Help, opposum attack

[Teganmarie]

It is CBD oil

 

[Teganmarie]

Since she has a puncture wound, she really should have an oral antibiotic. You can use any human prescription you might have on hand or ask a vet to prescribe some amoxicillin for her. The dosage should be 250mg two times a day for ten days. Infection has already begun and can kill a lot sooner than you think.

Shock can last well beyond the attack so continue the electrolyte solution for a few more days. You would do well to get a small animal tube feeding kit and tube food and water into her for a few days until she gets through the worst. A vet can sell this to you or get it from Amazon. Once you have the kit, I can give you instructions how to tube your patient.

I have the tube feeder now

 

[azygous]

Tube feeding a chicken is about the safest most fool-proof things a chicken keeper can do. There is pretty nearly nothing that can go wrong. Even a child can do it, and this past spring, two kids on this forum successfully saved the lives of several hens in their flock by tubing a life-saving solution over three days.

First, obtain the small animal kit from a vet or from Amazon. You can fashion your own from oxygen tubing or aquarium tubing. You would need to find an oral syringe to fit the tubing that holds about one to two ounces. A slender one millimeter syringe is too small to do much good.

Next, cut the bottom off at around nine or ten inches to make it easier to manage. You will prepare a solution of raw egg, a little yogurt, maybe a little soy protein powder and enough warm water to make it flow through a tube. I add a squirt of poultry vitamins such as Poultry Nutri-drench. Or you can buy baby bird formula from a pet store. This is to feed a weak or starving chicken. Other uses would be to give electrolytes to a shock victim or a flush solution to an impacted chicken. For an average chicken, about half a cup of solution will be how much to tube in.

Now, what most people fear most - the part where you insert the tube. But this is very easy as the chicken has a direct channel going from the right side of the throat right into their crop, by-passing the airway so there is zero chance of aspiration.

After wrapping my chicken securely in a towel to confine wings, I hold my chicken on a work bench with my weak arm. With that hand I pry open the beak holding it open, and with my strong hand, I insert the tube in her right side of the beak, going slightly under the right side of the tongue. This channels the tube right into the esophagus which goes directly into the crop. You can see this in the photo below, only it will be the tube and not the syringe.

I measure the tube from the beak to the bottom of the chicken's crop and make a mark so I'll know when the tube has reached the lower part of the crop. The first time if you hit the wrong hole your chicken will start to cough. It's okay, no harm, just back out and try again. Once the tube is in, the chicken will be calm and comfortable. Then you can begin feeding. It feels pleasant to the chicken, and most are very cooperative throughout the process.

If the chicken struggles and bucks all of a sudden, it's not because of anything you did. They get bored and tired of the process like a toddler would. Pause until the chicken settles down again and finish. The whole process takes no more than five minutes. Each time you do it, it gets easier and quicker.

Learning this can save the life of your chicken, and it can save you so much time and frustration. And it's very, very safe. Anyone can do it.

 

[Teganmarie]

Tube feeding a chicken is about the safest most fool-proof things a chicken keeper can do. There is pretty nearly nothing that can go wrong. Even a child can do it, and this past spring, two kids on this forum successfully saved the lives of several hens in their flock by tubing a life-saving solution over three days.

First, obtain the small animal kit from a vet or from Amazon. You can fashion your own from oxygen tubing or aquarium tubing. You would need to find an oral syringe to fit the tubing that holds about one to two ounces. A slender one millimeter syringe is too small to do much good.

Next, cut the bottom off at around nine or ten inches to make it easier to manage. You will prepare a solution of raw egg, a little yogurt, maybe a little soy protein powder and enough warm water to make it flow through a tube. I add a squirt of poultry vitamins such as Poultry Nutri-drench. Or you can buy baby bird formula from a pet store. This is to feed a weak or starving chicken. Other uses would be to give electrolytes to a shock victim or a flush solution to an impacted chicken. For an average chicken, about half a cup of solution will be how much to tube in.

Now, what most people fear most - the part where you insert the tube. But this is very easy as the chicken has a direct channel going from the right side of the throat right into their crop, by-passing the airway so there is zero chance of aspiration.

After wrapping my chicken securely in a towel to confine wings, I hold my chicken on a work bench with my weak arm. With that hand I pry open the beak holding it open, and with my strong hand, I insert the tube in her right side of the beak, going slightly under the right side of the tongue. This channels the tube right into the esophagus which goes directly into the crop. You can see this in the photo below, only it will be the tube and not the syringe.

I measure the tube from the beak to the bottom of the chicken's crop and make a mark so I'll know when the tube has reached the lower part of the crop. The first time if you hit the wrong hole your chicken will start to cough. It's okay, no harm, just back out and try again. Once the tube is in, the chicken will be calm and comfortable. Then you can begin feeding. It feels pleasant to the chicken, and most are very cooperative throughout the process.

If the chicken struggles and bucks all of a sudden, it's not because of anything you did. They get bored and tired of the process like a toddler would. Pause until the chicken settles down again and finish. The whole process takes no more than five minutes. Each time you do it, it gets easier and quicker.

Learning this can save the life of your chicken, and it can save you so much time and frustration. And it's very, very safe. Anyone can do it.okView attachment 4013191

Ok, so the hole in the back is the trachia, or whatever?? Also I am a little worried, she hasn't eaten much of anything since last Tuesday, do I need to crush up oyster shell for grit so she can digest what I tube down there?
Can I tube food such as applesauce and cooked oatmeal or would that be too heavy?

 

[Teganmarie]

She has perked up since properly treating her wing puncture wound and I have added 911flock powder to her water. Going to try tube feeding tonight

 

[Teganmarie]

Also, should I even worry about her not laying right now? I discovered she did lay one weak egg in the last 5 days and had squashed it since she is blind. Or should I worry about egg laying once she has food in her body

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oyster shell is not grit. She would need crushed granite grit for digestion. Oyster shell is only for hens that are actively laying. They need it for the formation of egg shells.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I would not worry about it. If you are feeding a commercial layer formula it already has some calcium in it, but if you're not it's probably not a problem. If you provide oyster shell on a "free-feed" basis she will help herself when she needs it.

 

[azygous]

You will discover how watery you need to mix the tube food in order for it to push through the tube. Thin gruel or the consistency of a milk shake. This is an easy quick way to get food and fluids into a weak chicken. You do not need to supply grit for tube feedings. Grit is for solid food.