4 week old Chicken "cries out" when pooping.

[mkatz131]

We have a 4 week old chick who cries out in pain when pooping. She does not have pasty butt and is able to make a bowel movement but just lets out a couple of loud painful squawks when pooping. At first I thought she had an infection in her vent and we applied some antibiotic ointment just slightly inside her vent. Still, the screaming is going on, and I feel so bad for her. I am wondering if she might have a constriction inside the vent which would make it impossible to ever lay an egg. Finances are limited and do not permit taking one chicken to the vet for what surely would be hundreds of dollars of x rays, ultra sounds, etc. Please let me hear any thoughts. Our chickens are for pets and eggs only, not eating. This chick is a bantam with feathers on the legs, possibly a salmon favorolle. Our 1st experience raising chicks. Thanks.

 

[cheepsforkeeps]

Sounds like it's ingested something that it's having trouble passing? Hope someone has some solid advice for you. Good luck!

 

[mikki5]

My little Bantam was the same. We always new when she was pooping. I just tried to make sure she was drinking enough water, she didn't seem to drink as much as the other chicks and her poop looked drier than the others. Once I got her to drink more she seemed to stopping having so much trouble. I have heard some people put a little sugar in the water to get them to drink more, of course everything in moderation. You may want to check around on the site about the sugar.

 

[slickchik]

Anyone else know anything about this?

My three day bantam chick is doing the same thing... She peeps when trying to poop. But then poop comes out. I don't know what to do for her.

 

[gryeyes]

I have a little BR cockerel chick doing the same thing. He has pecked his butt naked, and he cheeps pretty loudly when he poops. It comes out okay, not hard poop, just regular poop. He WAS suffering from pasty butt for the first two days of his little life, but that stopped. He pecks at his vent to make sure the poop drops off. And he's pecked the feathers off his butt. This is the first time I've seen this.

 

[Suechick]

I'm no expert but I would try giving plain yogurt. They love it and it has a lot of fluid, that always seems to loosen up the poo in my chickens.

Maybe a little bit of olive oil would help lubricate things.

Hopefully as she grows everything will get bigger and she'll be more comfortable.

I wouldn't give up on her chances of laying eggs, I have one that I call a miracle chicken. I never thought she would live after she hatched, now she's full grown and a beautiful bird, but her first 3 weeks of life were touch and go.

Give her lots of TLC and hope for the best.

 

[mkatz131]

Thanks for all the great advice. To update, the chick grew out of it, finally stopped screaming and turned into a gorgeous buff brahma hen.

 

[MattalynsBarn]

I had this problem with one of my chicks, we would put Vaseline or antibiotics on her vent to lubricate it after every poo, and eventually tried changing her food and that did the trick. We had mash, but switched to crumbles. I've done the sugar water for chickens that are injured or what-not and it does seem to help.

 

[Dane68]

I realize it has been years since the last reply, but I am having the same issue with a 5-day-old Bantam Sebright. She's been extra-delicate compared to the other 6 chicks. At 2 days, I found her (during the night) sleeping on her back. Another chick was pecking her feet, which would startle her. She seemed weak and had trouble righting herself. I isolated her to a box (so that they couldn't pick on her), but I really didn't think she'd make it 'til morning. She did! Since then, we've cleaned her bottom several times to remove poop and poop-like "goo". Yesterday, she started squawking loudly every time she tries to poop. It's so sad. Last time I washed her bottom, I could see her pink vent skin very well. Too well, I think. Maybe she is sore? I isolated her again last night. This morning, she had "goo" on the feathers around her vent. No other signs of poop. We are already feeding all of them magic water and chick feed. I will try giving this one cooked egg yolk to see if it helps. This thread gives me hope that she will outgrow it... IF she doesn't get too weak to survive.

 

[ALeyva]

I realize it has been years since the last reply, but I am having the same issue with a 5-day-old Bantam Sebright. She's been extra-delicate compared to the other 6 chicks. At 2 days, I found her (during the night) sleeping on her back. Another chick was pecking her feet, which would startle her. She seemed weak and had trouble righting herself. I isolated her to a box (so that they couldn't pick on her), but I really didn't think she'd make it 'til morning. She did! Since then, we've cleaned her bottom several times to remove poop and poop-like "goo". Yesterday, she started squawking loudly every time she tries to poop. It's so sad. Last time I washed her bottom, I could see her pink vent skin very well. Too well, I think. Maybe she is sore? I isolated her again last night. This morning, she had "goo" on the feathers around her vent. No other signs of poop. We are already feeding all of them magic water and chick feed. I will try giving this one cooked egg yolk to see if it helps. This thread gives me hope that she will outgrow it... IF she doesn't get too weak to survive.

Any update on your hen? I have a hen who struggles with the same issues.