Hi all,
I have eleven 2-week-old chicks. Four of them are Barnevelders from the same place. Two of them came to me with some messy bottoms. After 2 days of cleaning, one chick was perfectly fine. The second chick, Peanut Butter aka PB aka That Poopy Butted One, is still having issues, and I'm wondering if there may be more going on with her.
My chicks are always kept on pine shavings, use a brooder plate, fed medicated chick starter for at least the first week, and have Nutridrench in their water every other day. She is a feed-store chick from Mt. Healthy. She is eating & drinking. She acts pretty normal, except that she spends far more time under the brooder plate than her same age peers. She is also noticably smaller than her same age peers and developing slower. I started adding ACV to her water two-days ago.
The messy bottom is less messy than it was initially, but I'm still washing her bum off daily. It's not crusty chunky poop, but instead dried liquid poop. When I've seen her poo, she has solid healthy-looking stools. Two days ago I noticed she had pooped a large solid stool, and it appeared to be dangling from her vent on a white sticky string-like substance (maybe urates? Is she dehydrated?). I know everyone enjoys poop pics, so I will go one further and give you a poop video!
During the time I was taking the poop video, I noticed she was shaking (trembling? shivering?). It was a warm day outside and she hadn't been out of the brooder more than a few minutes. In fact I'd started taking pics of my 2-day old Buckeye chicks and then brought PB out to join them, so they were out longer than she was and weren't shivering.
I also started to notice over the last couple days that after she poops, some liquidy stuff comes out after, almost as though it's dripping out of her. This appears to be what's sticking to her bottom. It's smelly and reminds of a dog's anal gland expression. I included a pic of her poop immediatley after I washed her hiney. You can see a solid stool, and a couple drips of liquid. Some of liquid was stuck in her (just cleaned) feathers already. She also did the trembling thing again, which you can see in the video (you can see it in her tail). Once again, I don't see a reason she should be excessively cold or stressed (her hiney is wet, but not soaked, she'd only been out for about 3 minutes, and we do this every day so it's not unfamiliar to her).
PB is currently living in a brooder with three 4-day old chicks. I moved her original flock to the outdoor brooder, but since she doesn't appear to be thriving, I thought she might do better with less competition and a safer space. However, I think I need to move her out soon. I have eggs hatching in 5 days that will be joining the current 4-day old chicks, and I'd rather she be with her same-age flock mates.
Here are some pics of her and her Buckeye friend for size comparison (no poop!). PB is more like the size of a 1 week old chick. My other 2-week olds looked like monsters next to these babies. Any ideas of why her butt is always poopy?
I have eleven 2-week-old chicks. Four of them are Barnevelders from the same place. Two of them came to me with some messy bottoms. After 2 days of cleaning, one chick was perfectly fine. The second chick, Peanut Butter aka PB aka That Poopy Butted One, is still having issues, and I'm wondering if there may be more going on with her.
My chicks are always kept on pine shavings, use a brooder plate, fed medicated chick starter for at least the first week, and have Nutridrench in their water every other day. She is a feed-store chick from Mt. Healthy. She is eating & drinking. She acts pretty normal, except that she spends far more time under the brooder plate than her same age peers. She is also noticably smaller than her same age peers and developing slower. I started adding ACV to her water two-days ago.
The messy bottom is less messy than it was initially, but I'm still washing her bum off daily. It's not crusty chunky poop, but instead dried liquid poop. When I've seen her poo, she has solid healthy-looking stools. Two days ago I noticed she had pooped a large solid stool, and it appeared to be dangling from her vent on a white sticky string-like substance (maybe urates? Is she dehydrated?). I know everyone enjoys poop pics, so I will go one further and give you a poop video!
During the time I was taking the poop video, I noticed she was shaking (trembling? shivering?). It was a warm day outside and she hadn't been out of the brooder more than a few minutes. In fact I'd started taking pics of my 2-day old Buckeye chicks and then brought PB out to join them, so they were out longer than she was and weren't shivering.
I also started to notice over the last couple days that after she poops, some liquidy stuff comes out after, almost as though it's dripping out of her. This appears to be what's sticking to her bottom. It's smelly and reminds of a dog's anal gland expression. I included a pic of her poop immediatley after I washed her hiney. You can see a solid stool, and a couple drips of liquid. Some of liquid was stuck in her (just cleaned) feathers already. She also did the trembling thing again, which you can see in the video (you can see it in her tail). Once again, I don't see a reason she should be excessively cold or stressed (her hiney is wet, but not soaked, she'd only been out for about 3 minutes, and we do this every day so it's not unfamiliar to her).
PB is currently living in a brooder with three 4-day old chicks. I moved her original flock to the outdoor brooder, but since she doesn't appear to be thriving, I thought she might do better with less competition and a safer space. However, I think I need to move her out soon. I have eggs hatching in 5 days that will be joining the current 4-day old chicks, and I'd rather she be with her same-age flock mates.
Here are some pics of her and her Buckeye friend for size comparison (no poop!). PB is more like the size of a 1 week old chick. My other 2-week olds looked like monsters next to these babies. Any ideas of why her butt is always poopy?
but also hopeful that the Corrid will help or she’ll get past it. I’ll treat the other same-age chicks in the other brooder too, just in case. I don’t think there’s harm in that.
