What's wrong with their feathers?

[ChooksChick]

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Great- just tell him you need a catheter tube, but not the Foley kind.

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

Will do! Thanks!

I just made a gruel of quinoa, egg, bacon grease (just a bit), olive oil, egg shells, spinach, red pepper flakes, paprika, tuna, and chick starter. It almost smelled good enough to eat. Almost. Funny how rarely I cook for myself, but I dirtied 3 pans and the food processor for this chicken...

I just tucked her in, and I felt food in her crop for the first time in a while! I'm excited. She ate a bunch of egg and starter after I trimmed up her beak. Maybe that's been the problem all along. It looks virtually normal, but I think it just wasn't lining up.

Thanks again Renee. You've been very helpful.

 

[TurtleFeathers]

Bailey -

Aquarium tubing can work in a pinch, but I find that its much easier to do with a gavage/crop needle - the stainless steel type with a ball tip. I've used them on parrots a lot over the years, but only a few times on chickens - the parrots tend to swallow the tube themselves, but the chickens I've done don't care for it at all. Since the needle is rigid, I find that I can get it where it needs to be much quicker with a struggling bird - and quicker = less stress.

Some things to remember when tubing a bird - go down the RIGHT side of the throat, not the left (lungs), if the tube doesn't slide down into the crop easily, don't force it, and the temperature of the formula should be between 100 and 110 degrees F. Luke warm/cool/cold formula could cause yeast/bacteria problems in the crop, and you certainly don't want that on top of whatever else is going on with your hen.

You might even want to try some Nutradrench poultry vitamins in the formula. Good luck - I hope she makes it!

 

[NicoleRM]

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Got the eggs this morning and sheesh I don't think there can possibly be any bubble wrap left in the world! LOL

I'll set them tonight. I'm soooo excited!

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

Bad news.

Liza didn't make it after all. I didn't really expect that she would. She was never a fighter. BUT, I had to try. She seemed to enjoy her homemade food concoction, so at least she had a nice meal before she left me.

Time to start over I suppose. Good luck to the rest of you. I'm looking forward to having some fuzzballs again.

I wander what the actual population of these birds is out there now. seems like we've had a fair amount of losses this winter. Let's hope spring is kind to us all!

 

[Redcatcher]

I wish I had seen this thread earlier but I doubt my experiences would have helped. Some things are just not meant to be. I have a super rare Madagascar cockerel I hatched from eggs from Madagascar. He had to be tube fed since day one. It has been costly and time consuming and I doubt he could ever be bred. I would not recommend it for long term but it CAN be done. I use Exact hand rearing formula. I am truly sorry that you lost Liza. It has been a really brutal winter in more ways than one.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Hi everyone,

Well, I am down to one hen. All the others died one by one for no reason. This girl seems very healthy but then again some of the others did too.

She is going through a molt and I hope that IF she lives through it I can cross her with my Black Ameraucana Roo. I am not keeping my fingers crossed anymore though. What happens, happens.

 

[JustAChickenLittle&More]

They are gorgeous.

 

[NicoleRM]

It makes me so sad to hear of all the losses

Are the weak ones original fluffies or F1s? Or both?

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

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I think most of the losses have been from the originals. My f1 seems a vigorous as any other chicken.