|
|
Post by Sylie on Jul 12, 2018 10:09:05 GMT -5
I think my porcelain is in trouble, his comb is laying over and pale (which says dehydration to me), he drinks and eats but I don't think he's getting enough because his beak isn't right. I've inspected it and compared it to the Mille's and it appears that the bottom beak is too long for the top beak resulting in a gap between the 2 beaks that water and food fall out of. I tried a rabbit water bottle so he could drink from up high instead of trying to scoop water up from below from a dish but he wouldn't use it, he had zero interest in it whatsoever, wasn't even curious. He is smaller than my Mille but always has been but he's starting to get thin. I'm starting to get worried. I just don't know what to do at all. Of course tube feeding is a last resort but I have considered it if things get worse. I don't want to do that in an otherwise healthy bird. I tried to see if he would eat a wheat cracker, just to see if he would, I'm not considering it as a diet of course. It was just an experiment to see if he could bite something that thick. he didn't want the cracker. I tried pellet food thinking that might be easier to get past the gap but he didn't want pellets.
Any ideas? maybe use a dropper with brown water and force feed?
|
|
|
|
Post by seminolewind on Jul 12, 2018 10:26:03 GMT -5
I would not want to get into tube feeding unless something is temporary. Try making a warm mash out of feed and warm water. Hopefully it'll be easier for him to pick up.
Are you sure he doesn't have cocci? I had a hen who was debeaked and she was fat. Maybe treat for cocci. Can't hurt.
|
|
|
|
Post by chickenqueen on Jul 12, 2018 11:04:47 GMT -5
A beak deformity is a hard one.They can't eat,drink or preen right.Sometimes they can compensate,sometimes it gets worse as they grow and it becomes impossible to eat/drink.Can you take a pair of nail clippers and trim the beak to make it slightly shorter than the top?Take small clippings off the edge of the beak,a little at a time with a rest in between,maybe a week, just like clipping dog toe nails.Clip too much off at a time and he may bleed,which you don't want.The sooner,the better.Eventually,they give up trying to eat/drink and waste away.It may be a life long problem but a little beak trimming occasionally may be all he needs.
|
|
|
|
Post by maryellen on Jul 12, 2018 11:30:36 GMT -5
He has scissor beak? If so you need to make his food wet and like oatmeal , all mushy so he can eat. Scissor beaks can be trimmed like dog nails but you have to be very careful
|
|
|
|
Post by Sylie on Jul 12, 2018 15:24:04 GMT -5
Maryellen, No, it's not scissor beak (I had a hen with that, I remember what that looked like) and he cannot eat mush or crumbles, they fall out the gap. the top and bottom beak line up perfectly but there is a gap behind the the points of the beak where mush, water and crumbles fall out before he can swallow. I tried pellets but he won't eat them. I tried to get a picture but it's a tiny beak and he won't hold still so all of the pictures came out fuzzy and you can't see what I'm talking about. I even tried holding him to take the pics and all he did was squirm.
I've already researched beak trimming, I thought about that after I wrote this post but I haven't had a chance to try it and if he squirms this bad just getting a picture, then I'm going to have to wait for my husband to help me. I'll end up cutting off half his beak and tongue lol
CQ, At this point, he still preens, he attempts to drink (most of it falls out the gap but I'm sure he's getting SOME down his throat) and the same with food, he attempts but some/most of what he takes in is falling out the gap.
Sem, I suppose it's always possible that he has cocci but it would be in addition to the beak deformity problems, I cannot rule it out for positive. I'm pretty sure his problem is the beak. He has no other signs of cocci besides the pale comb and weight loss (which I attribute to not getting as much feed down his throat as he should be). his energy level is normal, his sassiness is normal, he attempts to eat and drink, he does not have diarrhea of any kind. I forget the other symptoms of cocci but those are the big ones.
If he could get that upper beak out of the way enough to scoop food and tip his head back to swallow, he would probably do okay but he insists on using his upper beak and picking up bits which fall out the gap. Sorta like how my dove eats her seeds.
I don't know, we'll just see, I'll break the pellets into slightly smaller bits (which will probably fall out the hole too) but maybe he would be able to get some of them down, for the time being, he is getting SOME food at least.
Thanx for the replies everyone! I'll see about the beak trimming tonight when hubs gets home and mess with the food issue. I'll keep trying the rabbit bottle too, I think if he would catch a drop from above it would roll down the tongue into the throat. he just needs to try!
|
|
|
|
Post by seminolewind on Jul 12, 2018 20:51:31 GMT -5
One of my first chickens came from a hatchery as an adult, and I never realized they would send me a debeaked hen. She looked awful. But she was always fat AND CLEAN! Don't know how she did it, but she was cleaner than any flock member. I just made sure the food was deep enough and the water was deep enough. I never told her how bad she looked and she Never knew. Even raised a chick. She laid 366 eggs the first year we had her! She even learned how to eat a blade of grass!
Make sure he is not rushed to eat. I would keep him on pellets. I would see if he is attracted to bread (to put the weight on).
|
|
|
|
Post by boskelli1571 on Jul 13, 2018 5:26:07 GMT -5
I would try feeding him separately. Give him mash that is not completely sloppy and put it in a deep bowl so he can 'scoop' his food. Since he is getting skinny, I would add some vitamins/herbs to the mash too.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sylie on Jul 13, 2018 7:33:00 GMT -5
Sem, he won't eat pellets, he doesn't like them. I have been breaking them up slightly so they are about half the size of usual and he pokes at them but I haven't seen one actually go down his throat, he picks them up and drops them. he is never rushed to eat, it's just the 2 of them in the pen and they rarely eat at the same time.
Boskelli, he cannot eat mash, it falls out of his gap, or rather, drips out. Even thick mash just comes right out the gap. He cannot scoop anything because the two beaks don't allow enough open space for a scooping action. He more or less nibbles his water. I tried feeding separately but since they have feed at all times in their pen, it was sort of futile and, all he did was crow for his brother and ignore the food.
I did notice last night that the gap was a little smaller than usual, I don't know if it was how he was holding his jaw or exactly what is going on. I haven't inspected him this morning yet, I'll do that shortly.
|
|
