The Nuzzler laid 2 shell less eggs and other egg material today.

[Exopoulterer]

I went and mixed the contents of a 500mg amoxicillin capsule with 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil and split it into 2 equal portions that came out to be just over 1/8 tsp each.
It went right into the freezer to harden in a couple of silicone cups I had.

There was no rolling!
It was still relatively thin as it is not too cool here and it was easy to keep it liquid while I mixed it. It did harden into semi spherical disks in minutes. The first of which was easy to snap in half to slip both pieces into her beak. The other disk will be administered this evening.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I went and mixed the contents of a 500mg amoxicillin capsule with 1/4 teaspoon of coconut oil and split it into 2 equal portions that came out to be just over 1/8 tsp each.
It went right into the freezer to harden in a couple of silicone cups I had.

There was no rolling!
It was still relatively thin as it is not too cool here and it was easy to keep it liquid while I mixed it. It did harden into semi spherical disks in minutes. The first of which was easy to snap in half to slip both pieces into her beak. The other disk will be administered this evening.

Sounds good.

 

[Exopoulterer]

Sounds good.

Ok, the third disk has been administered and I will have to say that I love the disk form. Broken in half, each piece slides right into a reluctant beak.

Nuz and dove have gotten wise to pill time because they have both been given calcium pills.

Neither of them have wattles to grab so it is not as easy as that.

I wish I could make calcium disks but they would be huge...

Poops were checked but the light flecks are hard and grain like. Not like the tape worm segments I have seen before in cats. That photo was of a small poop taken close up. She was doing a couple little poops right before that last shell less egg came out.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Good job. Even if they don't have actual wattles, they have loose skin on the throat where wattles would be. You should be able to gently get hold of that to pull down. If not, place finger and thumb on either side of the beak and gently squeeze and see if you can open the beak that way. I try to quickly insert a finger to hold the beak open long enough to insert the pill or whatever. Good luck, it can be a bit of a rodeo but you want to try to work quickly.

 

[Exopoulterer]

Good job. Even if they don't have actual wattles, they have loose skin on the throat where wattles would be. You should be able to gently get hold of that to pull down. If not, place finger and thumb on either side of the beak and gently squeeze and see if you can open the beak that way. I try to quickly insert a finger to hold the beak open long enough to insert the pill or whatever. Good luck, it can be a bit of a rodeo but you want to try to work quickly.

I tend to have to hold their head somewhat against my chest with my left hand behind the skull. I will pet them a bit before I get a nail in the beak and try to get my left index finger in there to hold it open while I support the other side of the head with my thumb. They wiggle and shake their head backwards and I often need a few attempts to do it gently.

Both Dove and Nuz can be sneaky and shake out a pill if it isn't in far enough. If they would just eat it the first time I wouldn't have to keep trying darnit! Silly birds.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Look at this graphic. You don't want it to go down the hole at the back of the tongue but down the side, like where this person is aiming the syringe. That hole is the windpipe. If that gets blocked they will shake their head to get rid of it. So don't push the pill too far back. Just pop it in the beak, close the beak and let her swallow. Good luck!

 

[Exopoulterer]

Look at this graphic. You don't want it to go down the hole at the back of the tongue but down the side, like where this person is aiming the syringe. That hole is the windpipe. If that gets blocked they will shake their head to get rid of it. So don't push the pill too far back. Just pop it in the beak, close the beak and let her swallow. Good luck!

View attachment 4237162

Thank you for posting that photo!

Ahh, I never close the beak I just pop it in as close to the side as possible and hope they don't shake it out. LOL I am too scared of it making them choke and never do it to my other animals either. Pill time takes longer or just fails altogether when someone learns how to spit or even gag it out like a couple of my cats can do. The calcium/D is rather large and hopefully wouldn't even fit in the trachea. The coconut oil disks I make do worry me a bit because it starts melting and oil and lungs don't mix. What if some drops get in there? I give the disk in 2 halves so they are semicircular and I aim the point to the side. Nuz managed to shake one out this evening but I recovered it and got it in the second try before it melted.

That photo is so helpful and is one reason I had the courage to syringe anything into my chickens. It would be nice if something similar was on products that need to be given by mouth to poultry and just more common knowledge in general husbandry.

I saw a helpful video linked on this forum as well. She used the finger in the beak hold that has saved me a lot of trouble because I saw it before using nutridrench and deworming my chickens. The hold she used seems to really help with the issue of chickens moving their head back and shaking their heads.

I still hate syringing so much. It seems risky, especially with a strong animal that struggles.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

saw a helpful video linked on this forum as well

Interesting. Can you find that video and link it here? I'd sure like to snag it for my stash.