TUBE FEEDING 2 DAY OLD CHICK?

[LadiesAndJane]

This is for anyone that can help, though I see that @casportpony has much experience in this area.
I have a 2 and a half day old lavender silkie (the only one that hatched out of 25 eggs). Besides the expense, I really want to do all I can to save this little one. She was a partial assist, needed shoes for 24 hours for curled toes, her feet look good now, shoes have been removed. I really do not want to discuss culling vs not culling. She will either make it or she won't, but I want to do all I can for her. I have given her a few drops of nutradrench every few hours since yesterday. I have tried giving her some very liquidy chick starter, egg yolk, water. It is difficult for her take much at a time, though I expect it is due to her very small size. I can not tell if she is actually getting anything in. Can you tube feed a chick this young? I was pretty sure she was not going to make it yesterday, eyes closed a lot. She was chirping loudly this morning, had her eyes open and walking on her own .
She is though not eating or drinking on her own. I even placed one of my older chicks with her briefly yesterday to see if she would follow their example, no go. She does not seem to have any deformities that I can see. She is able to walk, but if she falls over, has trouble getting up again.
So question is, can a chick this small/young be tube fed? How do you make sure that the tube is not placed in the lungs by mistake? I imagine only very small amounts (0.1 mL?) are to be given at a time. How often should she be fed? I have syringes, but no tube. I do not have access to any and will not be able to find any today, Sunday, in my small town. Can I use the plastic tube of a pen? If I sterilize it and round off the edges, would that work?
Thanks for any constructive help anyone has to offer.

 

[wyochick10]

I’m sorry your chick isn’t doing well. I know others will chime in but at that age I believe they are still surviving in the nutrients they absorbed in the egg and don’t “need” to eat yet? I know 3 days might be close however. But I do not think that tube feeding a chick that young would be beneficial, actually I think it would be the opposite. Good luck and I’m sending positivity your way!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I’m sorry your chick isn’t doing well. I know others will chime in but at that age I believe they are still surviving in the nutrients they absorbed in the egg and don’t “need” to eat yet? I know 3 days might be close however. But I do not think that tube feeding a chick that young would be beneficial, actually I think it would be the opposite. Good luck and I’m sending positivity your way!

Thank you so much! I appreciate your answer. I know she is still surviving on her three day window but I don’t want to wait until she’s completely depleted before I do anything about it.
Most chicks I have had are eating within 12 hours on their own.

 

[wyochick10]

Yes I totally understand! Mine usually do too and I freak out also when they haven’t eaten within a day! In my last hatch I had one die from just failure to thrive. I tried everything I could think of but it just wasn’t meant to be I guess. Heartbreaking.

Your chick is adorable! I really hope it starts eating on its own soon!

 

[Mellowmalt]

hi ladies and Jane,
I've just been in the same situation and after 9 days of trying to get my weak one to eat I've given up. I was feeding it with a syringe but I couldn't keep doing it. I was feeding 1-2ml at a time in small drops. The first few days I only got up to 5 ml down.

I added a small bit of mayonnaise to the egg yolk and water, this lubricates the egg to go through the syringe far easier. Is also healthy for the chick. (you can use olive oil instead if you prefer)

The way you do it is to try to tilt the chicks head sideways and dab a drop of the egg milk mix onto its beak. A bit should seep into the mouth and the chick should slurp it up. Then just repeat but like I mentioned it was a futile attempt for mine although yours can walk which mine couldn't so it has that going for it. Try to feed it every 3-6 hours.

Try your best not to squirt any in its eyes.

edit: hand feeding chills your chick right down - they hate being out the brooder so I was using an electric blanket to wrap mine in which helps a little.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

hi ladies and Jane,
I've just been in the same situation and after 9 days of trying to get my weak one to eat I've given up. I was feeding it with a syringe but I couldn't keep doing it. I was feeding 1-2ml at a time in small drops. The first few days I only got up to 5 ml down.

I added a small bit of mayonnaise to the egg yolk and water, this lubricates the egg to go through the syringe far easier. Is also healthy for the chick. (you can use olive oil instead if you prefer)

The way you do it is to try to tilt the chicks head sideways and dab a drop of the egg milk mix onto its beak. A bit should seep into the mouth and the chick should slurp it up. Then just repeat but like I mentioned it was a futile attempt for mine although yours can walk which mine couldn't so it has that going for it. Try to feed it every 3-6 hours.

Try your best not to squirt any in its eyes.

Sorry you lost your little one.
Thank you for your reply. I like the mayonnaise idea. I am just concerned she is not getting enough, that's why the tube feeding questions. I know it can be done with other young birds, so why not try it?

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Little one just passed, thank you to those who reached out.

 

[Mellowmalt]

Sorry about your loss. Like mine it was never truly meant to make it unfortunately but I don't think mine suffered too much, he didn't want to eat/live, nothing much but be sad about it. I am sad all the eggs I bought like you were too weak to make it. Other eggs I hatched alongside them did fine but it can really ruin an incubation experience when something like this happens. So don't be put off too much. Hope you have better luck in the future.