Tube Feeding Ducks - discussion on tube feeding ducks

[casportpony]

Here is a place to ask questions and share your feelings and concerns about tube feeding.

Here is a video of an adult duck being tube fed:

 

[Miss Lydia]

When my Runner duck was sick back last summer I was not prepared to tube feed and had to order everything used my prime but she died in the morning and it arrived that afternoon. I will not be unprepared again. Yes thinking about it was making me a nervous wreck but I felt with the help of casportpony and others on here that had done it I could too.

 

[casportpony]

I see lots of you would like to learn. What questions do you have about it?

 

[casportpony]

When my Runner duck was sick back last summer I was not prepared to tube feed and had to order everything used my prime but she died in the morning and it arrived that afternoon. I will not be unprepared again. Yes thinking about it was making me a nervous wreck but I felt with the help of casportpony and others on here that had done it I could too.

So sorry you lost her. , but glad you were able to get the supplies for if/when you need them.

 

[Lil Drake40]

I always need a visual helps me learn so much easier than reading directions

 

[RowanTheRed]

what sized tube is it that is used? I use 5 and 8 fr feeding tubes everyday on the patients that I care for ( some of which are less than a pound).

What are the "markers" on the body to know what the proper depth to place the tube and are you listening or aspirating to confirm placement?

 

[casportpony]

I always need a visual helps me learn so much easier than reading directions

I'm like you, all visual!

 

[casportpony]

what sized tube is it that is used? I use 5 and 8 fr feeding tubes everyday on the patients that I care for ( some of which are less than a pound).

What are the "markers" on the body to know what the proper depth to place the tube and are you listening or aspirating to confirm placement?

Excellent questions!

For small chicks, I use a modified 8 french. By modified I mean cut down then I melt the end a little. Larger chicks I use a modified 10 french. Once they get to be about 1 pound I use a 14 or 18, just depends on what's handy. When tubing large volumes of food to large fowl I like a 30 French, but for water, the biggest I use is an 18. I have found that when giving fluids with too large a tube that it's too easy to give too much too quickly

For placement, I suggest that people start by inserting just the tube. Insert until the tube is all the way into the crop, which you should be able to feel, then mark the tube where it meets the end of the beak or bill. Does that make sense?

 

[casportpony]

Here is something I wrote for someone in a peafowl group. Their questions are in bold.
TUBE FEEDING/GIVING MEDS:


Question - Do you guys prefer a tube or the rigid gavage needles?

For both feeding and giving meds? Why?

• Answer - I prefer the red rubber catheter type because they come in many different sizes and can be shortened if needed. Red rubber tubes are long enough to safely tube even the largest fowl.

Question - What size? Do you use different sizes for feeding vs medicating?
For adults?

• Answer - For adult peafowl I use a size 30 french for food and a size 18 for water or medications

For chicks?

• Answer - small chicks I use a size 8 French. As they get bigger I increase the size of the tube.

Question - Also, when tube feeding, what amount do you give each time and how many times a day?

• Answer - How much and how often depends on so many things, but it's usually 2% to 5% of their body weight 2-4 times a day

For adults?

• Large birds in the 3-6 kg range get 60-120 ml at least twice a day if they can hold their heads up. If they can't hold their heads up, they will get less. How sick they are also dictates the amount. The critically ill one's crops are usually slow to clear, so they will get less than the “less critically ill” (like one in a cage with a broken leg).

For chicks?

• Newly hatched chicks and ducklings are tricky, so they get very little at first. Maybe 0.1 ml to 0.2 ml every hour and increase as crop stretches? Once stretched, increase at about 1 ml per feeding as crop allows.

 

[RowanTheRed]

Excellent questions!

For small chicks, I use a modified 8 french. By modified I mean cut down then I melt the end a little. Larger chicks I use a modified 10 french. Once they get to be about 1 pound I use a 14 or 18, just depends on what's handy. When tubing large volumes of food to large fowl I like a 30 French, but for water, the biggest I use is an 18. I have found that when giving fluids with too large a tube that it's too easy to give too much too quickly

For placement, I suggest that people start by inserting just the tube. Insert until the tube is all the way into the crop, which you should be able to feel, then mark the tube where it meets the end of the beak or bill. Does that make sense?

so it is actually an "oral to crop" placement and not to stomach? Good to know. Do you listen with a stethoscope for placement to verify the tube didn't accidently go into the lungs?

I don't actually have ducks, I have chickens. But I was just curious as to the process in comparison to the premies I care for. Ducks would explain the larger French tubes being used though! Way bigger than the wee ones I put tubes in, and a whole lot harder to hold in place while you do it I imagine!!!

So what are you actually feeding them through the syringe? Is it just for electrolyte and fluids or are you using some sort of duck formula for nutritional purposes?