Wet Mash and Tube Feeding: Storage questions

[ebisu]

I work in healthcare so some days I'll have to work 10-12hr shifts. I'm currently tube feeding one of my girls who may have canker with no vet around to help (I've already made a thread for it). I have some questions to help me readily feed her with the aforementioned work hours:

1. If I pre-make a small batch of wet mash, do I need to store it in the fridge?
2. How long can wet mash be refrigerated?
3. Is it okay to tube feed her chilled wet mash? Assuming I have refrigerated a pre-made batch.

She's been isolated and has a bowl of small pellets and water to help herself to albeit the difficulty to eat/drink. I've seen her make small, normal poops from what she ate herself in between me feeding her.

 

[Debbie292d]

If she's healthy otherwise, I wouldn't see the harm in tube feeding cold.

I know it lasts two days in the fridge for sure as I've done it, but never went longer. I would think it'd be fine for several days.

Can you get a small bag of chick crumbles for her? That would make mash much easier than pellets for tube feeding, plus, maybe easier for her to eat on her own.

Also, have you heard of using Kaytee Exact? That's baby parrot feed and used by many for sick chickens. We bought it for a blind chicken that I rescued that was hugely underweight and not eating for her first week with us. It's a powder form so mixes easy to the consistency for tube feeding.

Then I learned to mix an egg yolk in it with a small amt of coconut oil and make "torpedoes". (Roll it into a hard ball that she can eat, open her beak and put it in her mouth.) Those I made ahead of time and kept in the fridge. I'd just sit down with her and pop a few of those in her mouth until her crop was filling up. She got so she'd just take them from me and eat them herself.

 

[ebisu]

If she's healthy otherwise, I wouldn't see the harm in tube feeding cold.

I know it lasts two days in the fridge for sure as I've done it, but never went longer. I would think it'd be fine for several days.

Can you get a small bag of chick crumbles for her? That would make mash much easier than pellets for tube feeding, plus, maybe easier for her to eat on her own.

Also, have you heard of using Kaytee Exact? That's baby parrot feed and used by many for sick chickens. We bought it for a blind chicken that I rescued that was hugely underweight and not eating for her first week with us. It's a powder form so mixes easy to the consistency for tube feeding.

Then I learned to mix an egg yolk in it with a small amt of coconut oil and make "torpedoes". (Roll it into a hard ball that she can eat, open her beak and put it in her mouth.) Those I made ahead of time and kept in the fridge. I'd just sit down with her and pop a few of those in her mouth until her crop was filling up. She got so she'd just take them from me and eat them herself.

I believe she has canker as there are cheese stuff under her tongue and she drools when trying to eat/drink so she's not getting enough without my aid so I've been tube feeding her as she's lost some weight.

I have game bird crumbles that I feed my quails. I assumed that the crumbles and dust would just cake up in her mouth with the drool or that she'd aspirate it easier as it's smaller/dustier.

I have heard of Kaytee Exact and I plan to order some on my day off.

I also earned of the torpedo feed method! From Kelli Anderson on yt. I'm afraid of her aspirating since she's having trouble swallowing but then again I haven't tried so maybe I'll make some when its my day off.

Thank you so much for replying! Very helpful information

 

[Debbie292d]

Our BYC Project Manager wrote an article about canker in case that may help at all.

Most of us without vets also rely on PoultryDVM for drug information/dosages, although some is in BYC by searching too.

 

[ebisu]

Our BYC Project Manager wrote an article about canker in case that may help at all.

Most of us without vets also rely on PoultryDVM for drug information/dosages, although some is in BYC by searching too.

The links you posted were also shared to me but I appreciate it regardless. Do you have experience torpedo feeding a chicken with canker? I can only find videos with crossbeak chicken that have issues with getting food into their mouth but no issue with swallowing. My chicken has canker so she has issues with both.