Handfeeding slow crop

Question
I have a four week old chick that so far it has ended up with slow crop twice. The first time I started with a baking soda mix. I was told to mix an 1/8 tsp of salt, 1/8 tsp of baking soda, and 1 TBS of sugar. And get that mix to the temp of the formula. I did that, but it did seem to help that much. Then I was told to just keep massaging the crop and let it got for 9 to 12 hours with out eating. Well the crop started working and did fine for a week. But now it has slowed down again. Maybe even stoped. What else can I do? can I give this little fellow staight plain yogart at formula temp? I have been handfeding for a year now. And I have never had this to happen before.I am feeding 7 chick at this time and this is the only one with this problem.. Please Help Fast!Thank You and God Bless  

Answer
Hi, Linda.  Thanks for posting.

I don't know how the mix of salt, baking soda and sugar could help.  These are all things not good for parrots.

You need to ascertain if the crop is just slow or has stopped completely...can make a big difference in how you handle the situation.  Slow crop can result when there is some type of bacterial or yeast problem in the crop.  Usually, slow crop or complete crop stasis is the result of handfeeding formula not being hot enough when FED to the baby (formula must be 102-104 deg F when FED) and/or the baby isn't being kept warm enough so that the crop can metabolize food.  Sometimes, the food will harden completely in the crop.  Another thing that occurs is that the formula isn't mixed thoroughly enough, i.e., the formula appears to be thin enough when fed, but thickens up as it sits in the warm crop waiting to be metabolized.  If the formula is too thick, it takes longer to digest in the crop.  

Massaging the crop is good if the food in the crop is hard, but you have to add water first (at the same temp as you would feed food) so when you massage the crop, the combination of warm water with the hardened food results in the food becoming soft again and allows the baby to digest the food.  You could try yogurt, but I would recommend you try a liquid nutritional supplement, such as Ensure Plus or a store brand name (such as Wal Mart's Equate Plus or Walgreen's Plus).  These supplements have plenty of calories and complete nutrition to keep the baby thriving while giving the crop a chance to recover.  You can also use Pedialyte as a water source (Pedialyte is for human infants) to ensure the baby does not dehydrate.  You must watch for dehydration when a baby's crop isn't working correctly...dehydration can kill faster than an illness.  

There are other more drastic measures you can take if necessary.  However, I hesitate passing this information on because it takes an experienced breeder/handfeeder to not cause additional harm when following these procedures.  Do you know anything about emptying the crop via the mouth or by using a gavage tube?  Don't try this if not because you can kill a bird right away if you don't know what you are doing.  

If you are handfeeding 7 chicks, it could be that this particular one might not be staying as warm as it should be, this baby could have caught some type of illness somehow and this is why the crop isn't working properly, etc.  I recommend you feed this baby small amounts 5-6 times or more per day than try handfeeding a larger amount 3-4 times per day.  The crop sometimes works better when there's a small amount in it than a huge amount.  Also, feeding smaller amounts more often will ensure the warm formula processes through the crop quickly.  You might want to separate this baby from the others, too, to ensure if it's ill, it doesn't pass illness to the others and/or ensure the baby stays warm enough.

Come back if you need to.  I hope the baby gets better.  Thanks.  

Chrys