Do chicks get constipated?

[Wildflower_VA]

Grit meant for chickens contains ONLY crushed gravel--mostly granite. Parakeet grit almost always contain calcium and other minerals meant for caged birds. Baby chickens can be killed by too much calcium intake. You don't even give laying hens food with extra calcium until they actually start to lay eggs. Since chick grit is readily available wherever you buy chicken feed, why not buy what is actually meant for them? Parakeets don't even need grit--they are usually given grit to get the extra calcium and minerals into the bird.

 

[wren]

PLEASE DON'T USE VASELINE! She could eat it and make the problem worse!

 

[bigtime400]

Ehhhh...There seems to be so much advice out there wether its good or bad....

I did try vaseline but she hasnt been pasting lately so I tried to use some soap and get it off..... I figured it cant be good her spreading it all over. So I used a little soap to clean her off. Her hind quarters still look a little oily but I got most of it off I think. I figured because it mats her feathers it would make her cold. No one said the vaseline would be bad for her.

Shes still alive. Doing ok..... still not as vigorous as the others.... but we will see.

I have been giving her a little sugar water with electrolyte occasionally. Seems she needs the energy. I was told that was ok..... not sure anymore.

 

[Nicole01]

Quote:
It sounds like your doing everything you can for her. I bet she will pull through this. I have had my chicks on probios and I'm real happy with the product. It's the same as giving yoguart. My Maple had pasty butt and all I did was wash it off, blow dry and cut the feathers on her rear end. She had the fuzziest feathers. My Maple is the smallest chick of them all. My first three have had a little respiratory thing going on. They all brought it home from the feed store. I'm sure the probios has helped them through this.

 

[bigtime400]

So now she has seemed to have swang the other way..... Now she seems to have diarrhea..... so what do you do for that??

 

[wren]

Sigh. She probably got diarrhea from eating the vaseline. The best food for a chick is the crumbled up yolk from a hard boiled egg. I would not give her sugar water. A probiotic would be good. Keep her clean and dry.

 

[bigtime400]

I gave her some Egg yoke. At first she didnt want the hard pieces so I mixed it in some of the water that has the proboitic in it. She loved it. Ate about 3 droppers full. Now she is napping. Hopefully she gets better soon. I will try to feed her again in a bit.

Now I just wait... for the next person to tell me a reason why I shouldnt have fed her egg yoke..

 

[GhostRider65]

Sweety you are doing all you can for your baby and that's wonderful, there are many many differing opinions on chicken raising, I have read so many arguements here about who is right and who is wrong, it's very confusing to us newbies, some swear by 1 thing another says don't do it....
I think she will be fine my PB constipated chick is fine after his/her enema's eats well drinks well is a bit smaller than the others but I think that's normal considering he/she didn't eat a few days, and was sick.
I just do things that my intuition says makes sense, rely on many threads worth of info and pray, you can do no more than that. Hope she comes through like a trooper. Kim

 

[wren]

If someone tells you that boiled crumbled egg yolk is bad for a chicken they are nuts! I will personally poke them in the eye. Zappo!

 

[dogeatsbone]

We had the same problem with our chickens. And do NOT stop trying to clean her vent. The only reason i say that is because if you do stop it will never get better. our chicken named ethel was having the same problem. So just keep wiping her butt. I have hope in you(and her)!