Crop issue. Need urgent advice and help.

[aysh]

Hello all...
I hope you all can help me out. I bought a new baby cockatiel a week ago. He is KIWI. Kiwi is 21-24days old. I will attach his picture. I notice since 3-4 days his crop is not empty before his morning feed. Its not even 1/2 empty. It worries me a lot. In UAE there is no proper avian vet available. Please help me out. I love him so much.
Does he need a crop bra?? I never overfeed him. I give only 7-9ml a feed. I dont think i can even get the meds here. The pictures i habe attached are befor the morning feed. His schedule is 3 feed a day. 6-6-12hourly. Its almost past 12 hrs and still such. His crop is having movement contraction and all. No yeasty smell. Is there a way i can make a crop bra with normal cloth for him?? He has pooped a lot since as usual. So i believe his bowel movements are good. I am so lost and helpless. Please help out.

 

[tka]

How much does your baby weigh? Babies should get 10% of their body weight at each feed - I suspect that you're feeding too large a volume and it has stretched the crop.

What food are you feeding, what's the ratio of formula powder to water, and what temperature are you feeding it at? These will all help us work out what's going on.

I'll tag @Zara as she's very knowledgeable about handfeeding.

 

[Zara]

I never overfeed him. I give only 7-9ml a feed

This is the amount of food given to a chick weighing 70-90g.

Babies should get 10% of their body weight at each feed - I suspect that you're feeding too large a volume

I agree, seems like too much food.

Here is a link, I have posted it to you before on a previous thread, it contains an article talking over all the different causes for slow crop, and some remedies including a diagram of how to make a crop bra. As well as videos from Tony Silva showing how to prepare and use papaya cream to treat slow crop;

Some helpful links about hand feeding :)

With these Links-I hope to bring You as Much information as I can to help anyone that finds them selves having to Hand feed A chick Lots of tips for Breeders-with links for Hand feeding etc http://www.parrotscanada.com/breeder...rbreeders.html A new way to Hand feed-With a Cup...

forums.avianavenue.com

(if your internet is a little slower, let the link completely load so it takes you direct to the post)


Where is he living?
What is the temperature?
What is the humidity?
What brand formula are you using?
And what temperature are you serving the food at?

 

[sunnysmom]

Ask Noodles This has really good information on baby tiels.

 

[aysh]

This is the amount of food given to a chick weighing 70-90g.


I agree, seems like too much food.

Here is a link, I have posted it to you before on a previous thread, it contains an article talking over all the different causes for slow crop, and some remedies including a diagram of how to make a crop bra. As well as videos from Tony Silva showing how to prepare and use papaya cream to treat slow crop;

Some helpful links about hand feeding :)

With these Links-I hope to bring You as Much information as I can to help anyone that finds them selves having to Hand feed A chick Lots of tips for Breeders-with links for Hand feeding etc http://www.parrotscanada.com/breeder...rbreeders.html A new way to Hand feed-With a Cup...

forums.avianavenue.com

(if your internet is a little slower, let the link completely load so it takes you direct to the post)


Where is he living?
What is the temperature?
What is the humidity?
What brand formula are you using?
And what temperature are you serving the food at?

We live in UAE. Now since he is feathered he is in room temperature which is around 26°C. The formula brand is NutriBird handfeeding formula. The temperature of the formula while feeding is uslly 48°-40°C. I took him to the breeder yesterday. But here in UAE there is no other option. He saw the bird. Smelt it and said he is completely fine. You are overfeeding him. His poop is fine so dont worry. But for some reason my intuition says something is wrong. Crop bra and papaya cream is my last resort. I will try papaya cream first according to tony sylva. But here we dont get unflavoured pedialyte. Is there any other alternative to it??
Thank you

 

[aysh]

. The temperature of the formula while feeding is uslly 48°-40°C

I meant 38°-41°

 

[aysh]

 

[aysh]

View attachment 375803 View attachment 375803 View attachment 375804

@Zara Thank you so kuch for your time. If i am beginning to give papaya cream is there sny precautions? I will be blending the papaya with homemade pedialyte i got from this forum. Should i give the papaya cream mixed with his formula??or as is? Wil his poop color change if i give papaya....i dont want to post another thread with this silly doubt. Do i have to empty his crop before giving papaya?? Because i tried emptying his crop manually but not able to do it. I am too scared to handle the baby....
Would be great if you could help me out. Thank you.

 

[Haroobom]

@Zara Thank you so kuch for your time. If i am beginning to give papaya cream is there sny precautions? I will be blending the papaya with homemade pedialyte i got from this forum. Should i give the papaya cream mixed with his formula??or as is? Wil his poop color change if i give papaya....i dont want to post another thread with this silly doubt. Do i have to empty his crop before giving papaya?? Because i tried emptying his crop manually but not able to do it. I am too scared to handle the baby....
Would be great if you could help me out. Thank you.

I'm no expert but recently took care of a baby tiel, I don't know what time zone you're in but If you can wait a few hours for the crop to go down I would advise that, the bird does not need another feeding if its crop it's still that full.
Take pictures of it as the day goes and see if it has gone down.
After it goes down feed it the papaya cream, (it worked for me)
I fed 100% papaya cream the first time, then I went down 20% as I added the formula.
Also papata can be messy and stick to the feathers, try to make a bib out of a napkin.

 

[aysh]

I'm no expert but recently took care of a baby tiel, I don't know what time zone you're in but If you can wait a few hours for the crop to go down I would advise that, the bird does not need another feeding if its crop it's still that full.
Take pictures of it as the day goes and see if it has gone down.
After it goes down feed it the papaya cream, (it worked for me)
I fed 100% papaya cream the first time, then I went down 20% as I added the formula.
Also papata can be messy and stick to the feathers, try to make a bib out of a napkin.

