This is a wonderful video and the vet gives easy to follow instructions for the novice:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Due to link no longer active.

 

New links above.

Edited September 30, 201113 yr by Daz

excellent to have on hand Karen!!!! we've been needing something showing this!

Very informative... looks like it would be scary to do the first few times

Great video, saved to my file, haven't cropped a budgie for a while, good refresher!

Karen very good. This is something that all breeders should know how to do. It comes in handy when the need to medicate or feed your sick bird.

 

It is always best to have a vet show you how to do it first.

 

A few things not said in that video.

 

1. Make sure that you finger or thumb is not on the plunger at any time except when you are ready to administer the formula.

2. Make sure that the crop needle goes into the crop and not the wind pipe. There is little or no effort needed when the needle goes down. If you feel a restriction, remove the needle and reposition it.

3. Make sure the crop needle is in the crop by 90% before administering the formula.

 

 

.....and do it slowly. There is no need to hurry. The bird is in little or no discomfort if done right.

ELLY ADD THIS TO FAQ .... HEHE

Fantastic Karen ......

Excellent find! I agree, very useful and we've really needed something like this.

 

I'd like to add some points and tips to what Daz said:

 

-Measure roughly the distance to the crop from the beak, using the tube, before you put it in the mouth. This gives you an idea of how far you should be going/when to stop putting the needle in.

-Aim for the back of the mouth to start with (not down where you think the oesophagus goes). The entrance to the windpipe is in the centre at the base of the tongue. Make you sure you roll over the tongue and don't aim straight down at it.

-When you think you're in the crop, give it a gentle wiggle. You should be able to see the tip moving at the skin. You should be able to feel it easily with your finger. (The windpipe has cartilage rings on it and it is harder to feel the tip if it goes in there).

-Use a 16 gauge needle. The volume of a budgie's crop is about 1-2mL so don't exceed this.

-Eject the formula slowly- aside from keeping yourself calm, if you go too fast the liquid may come back out.

 

I too would advise watching someone else do it and then have them watch you while you try it - like a vet or an experienced breeder. It can be scary the first time but it gets much easier when you have the feel for it.

Edited March 22, 200817 yr by Chrysocome

Excellent and about time something came out on video for the newbies to crop feeding. My only add on is when in position and the tube about to go down into the crop...go slowly and it usually finds its own way there with no resistance. Any forcing or popping sounds and its goodbye birdie...so take it easy, calm yourself...the first few times are the hardest...once you have the hang of it, there's no looking back and its a skill everyone should learn for emergency feeding of babies and for administering meds so you dont aspirate a bird.

 

 

PS I use a 14 guage 3 inch straight needle and I have a smaller one for under 2 week old birds.

Edited March 22, 200817 yr by KAZ

Thats a fantastic video... This, with some work experience at a good breeders or vets place doing it would do wonders for beginner breeders. But no matter how much you watch/read... nothing teaches you quite like hands on...

Very true. As "luck" would have it I needed to use this skill the very next morning after watching the video.

Darned if I didn't freak out at first but after a false start - the crop needle was blocked - I managed to get it perfect the second time.

Good point Karen! I didn't think about that- must make sure to test the needle first.

 

Kaz - I just read that you and other forum members here use the 14G. My notes say 16 but if you've all used it succesfully then I will have to agree. With a bigger ball, 14 would be harder to get into the windpipe.

One thing to add is to know the needle capacity. Giving medication you need to be exact. The capacity of the needle PLUS the syringe is the total amount being administered. If you go off the Syringe you will overdose.

One thing to add is to know the needle capacity. Giving medication you need to be exact. The capacity of the needle PLUS the syringe is the total amount being administered. If you go off the Syringe you will overdose.

I pull all meds into the syringe without the needle attached and then put the needle on...that way all meds are accurate.

That's what I did too - but squirted out a fraction prior to inserting into the bird to test the needle again.

 

 

If you have an older budgie in your aviary, you can practice on that budgie.

WOW Kaz, thank you, he makes it look so easy...

 

I would want to be shown how first I think, but once I am shown your idea to do it on an older avairy bird is great.....

WOW Kaz, thank you, he makes it look so easy...

 

I would want to be shown how first I think, but once I am shown your idea to do it on an older avairy bird is great.....

Being shown and practising is the better way to go

man i hate needles

 

gives me shivers everytime i see this being done

 

its the vets for me i cant do it but im sure if i had to i would the needles and stuff are well worth having on hand

 

great vid

The thing is a crop needle has a real blunt end...the word needle puts people off

I hate calling it a needle because of the connotations people have with it, I prefer calling it a crop tube. I like to remind people that it's basically a stomach tube.

 

One thing to add is to know the needle capacity. Giving medication you need to be exact. The capacity of the needle PLUS the syringe is the total amount being administered. If you go off the Syringe you will overdose.

I pull all meds into the syringe without the needle attached and then put the needle on...that way all meds are accurate.

 

Only just read this bit. If you do this you will underdose unless you suck up some air and push out the last bit of medicine sitting in the tube. If you draw it up with the tube on, you push exactly what you need through and the excess stays in the tube when you take it out of the crop. Does that make sense? Otherwise, if you draw up your dose then put the crop tube on, you'll find some medicine stays inside the tube when you take it out of the crop. This is especially a problem if it's a small amount of medicine you're giving - you may find a proportion of it stays in the tube if the amount you're giving is too small.

Of course it's a different story if you draw it up with the tube on and push the last bit out of the tube with air. As you said this will be an overdose.

Edited October 14, 200915 yr by Chrysocome

I draw up meds through my syringes without the crop needle in place. its put on after. So the dose will be exact......yes ?

Let's say you've drawn up exactly 3ml according to the syringe and then put the (empty) needle on. Let's say the capacity of the needle is 1ml (it's not, but it's easier to understand). When you push the plunger down to "2ml", 1ml goes into the needle yes? It doesn't just fall out of the needle; the liquid will stick to inside of the needle and it stays there unless you push it out. So according to your syringe you've pushed 1ml out of the syringe, you think it's gone into the bird when in fact 1ml is sitting in the needle and hasn't entered the bird at all. It will only leave the needle if you push it out with the plunger.

When you push the plunger down all the way to "0", your syringe says that 3ml has left the syringe: 2ml goes into the bird, 1ml stays in the needle.

Does that make sense? I can draw a picture if it's easier.

Edited October 21, 200915 yr by Chrysocome

Im a nursing student and when we draw up meds, you draw up the capacity of the needle on top of the required meds. When you attach the needle, yuo push the plunger down to the desired level of medication and then inject. This should allow you to deliver the required dose and the remainder in the needle is not necessary since you accounted for it in the first place and only the desired amount of medication has passed through, leaving whatever is in the needle free to be disposed.

 

Eg 1ml capacity needle, 3 ml meds required = draw up 4-5 ml of meds. Add need, push out air and liquid until the bung reaches 3ml line, then inject patient.

Yeah, I do the exact same thing but draw up what I need through the needle. It works the same way. 1ml in needle + 3ml in syringe. Push plunger down = 3ml in bird + 1ml in needle.

I suppose it doesn't matter greatly in this case as most of the drugs we use in birds don't require exact dosing we don't use massive crop needles.

Edited October 21, 200915 yr by Chrysocome

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