1week old chick - poo stuck at the bottom and can't get it clean

[chip in adelaide]

Please help. Poo stuck and chick and mother were pecking the bottom so I separated them. I have dipped the bottom in warm water three times so far but seems like can't get it off completely.
Do I have to keep dip in warm water until the bottom gets clean and pink? I also used cotton swab dipped in olive oil to make it soften but it is not working.
Should I dip in warm water again and pick gently with a tweezers or something??

 

[PNWhomesteader]

yes, i would just keep working at it... one time we had a chick that died from "pasty butt", getting backed up .. more recently we had a chick that had a poopy butt and i worked gentle for quite sometime, without much luck.. i eventually pulled it off with my finger and ended up pulling off some of the fluff and leaving a bit of a bald spot.. but the chick didn't have a problem after that good luck!

 

[ChickNanny13]

Are you sure it's poo & not the navel? Can't make it out too well.
Keep soaking in warm water & try breaking it up, it will break up. You may have to pull gently as PNWhomesteader did.
You need to figure out what's causing the pasty butt. Is it the only one? It could be too warm in the brooder, it could be over crowding/stress in the brooder ... What are you feeding? You could put some ACV in the water (1T/gal), won't hurt any of your chicks.

 

[N Sully]

Like chicknanny13 said, make sure it’s not the navel. I was confused when I first got chicks.

 

[chip in adelaide]

thanks everyone. we have only this one chick and i am letting mother to do the job so there is no heat lamp. We are in Australia and summer here now, very warm, but I see the chick going under the mum to warm up.
I separated chick from its mum but they seems very agitated being separated. I put them back together earlier to see but the mother was pecking chick's bottom pretty hard so I separated again, in case the mother peck the bottom to bleed. The chick was trying to peck own bottom too. So it is probably still not cleared. I will give it a wash again.

I was given Blue colored very small egg which supposed to be a special breed. The chick is probably 2/3 the size of the bantam chicks so it is quite hard to see the rear end but entire bottom was covered with crusty poo this morning. After few wash, I can now see the area, where poo should be coming bout, just right under the tail but the buttocks rim is still covered with crust so I cannot tell if the passage (butt hole) is cleared or not. I will wash again and take a photo.

 

[sevenfatcows]

Just hold chick's rear end under a gentle steam of lukewarm water a few minutes and it will get clean. Then pat dry and,if you want, use a blow dryer-just be careful it does not get too hot. I use the dryer myself just to keep other chicks from pecking at the damp area. Usually the mother hens keep their chicks' bums clean but you may need to keep and eye on this one for a while. Indoors I usually follow the wash up with a bit of mineral oil but I think outside it would just attract more dirt. Good luck with it!

 

[chip in adelaide]

i washed again but has not improved much. the chick had some food but no sign of poo. how often does chick poo? my daughter is sitting beside chick and im feeling hopeless!

 

[chip in adelaide]

Thanks again everyone. Finally the chick pooed!
but it was stuck to the butt so I cleaned with warm water again and the poo fell off quite easily. The bottom looks quite sore so I am going to keep inside over night.

Thank you again for your help.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

Use a gentle damp wash rag and carefully rub the area to try and break off the poo, but be careful not to hurt the chick.

 

[chip in adelaide]

Are you sure it's poo & not the navel? Can't make it out too well.
Keep soaking in warm water & try breaking it up, it will break up. You may have to pull gently as PNWhomesteader did.
You need to figure out what's causing the pasty butt. Is it the only one? It could be too warm in the brooder, it could be over crowding/stress in the brooder ... What are you feeding? You could put some ACV in the water (1T/gal), won't hurt any of your chicks.

I am feeding baby chick food I purchased from a pet store. I have added some oats and broccoli flower buds bits. They are free range half of the day so they also peck in the garden.
I saw the mother crushes her adult feed for the chick. I believe they have different formula between adult and chick feed?? Should I just feed chick feed to both mother and the chick?