JuniperEats
In the Brooder
- Jan 31, 2021
- 6
- 17
- 26
Hi! I am new to hatching and chickens in general, but the short story is I ordered 6 hatching eggs, incubated them, and 3 were pipping right on time on day 21. Two chicks zipped and hatched beautifully, they are healthy, eating, and definitely in the toddler stage of chick shenanigans. The 3rd took FOREVER to hatched and even though it kicked the shell off mostly on its own after 26-28 hours from the first pip. I did help b/c of what I can only assume was some shrink wrapping (I miscalculated hatch day and opened the incubator briefly to add water on Day 19 
). Chick 3's membrane was hard like glue and she was stuck so I searched here, used some coconut oil, and got her unstuck. Popped her back in the incubator and although she seemed exhausted, she was fine. I first noticed a problem the next day when I transferred to the brooder. She was noisier than the others, had pasted vent and her belly didn't look right, but I thought it might be because of the assistance to get the dried membrane off and the loss of some down.
When she was 3 days old she was still having a messy bottom and smelled terrible so I soaked her bottom, gently clean it and sprayed the exposed skin and vent with Vetericyn, put triple antibiotic ointment on her navel that didn't have much down around it, separated her into sickbay (paper towel floor and heating pad near the brooder) and added Save A Chick probiotics to the water. During this time she was still eating and drinking fine but was still preferring to stay under the heat plate.
Today she's 1 week old and I'm still cleaning her bottom twice a day and using all the things listed above. She sounds happy like the others, she's preening, and exploring her sickbay box, still eating and drinking, but clearly small and having poo issues - nothing lands on the floor, it's white and brown sticky stuff all over her bum. I'm worried about her and have basically armchair diagnosed her with Mushy Chick and/or Failure to Thrive. Or maybe she's just a weakling? Or I've done TOO much and just need to leave the poor girl alone?
I've attached a couple of photos from this morning post-Vetericyn/olive oil/antibiotic ointment treatment.
). Chick 3's membrane was hard like glue and she was stuck so I searched here, used some coconut oil, and got her unstuck. Popped her back in the incubator and although she seemed exhausted, she was fine. I first noticed a problem the next day when I transferred to the brooder. She was noisier than the others, had pasted vent and her belly didn't look right, but I thought it might be because of the assistance to get the dried membrane off and the loss of some down.When she was 3 days old she was still having a messy bottom and smelled terrible so I soaked her bottom, gently clean it and sprayed the exposed skin and vent with Vetericyn, put triple antibiotic ointment on her navel that didn't have much down around it, separated her into sickbay (paper towel floor and heating pad near the brooder) and added Save A Chick probiotics to the water. During this time she was still eating and drinking fine but was still preferring to stay under the heat plate.
Today she's 1 week old and I'm still cleaning her bottom twice a day and using all the things listed above. She sounds happy like the others, she's preening, and exploring her sickbay box, still eating and drinking, but clearly small and having poo issues - nothing lands on the floor, it's white and brown sticky stuff all over her bum. I'm worried about her and have basically armchair diagnosed her with Mushy Chick and/or Failure to Thrive. Or maybe she's just a weakling? Or I've done TOO much and just need to leave the poor girl alone?
I've attached a couple of photos from this morning post-Vetericyn/olive oil/antibiotic ointment treatment.
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