Sicknesses can affect all animals, chickens included. Doing your best to keep your chicken fed and hydrated while it is sick is a must. But what if your sick chicken is not eating or drinking? This article looks into it
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Sick chicken not eating or drinking:
Sick chickens need all the nutrients they can get to recover well. But if your chicken isn’t eating or drinking this can be difficult. Below are reasons why birds will stop eating and drinking when sick, and how to help.
Why the bird isn’t eating or drinking:
Some sicknesses will cause your chicken to lose its appetite or to be weak to a point where the bird can’t sum up the energy to feed itself or drink. The sick bird will direct a lot of its energy towards trying to fight off the sickness and recover
This redirection of energy will cause the bird to not eat until it feels better.
Unfortunately, the bird may start to deteriorate and even die because it is starving itself. This is why it is important for you to help the bird eat and drink, even if it’s just a little.
Doing this will help with recovery and help the bird start to feel better.
The bird may only respond to eating treats. While treats can be a good source of energy for the bird, these foods can’t be the only foods that should be given to the bird while it’s sick. The bird needs other nutrient-rich foods to help it get better
Feeding the bird:
You’d need to feed the bird to get some energy, and nutrients, into its body. You can spoon feed, syringe feed, or tube feed the bird.
How to syringe feed the bird:
Add whatever food you’re feeding your bird into a syringe then pick the bird up, wrapping it in a towel to keep it from flapping its wings.
Put the head of the syringe at her beak then pour a little bit of the food on her beak by her mouth. The bird will open its mouth and start to eat once it feels the liquid on its beak.
How to tube feed the bird:
Tube feeding involves putting a tube down the bird’s throat and using this to get food and drink directly into her crop.
Tube feeding is relatively easy as it doesn’t require the bird to eat on its own and passes food into the bird’s body relatively quickly.
You should be careful when feeding your bird in this way, keep the bird calm throughout. Stress can cause increased respiration which can lead to an inhalation of formula causing the bird to aspirate.
How to spoon-feed the bird:
To do this gently pinch the bird’s waddle and pull it down to open the bird’s beak, feed the bird using a spoon and then release the waddle after the food is in the bird’s mouth, allow the bird to swallow
What to feed the bird:
The bird’s body will be diverting a lot of energy towards healing the bird, thus, less energy will go towards digestion, because of this you’d need to feed your bird foods that are easy to digest but nutrient dense.
Layer feed that is crushed up and softened using warm milk or warm water is a nutrient-dense food that is easy to digest.
Yogurt, or grated and then mashed up boiled egg (with water added to make it easier to syringe) is also recommended
Hydrating the bird:
Hydrating the bird is more important than feeding the bird. Hydration is needed for regulating body temperature, eliminating bodily waste, and digesting food.
If the bird isn’t adequately hydrated this will take a toll on its body and the bird can decline even further.
You’d need to feed the bird fluids to keep it hydrated. Giving the bird electrolytes can help hydrate the bird better than water can.
Coconut water can also be given to sick birds, this water will help the bird get back to health fairly quickly.
Syringe feed electrolytes into your bird and add vitamins and electrolytes to your bird’s waterers.
If the bird isn’t able to take in large amounts of water then you can use a dropper to feed the bird fluids.
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