MenelausMontrose
Chirping
Hello all,
I've got a 2-week old baby bantam Rhode Island Red female who's having persistent issues with constipation. This has been going on for about 4 days, and she is now smaller than her 4 growing sisters, none of whom have or have had any issues whatsoever. I also have 6 bantam Dominques who are doing fine.
Please see photos for pictures of her, her butt, her poop, her home, and her siblings.
She is pooping, but her poops are small and infrequent. She is usually hunched as if she wants to poop, and her vent is usually pulsing. She breathes heavy. Sometimes after I am able to get a bowel movement, she perks up for a while, but the constipation always returns, or perhaps just never clears up.
I have read read several threads here on chick constipation. Here are the details on what I have tried, and what my setup is.
1. We feed her chilled coconut oil chips regularly. She doesn't love them, but we offer them to her before we put wet food in the feeder for everyone. She usually only takes a few small bites. Minimum 3 pecks, sometimes as many as 10. This was only done 1-2 times per day in the beginning, but now we are trying to get the oil chips in her around 3-4 times per day.
2. I have been soaking her butt in epsom salt baths for 10-15 minutes a day when the coconut oil doesn't seem to be working. This has been on at least 3 of the last 4 days. This often induces a large bowel movement, but it did not do so today.
3. Yesterday I started gently applying olive oil to her vent with a q-tip. I do not insert the q-tip, and am instead gently applying as much as I can get on the head of the q-tip to the vent opening and any visible excrement. This seemed to produce a successful poop today.
As far as my setup goes:
1. There is dry food available 24/7, but we've been doing wet food 3-4 times per day to help with constipation, as the Dominiques had issues when they first arrived. Interestingly the baby in question did not have issues at all until recently, and the Dominiques are all doing great now. The food is MannaPro Medicated Chick Starter/Grower Crumbles. The only treats we give are boiled egg yolks, and yesterday, a dirt clod. The yolks are infrequent--no more than 1 yolk for all 11 chickens, and we haven't given them yolk for the last two days. We do not have chick grit in the brooder, but I assume the dirt clod may have provided some.
2. The brooder measures 5 square feet. This is small, but the bantams don't require as much room to the best of my knowledge. There are no pecking or bullying issues that we have observed.
3. The temperature for the last 3 days has been about 96 degrees Fahrenheit. I was keeping it at 105, but dropped it in hopes of helping this issue. The chickens have a hot zone and a cool zone, and happily move between them with no indication of temperature issues.
4. I have two quail/small bird waterers available for them. They frequently fling litter into the waterers, but we clean them regularly and there is always water available in at least 1.
5. The bedding is hemp, which I love--very little dust or odor, and it's super absorbent. No issues with them eating it as far as I can tell.
If you've made it through the wall of text, I have a couple of questions. Is there any way to force feed coconut oil? Is there anything else I can be doing for this chicken? 2 baths a day maybe? Are there any other anti-constipation remedies I can try.
?
I've got a 2-week old baby bantam Rhode Island Red female who's having persistent issues with constipation. This has been going on for about 4 days, and she is now smaller than her 4 growing sisters, none of whom have or have had any issues whatsoever. I also have 6 bantam Dominques who are doing fine.
Please see photos for pictures of her, her butt, her poop, her home, and her siblings.
She is pooping, but her poops are small and infrequent. She is usually hunched as if she wants to poop, and her vent is usually pulsing. She breathes heavy. Sometimes after I am able to get a bowel movement, she perks up for a while, but the constipation always returns, or perhaps just never clears up.
I have read read several threads here on chick constipation. Here are the details on what I have tried, and what my setup is.
1. We feed her chilled coconut oil chips regularly. She doesn't love them, but we offer them to her before we put wet food in the feeder for everyone. She usually only takes a few small bites. Minimum 3 pecks, sometimes as many as 10. This was only done 1-2 times per day in the beginning, but now we are trying to get the oil chips in her around 3-4 times per day.
2. I have been soaking her butt in epsom salt baths for 10-15 minutes a day when the coconut oil doesn't seem to be working. This has been on at least 3 of the last 4 days. This often induces a large bowel movement, but it did not do so today.
3. Yesterday I started gently applying olive oil to her vent with a q-tip. I do not insert the q-tip, and am instead gently applying as much as I can get on the head of the q-tip to the vent opening and any visible excrement. This seemed to produce a successful poop today.
As far as my setup goes:
1. There is dry food available 24/7, but we've been doing wet food 3-4 times per day to help with constipation, as the Dominiques had issues when they first arrived. Interestingly the baby in question did not have issues at all until recently, and the Dominiques are all doing great now. The food is MannaPro Medicated Chick Starter/Grower Crumbles. The only treats we give are boiled egg yolks, and yesterday, a dirt clod. The yolks are infrequent--no more than 1 yolk for all 11 chickens, and we haven't given them yolk for the last two days. We do not have chick grit in the brooder, but I assume the dirt clod may have provided some.
2. The brooder measures 5 square feet. This is small, but the bantams don't require as much room to the best of my knowledge. There are no pecking or bullying issues that we have observed.
3. The temperature for the last 3 days has been about 96 degrees Fahrenheit. I was keeping it at 105, but dropped it in hopes of helping this issue. The chickens have a hot zone and a cool zone, and happily move between them with no indication of temperature issues.
4. I have two quail/small bird waterers available for them. They frequently fling litter into the waterers, but we clean them regularly and there is always water available in at least 1.
5. The bedding is hemp, which I love--very little dust or odor, and it's super absorbent. No issues with them eating it as far as I can tell.
If you've made it through the wall of text, I have a couple of questions. Is there any way to force feed coconut oil? Is there anything else I can be doing for this chicken? 2 baths a day maybe? Are there any other anti-constipation remedies I can try.
?
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