Topics to be covered
The Exam
The Importance of Weighing
The Hospital Cage
Sick ducks are almost always hypothermic, so it's very important to place them in a warm, quiet draft-free room where you can maintain the temperature of the cage at least 80 degrees. Be careful when using heat lamps or heating pads because many birds are too sick to move away from the heat if they're too hot.
Provide food and water, but make sure the water dish is one they cannot drown in.
This would make a good hospital cage:
http://www.rainbowparrots.com/brooder.php
Fluid Therapy
There are four ways to give fluids to a bird.
http://avianmedicine.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/07_emergency_and_critical_care.pdf
Tube Feeding Food
There are some instances where tubing should not be done and those are:
Injections
https://lafeber.com/vet/intramuscular-injections-in-birds/
Edited to add:
Open to suggestions, feedback and constructive criticism.
- Doing an exam
- The importance of weighing
- Hospital cage temperature
- Assessing level of sickness
- When and when not to tube
- Hydration therapy with tube feeding
- Hydration therapy with subcutaneous fluids
- Tube feeding
- Poop inspection
- Giving injections
The Exam
The Importance of Weighing
The Hospital Cage
Sick ducks are almost always hypothermic, so it's very important to place them in a warm, quiet draft-free room where you can maintain the temperature of the cage at least 80 degrees. Be careful when using heat lamps or heating pads because many birds are too sick to move away from the heat if they're too hot.
Provide food and water, but make sure the water dish is one they cannot drown in.
This would make a good hospital cage:
http://www.rainbowparrots.com/brooder.php
Fluid Therapy
There are four ways to give fluids to a bird.
- Orally via a tube
- Subcutaneously or SC (under the skin)
- Intravenously or IV (in a vein)
- Intraosseously or IO (in bone marrow)
http://avianmedicine.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/07_emergency_and_critical_care.pdf
Tube Feeding Food
There are some instances where tubing should not be done and those are:
- Don't tube a bird that is unresponsive
- Don't tube a bird with a bowel obstruction
- Don't tube a bird that can't hold it's head up unless you can make some sort of nest with pillows or towels to keep it's head up
- Don't tube a fluids or food to hypothermic bird, get it warm first.
- Don't tube *food* to a dehydrated bird, correct hydration first
Injections
https://lafeber.com/vet/intramuscular-injections-in-birds/
Edited to add:
Open to suggestions, feedback and constructive criticism.
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