Chick can't poop?

AnimalLover99

Songster
7 Years
Apr 26, 2012
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I received an order of 13 chicks from ideal poultry yesterday and one of them arrived with spraddle leg. I made a sort of hobble out of a sponge with 2 holes, it can stand up and sort of hop around, so idk if the spraddle leg will be fixed or not. But now it seems like the bigger problem is this chick hasn't pooped on its own since I got it. I tried giving it some olive oil, but it was very hard to do and most of it got on his face. His vent is not obstructed from the outside so it is not pasty butt. There was a large puffy lump under his vent and I was worried he would die if I did nothing, so I squeezed it (carefully) and a ton of poop came out. I had hope this would clear any blockage and he could poop on his own now, but he still hadnt about 5 hours later and he was eating and drinking (not as much as a normal chick tho because of its legs). I squeezed it again and more poop came out. I'm not sure why this chick cannot poop on its own. I know you're not supposed to squeeze it because it can cause damage but I didn't want to just let him die. Is there anything I can do to get him pooping on his own? I can't really squeeze it twice a day for the rest of its life
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also does anyone know how long to leave the splint on for spraddle leg? If he makes it that long
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Dissolve some coconut oil and hold it under this chick's beak and see if it will take a healthy sip. You really need to get some oil into its system. Take an eye dropper and very carefully squirt a bit into the vent so you have lubrication at both ends.

You did fine by expelling the poop the way you did and correct in thinking this chick needs to start pooping on its own.

Try mixing some coconut oil into its moistened chick crumbles, and make them wet so you get as much liquid into the chick as possible.

Also, massage a bit of coconut oil onto the delicate vent tissue to prevent inflammation. Olive oil isn't as good as coconut oil for this situation, but it will do if you can't get the coconut oil.
 
I got it to drink some coconut oil and I put some on its vent. It didn't poop so I squeezed again and all that came out was oil, so it seems he's not eating at all anymore. I'm going to try and give him scrambled egg now, but he doesn't look good.
 
I tried giving him some yoghurt and scrambled egg, he seems to weak to eat. He just closes his eyes when I hold him and he can't stand up anymore. I'm thinking of just putting him out of his misery, I don't know what else to do for it.
 
I've decided I'm going to cull it, I can't stand to see it suffering. Unless anyone has any last minute miracle cures?
 
You're doing the right thing. I was in your shoes last summer with a chick just like yours, and I decided to euthanize her when it was obvious she was only getting worse and seemed to be suffering, too. Just know you're not alone.
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