Betty, you didn't mention what you've been feeding Chook to put weight
back on him, so thought I'd pass along something that worked for us.
 
When Einstein was "off his feed" temporarily (still not sure why, couldn't
find anything wrong with him), we took the advice of the venerable Bob
Church and fed him 2 spoonfuls of heavy whipping cream 2 times a day.
 
That's _whipping_ cream (no sugar added), not _whipped_ cream (the stuff
with added sugar you put on pumpkin pie).  I know there's been confusion
on the list in the past concerning this, so thought I'd spell it out
carefully.
 
Heavy whipping cream can be found in the dairy section of your supermarket.
I buy it in half pints, they cost less than a dollar around here.
Virtually all of the calories in heavy whipping cream are from fat, and it
is amazing how much it can help put weight back on.
 
Einstein really liked it.  Rather than using a syringe like we do for
medicine, I let him lick it out of a soup spoon (which was so successful
a delivery method with him that I now use it for all but the most "yucky"
medicines).  2 spoonfuls twice a day seemed to be enough for him, and low
enough in lactose that he didn't get diarrhea.
 
Einstein was still eating some regular food, so your situation is quite
different, but maybe you could try using whipping cream to supplement
whatever else Chook is eating to give you a little breathing room while
you try to find out why he's not eating.
 
Good Luck!
 
Janna & Aron
Einstein, Daisy, and Bandit
 
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* This must be Thursday; I never could get the hang of Thursdays.     *
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*                                       - Arthur Dent                 *
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[Posted in FML issue 2591]