Quick Gel - Refrigerate?

[Sunbay]

Arrrgh!

I have a slightly puffed Purple Grenadier hen. Caught and gave her some calcium, under heat in a hospital cage. Eating and active, and wanting OUT - I may be over-reacting a bit!

Anyway - looked at my tube of Dr. Rob Marshall's Quik Gel, that I have in my "ER Bird Box", and noticed it said "keep refrigerated". It's not old, bought it maybe 2 months ago. The gel itself is kind of a light tan color. Obviously very "sugary".

Does everyone else keep theirs in the fridge? Do I need to toss and buy another tube? It's not cheap.

Honestly, I think a drop or so of Glucose drops, (for diabetics from the drug store), would/could have the same benefits.

Thoughts, comments?

Lauren

[Sally]

I haven't used Quick Gel, so can't comment on it, except that it is expensive. I have been known to keep things at room temperature when the bottle says refrigerate after opening, just didn't see that instruction. But then I am from a generation whose mother kept a ceramic container on the stove for her bacon grease. It was never refrigerated, she dipped into it frequently when cooking. We also kept a dish of butter on the kitchen table 24/7, it was always nice and soft and ready to spread on bread, etc. At Thanksgiving time, there was no room in the refrigerator for the pumpkin pies, they sat on top of the washer in the utility room. And of course the stuffing went into the turkey, not in a casserole dish! I'm rambling, but my point is that I think sometimes we go overboard on some things today. I was tossing medicines when they expired, till a friend from this forum told me that was not necessary at all, the medicine was still good. Saved me a lot of money.

That's a good idea for the glucose. The whole idea of sugar is for a quick boost to the system, so that might work for our birds.

As far as your hen, mine are all coming into breeding condition, so she might need a little extra calcium and heat.

[Sunbay]

LOL Sally - Growing up in our family, the butter was just always 'out' too. We seemed to have survived.

How can you tell when the PG hen is coming into breeding condition? Beak color change? Nest building/redecorating?
My first try with these. Keeping everything crossed.

My other pair, the hen sings quite a bit. Very sweet. Getting lots of egg food, mealies, veggies and fruit, I love them. They are so calm, compared to the smaller guys.

I will hang on to the Qik-Gel. Hopefully not refrigerating it didn't turn into some sort of horrible poison. I really don't think so. It looks good, and I tasted it. Sweet.

Thanks, and keep us up to date on your PG's please!

Lauren

[finchmix22]

I refrigerate my Quick-Gel, but I'm not sure it helps keep it longer. My tube didn't last as long as I thought it should and eventually I had to throw it out because it turned a dark amber/brown, compared to the normal light gold color.

[Sally]

Sunbay

Normally, the top beak of the Gren hens will gradually turn darker, getting almost black, and that tells me they are in breeding condition. However, the new wild-caught hen recently laid an egg on the floor of the cage, and her beak has not changed color at all! But this is breeding season, my other hens are getting dark beaks. I would go ahead and give them some coco fiber, hay, and feathers and see if they want to build a nest. The one thing to watch for is if the male comes into breeding condition and the hen does not, he may get really aggressive with her. He may chase and pluck, just watch for too much chasing or plucking. Mine are in 40x20x20 cages, so the hen doesn't have much room to get away from the male--it may not be so bad in a bigger flight.