Poultry - How To Syringe Liquids and Meds Orally

*** Poultry - How To Syringe Liquids and Meds Orally? ***

We often get asked how to syringe liquids or meds orally to poultry without causing them any harm? Sadly poultry get ill which requires us keepers to syringe liquids or meds orally, but there is a right way and a wrong way and the wrong way can lead to death through aspiration, so here we look at the right way and give you guidance on how to.

*** Why give liquids or meds orally ***

When your bird is ill and needs medication, it may be administered in several ways. Your vet may inject your bird with medication. Alternatively, you may be sent home with medication that you will have to administer to the bird yourself. These medications are generally administered either in the water or orally. For medications that need to be given at home, oral administration is usually the best way to go. While your vet may offer you the opportunity to administer the medication in the water, you will give your bird a much better chance of recovery and survival if you can manage to administer the medication orally. When you put medications in the water, you lose all control over dosage, since you don't know how much your bird drinks. Sick birds drink less water than healthy birds. In addition, many medications change the taste of the water, which may result in your bird avoiding the water and therefore the medication. Combine all of these factors and you have a bird that is sick, dehydrated and on top of all that, not getting its meds!!! This can be a recipe for disaster. The thought of orally medicating your bird may seem intimidating, especially if he/she is not tame. However, learning this valuable skill can save your bird's life. It's worth a try, and you may find that it is not as challenging as you expected.

*** What you need to know before you begin ***

Before you begin medicating your bird, make sure that you are up to the task, if not then get someone who is. Make sure the medication instructions are 100% clear to you. Make sure you know your cc's from your ml's.

*** Tips for medicating orally ***

• Shake any meds or liquids well before use
• Make sure you finish the full course
• Make sure there an no bubbles in the prepared syringe
• Make sure there is no needle on the syringe

Peahen

*** How To ***

Here is a photo example of how to syringe liquids or meds into poultry orally. This photo shows you an example of syringing meds into a peahen.

You will ALWAYS need to...

• Wrap your chicken/poultry in a towel to avoid movement and wriggling.
• Get a helper (if required)
• Syringe down the left hand side of the beak (as shown), this avoids the lungs and the danger of aspiration, (the bird's left, not your left).
• Make sure the tongue needs is flat and not raised in the air.
• Syringe small amounts allowing the bird to swallow by itself.

*** TOP TIP *** If you cannot get anyone to help and you struggle open the beak then give the wattles a gentle pull as this will help open the beak. 

*** After Syringing ***

• If your bird's face is covered in medicine, you can use a cloth dipped in warm water to gently wipe the feathers, if this is not too upsetting to the bird. Try not to get the bird too wet, and make sure that the room is nice and warm if you do, so that your bird does not catch a chill from being wet. If your bird's feathers are really sticky and bothersome to him/her (as they can become after a few days or weeks of meds), you can use an extra syringe to gently and quickly squirt warm water into the sticky feathers. This may help to clean them up.
• Offer your good bird a treat, if he/she is interested for being good, they are more likely to be accepting next time round.
• Spend time with your bird. Don't leave things on a bad note. Not only will this comfort his/her current miserable mood, but it may make it easier to medicate your bird the next time if the medication session ended on a good note. 
• Talk to your bird to calm, relax and reassure. 
• Rinse out the syringe several times in hot water. Push the plunger in and out of the syringe to get out any water that is inside. Remove the plunger and let the two pieces dry separately. Keep them in a clean place until the next time you need them.

*** Preventing stress during restraint and administration of liquids or meds ***

Giving your bird oral medication can really help to ensure proper dosage and good recovery from illness. But if your bird is so stressed by this procedure that it has a heart attack, then that obviously defeats the purpose of medicating your bird orally. Only you can determine whether or not your bird can handle the procedure. Throughout the restraint and administration of the medication, remain calm, and try not to let the bird see if you are stressed, as this will only stress your bird further. Watch for the following signs of stress, and stop if you think that your bird cannot handle what is going on.

• Excessive struggling
• Panting / Gasping for air
• Overheating
• Loss of feathers
• Weakness of Limpness (stop immediately if your bird goes limp or stops moving altogether).

Most birds will struggle when being medicated, but some will have high levels of stress, and some will have relatively low levels. If you are concerned that your bird's stress level is too high, you may want to ease your hold, give the bird a moment to rest, stop panting and cool down a bit, and then try again. Or you may want to put the bird back in its cage/coop for a few minutes or even an hour, and then try again later. This may give your bird the break it needs, or it may make the bird even more stressed due to repeatedly being restrained and dragging the whole thing out. You need to determine how much force to use. This is where you need to use your own best judgment, and trust your instinct. If you're reading this (and especially if you've read this far!), it's because you care about your bird, and if you care about your bird, then you are the best judge of what he/she can handle. I really believe that the majority of birds can successfully be medicated orally, but if you've given it your best shot and it really isn't working out for you or the bird, then you should look at other ways of getting the medication into your bird. If you are lucky, then maybe you can soak the correct dosage into a little piece of bread that your bird might eat in its entirety (not so likely, but it's worth a try). 

*** Ask your vet for advice ***

If you really have to go to water meds, ask the veterinary clinic to prepare a new batch of meds to be administered in the water, and make sure you know the correct dosage for your drinker. You may not even have to bring the bird in again, since the illness has already been diagnosed, and you just need a new way to get the medication into your bird. If you do go to water meds, watch your bird's water consumption. If the water tastes strange and your bird avoids it, he/she may end up in worse shape - dehydrated and sick, as mentioned above.

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