Update: Roo with injured beak; need formula for force feeding

[arlee453]

As far as temp for the gruel - I'd feed it room temp or maybe a tad warmer. I don't think that heating it is necessary - and there is always the risk of OVER heating or having hot spots that can cause burns.

Use warmish water, or room temp water. I'd think cold water might chill him some so I'd stay away from cold water.

 

[Wynette]

All good info. - thanks again, Arlee453; I feel well equipped to handle this unfortunate situation now!

 

[Wynette]

Update: I was able to get some "gruel" down him last night; possibly about 1/16 c. Not much, but he really fought me the whole time. I'm on my own with the feeding, and I sat on a bucket and sort of tucked him under my left arm and tried to hold his head still with my left hand, while putting the tip of the syringe in his mouth & squirting a bit out at a time. He kept pulling away and shaking his head....toward the end, the last few minutes, he finally calmed down and I probably got the majority of food in him at that time.

Was wondering if anyone has ideas on restraining him in a more efficient way, so I can get more feed into him.

Also, I put a deep dish of feed in the chicken run for him, and all he did was scratch it out. He tries to eat, but doens't seem to be able to. What are your thoughts - will he LEARN to eat? Is it actually something he has to learn? I'll do as much as I can for him, but certainly cannot force-feed him the rest of his life. Thoughts? I'm going to try to get pictures of his beak tonight (may be difficult, as I'm working alone) and will post tomorrow. Thanks again for everyone's feedback.

Oh, also...how much can I feed him at a time? I felt his crop after feeding this a.m. and I could feel it had food in it, but it certainly didn't feel "full." My plan is to try to feed him around 6 a.m. and about 8 p.m. Thanks!

 

[fallenweeble]

you could try gently wrapping him in a towel with just his head peeking out in order to restrain him more effectively. just don't wrap him too tightly!

 

[Wynette]

Thanks, fallenweeble. Good idea!

 

[dlhunicorn]

you need to be careful while "force" feeding him... birds do not have the little flap to auto close the hole leading to their airways and it is very easy for food that is not swallowed on its own to go down into the airways with all the consequences of that.

try putting the (deep) feeder at bit higher level and in a type of feeder (or waterer) that he can not possible "stand " in... look at the pet stores for a deep dish with a hanging thing on it to "anchor it at a certain height ? > I would try an almost liquified type of diet for him until he gets to feeling better and see if he can learn to "dip feed " from that out of such a smaller (width)dish? Perhaps I mentioned it before but I would really get the baby parrot handfeeding formula and mix that up to a watery consistency so he gets some nutritional value from "drinking" you can also mix it with some mash and make it just thick enuf so he can easily swallow it if you put a wee bit on his tongue.
He sounds feisty... how bout putting a squirmy mealworm on that gruel to encourage him to try?

 

[Wynette]

I wasn't aware of them not having the little flap closure in the back of their throats like we do; I did go very slow, but I actually WAS wondering about that. I'll take it very slow when force feeding, AND I'll try the mealworm idea! I think that might work!

Thanks again so much!! I'll try to take pics tonight & post tomorrow if I'm still having difficulty.