Baby Chick Poop Problem

[4chickens1girl]

So I just these 4 baby chicks four days ago and today I started to notice that my Rhode Island Red is having a poop problem. I haven't actually seen this process happen but whenever I go to check on them I notice on her butt there is a short poop stick hanging out.

I'm starting to get worried because its happening more and more. I pull it off whenever I see one but now i don't know if i should be alarmed. At first it was just like he had diarrhea and it was sticking to his feathers so i would just wipe it off with warm water and a cloth. She's eating normal baby chick food with all the right ingredients (I checked) and theres plenty of water, and none of my other chicks have this problem. All of the girls are about a couple weeks old and when I got them showed know signs of this problem. And its hard to look to see if anything is wrong with her butt because the diarrhea is causing the feathers around it to clump together and become messy and sticky.

And also theres one thing also to let you know on the first day i got them when i was setting up there area for them to live in the heat lamp slipped from the side and the metal part might have hit the Rhode Island Red

(the one with this poop problem) Im not quiet sure if it hit her but im pretty sure it did because I was watching it but I only saw this happen out of the conner of my eye but Im almost 90% positive it did, but she seamed to be fine she was walking fine she was eating drinking and perfectly normal (oh and the lamp was off so it was not hot)

Please help Im really worried for my little girl

... Thanks sooo much!!!!!!!!!

 

[emys]

The lamp had nothing to do with it. This is pretty normal - do a search for pasty butt and you will find a ton of threads on it. She is just a little stressed probably.

Best thing I have found is to start putting some finely chopped greens in the brooder. Chopped grass works well for this, just cut it short so none of them chokes. The softer the grass the better it is for little chicks. Or use spinach or collards etc.

 

[chickathon]

A couple of my chicks had the same problem. Just wash it off with little warm water and it should be fine. It may take you one or two tries at it to get it clean but that should do it. After cleaning dry it off as much as possible. I just cleaned them up the one time and that was the end of it.

 

[WhySayWhat]

My BR had pasty butt as a chick. The only way I could get her to hold still so I could get it off was to submerge her lower half in a bowl of very warm water. Of course, at 25 weeks ols now, her favorite past time is taking a dip in the extra water bowl I had out during extremely hot weather! She thinks she's part duck...

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Yogurt, AVC, and grit with greens.

 

[rpchris]

I have the exact same problem with my 8 day old RIR chick. Her vent isn't covered, just a 'nugget' stuck to the down below the vent. I clean it off every night with warm water and a cloth and every morning there it is again.

She has access to grit, has ACV in her water, won't touch yogurt.

I hope she grows out of it soon.

 

[CluckCluck18]

I'm dealing with that too. I have 4 araucanas that I hatched from shipped eggs. They all got very bad pasty butt, to the point of impaction.....had to go in and pull out poop very gently. They wouldn't eat eggs or yogurt, but they ate their food with some added probiotic and they have ACV in the water. They did finally eat some play sand which really helped. Lost one first thing this am, but the rest are doing a bit better. I check them often and have been able to gently express tons of poop from them today. Just got 4 new chicks in mail today and praying it doesn't happen again....I've been a nervous wreck and I'm pooped.....no pun intended.

 

[4chickens1girl]

Thank you all for the helpful advice I started to give my chicks some acv with there water... so hopefully that helps... I also read that they can eat yogurt but what kid plain? non fat? organic? all those kinds of thing and how old can they start to have yogurt and what do you do with it just mix it with there regular food or like in a bowl? Thanks all again for all the wonderful advice now I don't have to worry as much!!!

 

[blueberrychickens]

after you clean up the vent area & dry it well, you can put a bit of olive oil on the area, makes clean up easier on you & the chick.

 

[WhySayWhat]

Quote:
I give mine Nancy's brand plain yogurt...I can get in giant tubs! I believe it is also Organic, but I don't think that really matters unless you are trying for certified organic birds. They started their yogurt love with a small container of plain Greek yogurt I had...pretty much, anything plain as the rest are full of bad sugars.

Mine have been getting yogurt since 2 weeks old, I started them by sprinkling a little chick starter on it, but now they eat it plain, gobble it up and fight over it even!