Tube Feeding

Kitty Cat

Chirping
8 Years
Jun 13, 2011
126
4
91
Campos De La Gracia
I thought I would share what I've found out. And it seems to be working very well, and is very easy. My chickens seem to have Marek's so I've been looking for a cure desperately and doing all I can to keep them alive and fighting. Another user posted a cure for Marek's that seems to be working well, it's slow but working. I've also been dissolving a vitamin C tablet and syringing into my chickens, which seems to be helping boost their immune system. Tube feeding is very simple :
All you need is a small length of aquarium air hose. It can be a little big for small bantams, but it's perfect for regular sized chickens or fowl. Take your tube and stretch it from the neck to the crop, then add a few inches and cut. Take a match and go over one end of the tube (to soften it so it doesn't scrape the throat quite so badly.) Take your chicken and hold it in your lap (I find you have more leverage at that angle than simply putting them on a counter, of course you may already know that). Open the mouth and if they fight you a little you can stick your index finger through the mouth and put your thumb behind skull in order to keep the mouth open and their head still. Once they calm down wet the tip of the tube in water and slowly stick the tube down the throat, try and stay to the left of the mouth and you should get straight to the crop. Periodically feel the crop to see if you've reached it with the tube, once you have you can stop, and hold the hens mouth closed. You'll probably need another person for the next part. Fill a syringe with water or anything you wish to put in them, and squirt it down the tube. Once you're done, either squirt a small amount of water or a little bit of air to clear the tube. Then simply pull slowly and you're done. When you're buying the tubing make sure you have a syringe that will fit easily into the tube. Also don't fill the crop all the way, only about half-way. A good mixture that I find works well (since I don't have access to baby parrot food) I soak some laying pellets in water for about 15 minutes with a good bit of water, and then stick it in the blender with a raw egg some sort of fresh fruit and a small amount of lettuce with a sprinkle of instant oatmeal. I blend it for about 3 minutes or until I can easily suck the mixture into a syringe. I don't use all of the mixture but I pour the rest out to let my other hens peck at it and they seem to enjoy it very much.
Here is the treatment for Marek's.

Hypericum treats pain and is the only treatment for Marek's Disease. Hypericum numbs nerves to either relieve pain or return function to paralyzed limbs. It costs about $8 for 100 doses. Hypericum requires a special dilution before it can be used succesfully on poultry. The mixture is as follows:
• 1 tablespoon distilled water (It must be distilled! The ions in tap water deactivate the hypericum, rendering it useless)
• 1 hypericum tablet (Do NOT touch it with you bare hands. This, too, deactivates the hypericum).
• Please the hypericum tablet and water in a tiny glass bowl. (I use my mom's custard ramicans). Again, don't use a metal container.....it will electrically charge the hypericum so it will not work. Once the hypericum has fully dissolved, give 5-10 drops per bantam or 10-15 per large fowl. Let the liquid touch the tongue; be sure that the bird rubs its beak together so that the tongue touches the roof of the mouth. The liquid must touch the sinuses (located at the roof of the mouth) in order to work.
• Repeat twice daily, morning and night, with a fresh batch. When the symptoms appear to be lessening, stop treatment. If the symptoms appear to worsen, begin immediately treating the bird at the same rate and frequency.



I couldn't find any "tablets" of Hypericum ( commonly called St. Johns Wart, I got the .3%) so I got the capsules instead. I simply pour my water in a cup and then gently twist open the capsule and sprinkle it into the water. Wait a few minutes and then administer. I got mine from Wal-Mart, much cheaper than GNC. To make administering quick and easy, I got a syringe and put my thumb over the opening, then took an eye dropper and dropped the required amount of drops into the syringe, and marked the syringe with a Sharpie so all I have to do now to get the correct dosage is simply fill the syringe to the line and squirt, and I'm done.



Hope this helps!!!
 
Wow thanks so much
This is really good to know.
hugs.gif
 
You're confusing the homeopathic formulation of hypericum (the tablets, which must be mixed with distilled water and can't be handled) with the standard St. John's Wort herbal preparation. They are NOT the same thing!!! I doubt either will cause any harm, but they are most definitely NOT interchangeable.
 
Quote:
Actually hypericum is derived from St. John's Wort and is the exact same thing. It can also come in many forms. I've checked and what I'm using is indeed Hypericum. I'm not sure you can get Hypericum from anything other than St. John's Wort.
 

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