Slow crop?

[Jesus22]

Does this looks like an empty crop? I dont think it does. I got two baby conures that a person cannot take care of them anymore. When I got home I noticed one of the birds had his crop empty and the other one did not. It seems like one of them is not digesting the food as he is supposed to. I took the bird to a bird shop that had really good reviews for advice/help, but told me the baby was doing good and he was digesting the food. When I took the bird, his crop looked like in the photo and the breeder or the one who is in charge of feeding babies at the store told me his crop was empty. But why does the other bird crop looks different/empty?

 

[SilverSage]

That crop is NOT empty.

Ok what temp are you keeping the babies? At that age it should be constant around 98 degrees F.

What temp are you feeding the formula? Should be between 104 and 108 degrees F.

How often are they being fed? How much at a time? Has this crop emptied AT ALL since you got him? How long have you had him?

How does the crop FEEL? Soft like it's full of formula? Hardened? Dies it feel like there are chunks on the inside?

What formula are they on?

Have you located an emergency AVIAN VET (not just one that sees birds) yet?


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[Jesus22]

i try to feed around 106, at least thats what the thermometer says.
I feed them every 3 hours becausse at two hours they still have food on their crop.
The one the is digesting eats about 7 cc, his crop feels soft when done. Like if I can feed a little more, but I dont because i dont want to overstretched his crop. So i just keep checking on him to feed when crop is almost empty.

The big one im feeding less because of his crop. It feels soft and it doesnt look like any bacteria inside. It looks like the other one crop. He is been like that since yesterday. I added papaya and a probiotic that has lactobacillus, his crop went down a little.. Then I started to mix the formula with electrolyte in case he was dehydrated abd that was the reason of the slow crop. I know if I did right but i let him go 6 hours without food to see if his crop goes down, that photo was taken today after these 6 hrs. At the shop they told me I can boil rice and use the water to make the formula it will help.

I have had him 2 days. Im feeding kaytee high fat formula.

Brodser: I have them in abox with two snuggle-up heaters and a cup of water inside. I dont know if that is the problem because its only one of them not digesting the food.

 

[SilverSage]

Ok so it sounds like you are off to a decent start.

1) you NEED a better brooder. Homemade, purchased, or borrowed, what you are doing is not stable enough by a long shot and will cause major problems. I'm the mean time the sick one has very little chance of recovering if he isn't kept warm enough. You need a system that lets you monitor temp and keep it extremely consistent. This is an URGENT PRIORITY.

2) stop feeding the one with the slow crop. If you have an avian vet qualified to flush the crop or a local breeder (NOT the pet shop that thinks that crop looks empty; those people clearly are not qualified) who has experience doing it, have his crop flushed ASAP.

I don't suggest flushing it yourself if you have never done it or seen it done. It's better to have that demonstrated in person rather than trail and error.

If you can't have his crop flushed, start feeding fluids ONLY. Feed at the same temp as formula. I suggest coconut water or half water have PLAIN pedialyte or if you can't find that, Gatorade. Pedialyte is by baby formula in most stores, by baby things not by other drinks.

The point of this is to push the food through and allow the crop to empty without letting the baby dehydrate or lose too much energy, but a crop flush would be better.

I emphasize: he is very unlikely to recover if he isn't given a proper brooder. Some babies survive improper brooding, but not usually once they have already developed an issue. If at all possible please get this baby to a qualified avian vet to determine what is causing the slow crop and hopefully get it flushed.


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[Jesus22]

Ok I started giving him only liquids. A breeder is coming to pick him tomorrow and take care of him. I hope he gets better. So do I give him liquid every three hours? Even when crop looks kind od big? Is that ok if I mix the water from cooking rice with pedialyte?

 

[SilverSage]

I've honestly never heard of the rice thing so I can't tell you if that's a good idea or not. I'm interested in WHY they would suggest it? If you could find out what the purpose is I would love to know.

If his crop is emptying AT ALL I would keep pushing fluids if you can't get it flushed, but you don't want to stretch or over full it.

I've had some success with this method but other breeders might have better suggestions. Unfortunately a lot of this stuff is trail and error.


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[Jesus22]

Ok I found out that rice water is an excellent source of energy because of abundant carbohydrate present. Helps in providing energy to the body. Apart from the precense of vitamin, minerals etc assist in impriving metabolic activities of all body organs.

Rice water is beneficial for treating serious digestive issues like lose motions, constipation, irritating stomach. It also increases appetite. The soluble fiber also ferds good intestinal bacteria.

 

[SilverSage]

Thanks! Makes sense! One of the problems with bird breeding is that many of the tools we use are things we have to figure out ourselves and there are very few real good sources of info beyond the basics.


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[Jesus22]

Yes! And about the brooder, I did not buy one since someone is coming tomorrow to pick up the babies. I had them in a small cartoon box with pine bedding and two snuggle up heaters. And I put a shirt on top for them to get warm. But I think not sure, that they were overheating (they were open mouth breathing). I gave them electrolytes and removed one heater and cover them up. 20 min later I checked again, they were again breathing like that. I decided to not cover the box and they stop breathing like that. They are breathing normal. The thing is that these heaters do not warm a lot, my other conure used to sleep on top of it. So should I leave it like that, with one heater and the box open with no cover? I think my room is around 80 degrees.

 

[SilverSage]

It is very likely they were overheating. That's why it's important to have a good brooder but you were probably able to find a new home faster than buy it build a brooder.


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[Jesus22]

Good news! I think the rice worked pretty well! Again I stopped giving him fluids for 6 hrs but gave him this thing called "Guardian angel" mixed with pedyalite. This morning is crop looks fine. I dont feel any food on his crop ill put a photo how he looks this mornig

 

[Jesus22]

Time to feed him formulaaa??? Right??

 

[SilverSage]

Yes! If crop is empty Return to feedings! Congrats!


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