My chicken was attacked last night, and now by morning time now has baby maggots growing.

[98466chick]

so , I have been tube feeding my sick chicken... The farm supply store had no tubing what so ever for this, so i used aquarium pump tubing.. all was going well....EXCEPT, the tube i believe is irritating her throat... she struggles more every time i try to feed her.. and I just saw a thread that i was supposed to slightly melt the end of the tubing to make it softer.... OH NO, my poor girl, her throat is probably raw... can anyone please please help me as what to do to help her throat... Will it heal if i have irritated it... .Is there any medication i can use to numb the area prior to feeding until it heals... I read oragel is a no-no .. actually could kill chicken.. please help , so i can act quickly

 

[Eggcessive]

so , I have been tube feeding my sick chicken... The farm supply store had no tubing what so ever for this, so i used aquarium pump tubing.. all was going well....EXCEPT, the tube i believe is irritating her throat... she struggles more every time i try to feed her.. and I just saw a thread that i was supposed to slightly melt the end of the tubing to make it softer.... OH NO, my poor girl, her throat is probably raw... can anyone please please help me as what to do to help her throat... Will it heal if i have irritated it... .Is there any medication i can use to numb the area prior to feeding until it heals... I read oragel is a no-no .. actually could kill chicken.. please help , so i can act quickly

In post 10, I had suggested melting the end that goes into the throat to round off the edges. Sorry that I didn't stress that more. Can you do that now? Try to offer her some wet chicken feed with some chopped egg scattered in it and see if she may want to eat for you without the tube. Just the egg alone, she may take well. Hopefully, she will heal soon. The air tubing is pretty small in diameter.

 

[Eggcessive]

How is she doing otherwise? Are her wounds healing, and is she more alert or able to walk?

 

[98466chick]

Now she is doing really good..... i did melt the end to make it soft and i can tell she feels so much better now that i'm not irritating her throat, she lets use do it with no struggle at all.... i know mucus membranes heal quite quickly.. thank goodness......she is starting to drink from a dish again.. wounds are healing very well... no stinky smell of infection for quite awhile... we tube feed her 3-4 times a day.. I feel her crop first to see if it is empty before feeding to adjust for how much we are going to give her.... how much can the average crop hold, that is a main question i have right now. we give her gatorade, critical care supplement and raw egg in her tube.. she drinks water on her own now : ) not eating yet though.. she has really flourished since lanight after i melted the tube..... I see why you say you can not stress that enough. i was just irritating her throat this whole time
right now we give her about 2 oz 3-4 times a day.. i only gave her 1oz because i could still feel residual in her crop from this morning....

 

[Eggcessive]

I am so glad that she is better. Do you know how much she weighs? In Casportpony’s thread about tubing, it says that crop volume is 5% of their body weight. She says to start with 2-3 ml per every 100 grams of weight, and increase it to 5 ml per 100 grams if it is tolerated, and the crop empties within 4 hours.
Here is the thread again, and read post 1:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-guide-pictures-under-construction.1064392/

 

[micstrachan]

I am so glad you figured out you were irritating g her throat and corrected it. Great job!

 

[98466chick]

She makes a clicking noise with her beak a lot... what does that mean ? thank you everyone for your help... She is getting better...

 

[98466chick]

Does anyone think there is a chance she has pneumonia because of the tube feeding?????? with her shaking her head and making clicking sound.... should I give her another course of antibiotics???????

 

[Eggcessive]

Is the clicking sound when she breathes, or is she making the sound when she moves her beak? What antibiotics did you give? I think she would have shown signs earlier of aspiration if that was the case. But if you think she would benefit from another round, I would try it. Just give her some probiotics or a just little plain yogurt with her food to help her gut bacteria get back to normal.

 

[98466chick]

Is the clicking sound when she breathes, or is she making the sound when she moves her beak? What antibiotics did you give? I think she would have shown signs earlier of aspiration if that was the case. But if you think she would benefit from another round, I would try it. Just give her some probiotics or a just little plain yogurt with her food to help her gut bacteria get back to normal.

The clicking is when she moves her beak...is she doing that because she is stressed???? we have been giving yogurt with her tube feeding.....we listed to her when she breathes, I do not believe it is due to aspiration.