panacur, liquid or paste (fenbendazole 10%) 50mg/kg by mouth and repeat in 10 days. Warning - Safeguard/Panacur should not be used during a molt.
• Once warm, if not drinking and crop is empty, hydrate with warmed Pedialyte or lactated ringers with a feeding tube - 30ml/kg every 6-8 hours.
• If not eating after 24 hours and crop is empty, tube feed baby bird food mixed with Pedialyte
• Inspect poop.
• If I suspect a stuck egg, treat for egg binding.
• If I suspect a bacterial infection, treat with antibiotics.
• If I suspect a fungal infection, treat with Nystatin.
• If I suspect coccidiosis, treat with Corid (amprolium).
• If I suspect canker or histomoniaisis (blackhead), treat with Metronidazole.

From: http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/avmed/cam/07_emergency_and_critical_care.pdf
Supportive Care
SICK-BIRD ENCLOSURES
Sick birds are often hypothermic and should be placed
in heated (brooder-type) enclosures


b (Fig 7.7) in a quiet
environment (see Chapter 1, Clinical Practice). A temperature
of 85° F (29° C) with 70% humidity is desirable
for most sick birds. If brooders are not equipped with a
humidity source, placing a small dish of water in the
enclosure will often supply adequate humidity. A moist
towel that is heated and placed on the bottom of a cage
or incubator rapidly humidifies the environment, as indicated​

by the fogging of the acrylic cage front.

FLUID THERAPY
Oral Administration
Oral administration is the ideal method of giving fluids.
This method is more commonly used in mildly dehydrated
birds or in conjunction with subcutaneous (SC)
or intravenous (IV) therapy. Oral rehydration (30 ml/kg
PO q 6-8 h) also may be used in larger birds (eg, waterfowl)
that are difficult to restrain for parenteral fluid​

therapy.

ORAL NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS
Below are listed some of the oral nutritional supplements
that can be gavage-fed to debilitated birds. Various
hand-feeding formulas are on the market and, as a
whole, are far superior to the homemade formulas used
decades ago that contained monkey biscuits, peanut butter
and ground seeds. Commercially available hand-feeding
formulas for baby birds are often utilized in the treatment
of sick and debilitated adult birds. The quantity
that can be fed at one time to a sick bird is greatly
reduced from that of baby birds. On the average, a baby
parrot can accommodate 10% of its body weight per
feeding due to the elasticity of the crop and its rapid
emptying. Adult birds have a greatly decreased crop
capacity, averaging 3% of their body weight. Additionally,
sick birds are less tolerant of food in the crop and care
must be taken to avoid regurgitation and/or aspiration.
A sick or debilitated bird should always have its
hydration corrected prior to attempting to initiate​

oral gavage-feeding.






Here is a list that I'm working on. Let me know what else I should have!

Medications - With the exception of Clavamox, all can be purchased without a prescription for tropical fish or pigeons. If you need help finding any of them, let me know.​

• Metronidazole 250mg, 100mg and 50mg/ml liquid (banned for use in food animals)
• Nystatin (antifungal)
• Amoxicillin 250mg
• Cephalexin 250mg
• Tylan (tylosin)
• Clavamox 250 mg
• Baytril 10% (banned for use in food animals)
• Corid (amprolium - coccistat)
• Sulmet
• Terramycin Antibiotic Ophthalmic Ointment
• Neosporin
• Safeguard wormer (fenbendazole 10%)
• Praziquantel
• Calcium
• Vitamin D

Supplies​

• Pedialyte for tubing
• Catheter for tube feeding
• Baby bird food for tubing
• Catheter tip syringe for tube feeding
• Lactated ringers for tubing or SC fluids
• Heat lamps
• Heating Pad
• Boxes and crates
• Poultry dust
• Digital kitchen scale
• Gram scale
• Needles and syringes of many sizes
• Mineral Oil
• Petroleum Jelly
• Vet Wrap
• Gauze Roll
• Gauze Pads
• Telfa Pads
• Raw, Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar
• Isopropyl alcohol
• Latex Gloves
• Betadine
• Epsom Salts

Books

• Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook
• AAAP Avian Disease Manual
• Diseases of Poultry
• Clinical Avian Medicine
• Penn State Poultry Health Handbook

Online poultry books:

[URL]http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/avmed/cam.html[/URL]
Download the entire book (two volumes): Clinical Avian Medicine
(Large file - please allow several moments to download)

Another two book set:
[URL]http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/avmed/chapters.html[/URL]

Penn State Poultry Health Handbook
[URL]http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/agrs52.pdf[/URL]

 

[casportpony]

FWIW, on the back of the bag of baby bird food (kaytee exact) it says that adding baby apple sauce can help with crop slow-down.

 

[casportpony]

Tube feeding info:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...cken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid#post_9910754

 

[eick61161]

Well we came home from taking my kid out for his birthday, while we were out eating. she passed. She drank nicely before we left, I still had to hold the bowl for her. It was a hot day here and I had her in her cage in the shade. so I don't know if it was the sudden heat, that I might have done the tube feeding wrong, or she just finally gave up. She really did nothing but just stand there for almost two weeks in her quarantine box. Thanks to all for the help. Two things I learned don't wait so long to ask for help, and have some stuff on hand to help them when they first look sick. This is the first bird I have lost to illness since I started 2 years ago.