5 Day Old Chick: Straining, goopy poop, constipated??

[CoopBoots]

About five day old chick exhibiting spread legs, hunched posture, and goopy poop I have unplugged from her vent once today. She can poop but strains to do so, it's small and mostly white, and collects on her rear rather than exiting properly. She is cheeping in distress, rejecting water and food. Doesn't run or play, mostly stands. Been this way since 10 or 11 this morning with no improvement post initial cleanup.

She's in a brooder under heat lamps with cooler and warmer areas to choose from, around 95 degrees. Eating Dumor unmedicated 20% chick starter /grower, no grit, no other foods, on fluffy pine bedding. I did give them diluted nutridrench for the first three days, tapered to nothing now.

She's still pooping, but it's obviously an effort and doesn't seem to bring relief. Her vent looks a bit protruding as well. Aside from washing/gentle unplugging/Vaseline and trying to encourage drinking, what else could I do for her? I'll get pictures shortly.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you get a photo of her from the front or side?

I'd try soaking her bottom in a warm espom salts solution. See if that helps make her go.

Do work on hydration, getting the water into her is important. PND 2-3 drops twice a day would be good too.
She has a lot of urates which likely indicate dehydration. If she will willingly drink on her own that would be best, but if not, giving drop by drop water is the way to go - it's tedious and frustrating I know - been there done that!

Any swelling of the abdomen, discoloration of the abdomen, navel is closed, nothing oozing there?

 

[CoopBoots]

Well, she saw fit to anoint my kitchen rug with poo:

I choose to take browner poo as a sign of improvement, lol. She's very vocal in objecting to me and my methods, still good amount of energy/fight. I worry I'm stressing her but more worried about dehydration. Nutridrench and raw egg yolk taken in a smallish amount followed by some water until headshake. Going to try coconut oil next water break, and probably a bath if my youngest kid will nap properly.

 

[Eggcessive]

It does look like the umbilicus below, and her vent appears prolapsed a little. The prolapse can be caused by straining. Hopefully, the oil and food will help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Good advice by others. How does her crop feel? Has she been eating and drinking?

 

[azygous]

Is this chick half the size of the others by some chance? It is very similar to a failrure-to-thrive (FTT) chick I had years ago. Unfortunately, for such a chick, prognosis is poor due to immature organs. Live isn't able to keep up,the chick is always cold due to improper absorption of calories, and gizzard isn't muscular enough to handle digestion.

The others have all offered useful advice. Your chick probably has a 50% chance of making it. It needs a lot of help with extra feedings of protein such as crumbled tofu and finely minced hard boiled egg. Nitri-drench can be a huge help.

Continue to try to get coconut oil into her. Chill the oil until solid after dividing it into tiny pieces. Pry open the tiny beak and shove one piece at a time into the chick's right side of the beak. This way the oil will slip straight down into the crop.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She desperately needs a bath and to not be chilled while I do it--but I have two littles in the house demanding most of my attention. I'll try to make time soon... I don't see a navel problem but again, I might not be looking in the right spot.

When you have time to give her a clean-up, use a hair dryer to dry her well before she goes back in the brooder, this will help eliminate chills.

 

[azygous]

The purpose of hardboiling an egg and mincing it into the tiniest particles and sprinkled over the brooder floor, all the chicks may have it, this chick will instinctively pick up the particles whereas the instinct to eat out of a dish isn't as automatic.

Wing growth on such a troubled chick continues regardless of all other heath issues. It's when the wings grow to exceed the length of the little chick's body that you will be forced to notice how little the rest of its body has grown.

 

[CoopBoots]

Well, we had bath time. She, as usual, did NOT appreciate my efforts and made herself heard. If she lives her name is Karen, lol. One spot just doesn't budge and I got concerned that maybe this is her navel (am I crazy)?

Below the protruding pink vent. It's pretty "solid" and upon feeling that I stopped trying to do any more cleaning just there at all. Poor baby. Blowdryed gently, a little triple antibiotic on that spot in case I got germs in it (no idea if I can actually fix that but I was desperate), more nutridrench, more water, then back with her brood. She pecked at the egg sprinkled in the brooder but didn't seem to eat. Her spraddled stance* with legs apart is quite noticable now, and I'm really thinking it might have been an umbilical issue I just didn't see until now.

I realize we might have tried everything at this point, so I'll just continue trying to keep her comfortable and hydrated until she turns a corner one way or another...

 

[CoopBoots]

Good news first: Her fierce resistance has grown (but now I can barely get her to swallow even a DROP of medicine or water) and I'm still hoping that's a sign she eats and drinks when I'm not hovering nearby. I've seen her casually peck at food with her compatriots as well, although never very much, which is more than I was observing before.

Bad news: She is now obviously lagging behind in growth, as was suggested earlier, and her "pot belly" isn't improved. She's like a tiny little balloon almost in my hands, which becomes evident as I handle the other babies for comparison. She continues to complain regularly and cry until snuggled into the other chicks, at least until everyone goes to sleep.

Just staying the course for now.