The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Kitchen Cottage on October 26, 2013, 10:29:35 am
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Was very puffed up and alone yesterday and not eating or drinking. I force fed her last night with honey water and a mix of eggs, oats, honey and sultana's. I watered her this morning and she is pecking at pellets but still listless.
I am keeping my fingers crossed but would someone explain again how I pippet water without getting in her lungs. She seemed to gurgle when I did it this morning.
It seems that unless I whip a hen in as soon as they are even slightly off colour, they cark it :( I lost 3 in the last 2 months (2 perfectly fine at night and dead in the cage in the morning!) and I am therefore being very cautious with them. Hen hospital comes into play at the first sign of a sniffle!
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Sorry I haven't a tip for you on drip feeding a sick chook :(
If no-one pops in and answers it may be worth (assuming you've already done a search) sending a PM to one or more of the top chicken folk; most of us have an alert set up to tell us if we've received a PM ;)
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Chickens need the water, or any fluid, well down the throat KC. Apparently they have airways under the tongue as well as in the top of the beak. Ours choke if we don't get the head well back so the throat is vertical and if we give them so much they can't swallow, or don't swallow. Some just open their throat and let it in. Others will only handle it in drops. They go into a coughing fit if they breath it in, but they clear it eventually. So if in doubt, tiny amounts and release to give them time to swallow. Only a few of ours will swallow with a massage of the neck.
We administer Flubenvet this way -but that's another topic.
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If you lose her, it might be worth asking the vet for a post mortem. Just a bit worrying that you've lost so many in such a short time - wonder whether there's a common theme.
When I've pipetted, I've just tipped their head back and pipetted as far down as I can. Been OK so far but never yet managed to nurse a sick chook back to health.
H