Thank you so much for your time. Yep. The problem is the time zone. After all the reading and researching and asking the vet and breeder i realized its probably because of overfeeding. I have put a crop bra on him. I dont even know if that the right way. However i want to try the papaya cream. The issue is i have waited and have not fed her for longer before but the crop never drains completely. I dont even know if the crop bra is of any use. I was scared to tie it tightly so its just there. Is there any way to know if the crop bra is fitted safely??
Not much info on site about crop bra fittings. So if the crop hasnt completely emptied and still there is food can i still feed the papaya cream??
Once u fed 100% papaya cream did the crop empty completely??
Did you face the same issue as my KIWI?? WHY did u feed ur bird papaya cream??
Thank you

 

[Zara]

So if the crop hasnt completely emptied and still there is food can i still feed the papaya cream??

Yes
Once the crop empties as much as it will, feed the papaya cream/pedialyte mix. Remember to warm it as if it were formula, to 39-40C.

 

[Haroobom]

Thank you so much for your time. Yep. The problem is the time zone. After all the reading and researching and asking the vet and breeder i realized its probably because of overfeeding. I have put a crop bra on him. I dont even know if that the right way. However i want to try the papaya cream. The issue is i have waited and have not fed her for longer before but the crop never drains completely. I dont even know if the crop bra is of any use. I was scared to tie it tightly so its just there. Is there any way to know if the crop bra is fitted safely??
Not much info on site about crop bra fittings. So if the crop hasnt completely emptied and still there is food can i still feed the papaya cream??
Once u fed 100% papaya cream did the crop empty completely??
Did you face the same issue as my KIWI?? WHY did u feed ur bird papaya cream??
Thank you

If you go on my profile you can find my posts about the subject, but my birds crop was not emptying, I had to massage the crop empty.
That meant putting the back of the bird against my palm and softly massaging the crop up until he emptied it.
It worked, but I'm sure it was tough on the bird, I would not reccommend doing it.
I did not do a crop bra. But if you already made one I would suggest waiting a few more hours and see if it's helping.
I read a post about someone who had overstretched their birds crop as well and waited 15 hours for it to absorb on it's own.
The bird I was taking care of was not weighed until days later so I found out I was overfeeding.
The best way to not overfeed is to go by bird weight and crop fullness, some say to let it empty, some say to feed before it empties. I'm not sure about which one is better.
And no, the papaya did not work immediately but it did work on the same day.

 

[Zara]

some say to let it empty, some say to feed before it empties. I'm not sure about which one is better.

Feeding when there ´s just a little formula left in the crop.
The crop should empty once completely per 24 hours (at night).

More info on handfeeding;

Less Is More Handfeeding & weaning Cockatiels

If this is your first time hand-feeding you may feel overwhelmed by what formula the feed, what type of utensil to are best to feed with, what you would put the babies in if you don’t have a...

www.ask-noodles.com

Article about crop bras;

Crop Bra

When the chick isn’t digesting food and the food is just sitting in the bottom of the crop, not going through the digestive tract. The contents become very sour and acidic, and the weight of the...

web.archive.org

 

[aysh]

@Zara @tka @haroo
Helo all...sorry for bothering you all with nin stop questions.
I fed KIWI papaya cream today morning with little formula.
But ever since feeding him papaya cream he has been adjusting his crop. Stretching the neck and opening his beak. He has been doing that very often.
Is that something to worry about?? Inhave never seen him adjust his crop before. I have given papaya cream with formula only once....so not much of a difference with the crop. However will see if any changes after all the feeds today.
Thank you all for ur support.

 

[Zara]

I fed KIWI papaya cream today morning with little formula.

Did you do the first time with only papaya cream and pedialyte mixed without formula?
Did his crop go down at all overnight?

 

[aysh]

Did you do the first time with only papaya cream and pedialyte mixed without formula?
Did his crop go down at all overnight?

@Zara yes his crop had gone down. But not emptied. I did not give papaya and pedialyte alone. I gave with the formula.
Is there any way to know if my lil KIWI is suffering from malnutrition.

 

[aysh]

@Zara yes his crop had gone down. But not emptied. I did not give papaya and pedialyte alone. I gave with the formula.
Is there any way to know if my lil KIWI is suffering from malnutrition.

In the morning his crop was not as full as it was at night.

 

[Zara]

I did not give papaya and pedialyte alone. I gave with the formula.

The instructions are to give without formula, then later slowly add in formula, and lessen the papaya mix until after 5 feeds they´re back on just formula.

I would start again, next feed, just give papaya cream/pedialyte mix. Then the one after, add in a little formula, and so on.

 

[aysh]

The instructions are to give without formula, then later slowly add in formula, and lessen the papaya mix until after 5 feeds they´re back on just formula.

I would start again, next feed, just give papaya cream/pedialyte mix. Then the one after, add in a little formula, and so on.

@Zara
Yes it was my mistake. He has never had anything apart from his formula so i was genuinely scared to feed the papaya as such. I will do as u have instructed. Thank you so much.
Any advice on malnutrition?? He is 70grm at 22 days old. But looks very think to me. When i see videos of other birds of his age they look plump. Or maybe its just how i feel.
Thank you so much

 

[Zara]

I cannot help with weights, maybe @BrianB will have some thoughts on that.

Be sure you have your brroder set to 60-65% humidity. That really can affect chicks development.

As your chick weighs 70g, he should be taking 7CCs per feeding, as he is having some issues, be sure not to overfeed.