Battling pasty butt and thinking there is more to it

[Zahboo]

Earlier in the week I posted Dot the laid back mottled cochin. She lays on her back. Some people said it was just the yolk absorbing, some said watch her. She is a week old today. I left Thursday to go to my Dads. Mom was in charge of the chicks. Come back and Dot has poop all over her back end. Carefully removed the poop and using antibiotic ointment on her bum, it was recommended until we get Prep H. I'm worried about my girl, she's my favorite. She is 1 week old as of yesterday.


6:00 pm. Cleaned off her bum. Couldn't hold up her head, wasn't eating and drinking. Hasn't grown since I left, smaller than other chicks

~8:00 pm. Gave sugar water, have to dip her beak, will not drink on her own. Smashed up the starter feed, hasn't eaten. Do I need to make her eat and if so how? She won't eat yogurt, I've tried.

~10:00 pm. She can sit upright, but if she tries to move she falls over. Can NOT correct herself anymore. Pooping normally. Bum is still red, but not as bad. No poo is sticking to her. The matted poo was so bad, it pulled some of her fluff out, so her bum is raw. I used the warm water to clean it, but shes so small.

Now she is able to walk about 4 steps and falls over. Been dipping her beak every hour. Still isn't eating. Dipped her beak in sugar water and no flavor yogurt. Disliked it, but IDK how to feed her the starter. Is seperated from others, but in brooder. Bum slightly red. She is asleep. Her stomach is hard.


Any help. PLEASE

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
She shouldn't need prepH unless her vent pops out.

It's possible, given her history, that she has an internal infection that came from her yolk being outside at a time when it should have absorbed. Her pasty vent indicates a number of things can be happening.

First, is the temperature correct and consistent in the brooder? Around 90 degrees? Second, have you seen her eating well every day? Is she light? Have you been giving her any yogurt? did you try making a 'damp mash' for her out of a little bit of yogurt (a thimble-full) water, and some crumbles? Have you tried giving her a little yolk from a boiled egg mixed with water? They rarely eat any yogurt on its own unless they're hardy. With her, it's better to mix it with something like egg yolk that will take away the sticky texture. mix a little of the yogurt, yolk, water to make a soup-like consistency (just a little - refrigerate what you don't use of the yolk) and try using that to dribble in her beak instead of the plain water or sugar water. though you can put a little karo syrup, honey, or other sugar-syrup in the water - a few drops - that you use to make the egg/yogurt soup. The nutrition and sugar should give her more energy to allow her to try to eat.

It might be that either there's something wrong with her or that she's just behind and couldn't eat normally. A little vitamin B helps with appetite. If you had a B-complex vitamin, you could scrape a tiny bit off and put it in a few drops of water or the soup you made her.

Make sure in her brooder that she's warm enough. Birds that aren't warm enough won't eat.

I hope you can get her to sip a little broth. Then the dampened crumbles you just scrabble around with your fingers - try to get her interested. Maybe put another chick, a really small one, in with her to get her interested and help show her how to eat. Dampened (then allowed to dry quite a few minutes) crumbles are easier for them to pick up and swallow. It might be that she hasn't been able to eat yet; I'd highly suspect that.

 

[Zahboo]

Her yolk was never exposed to the open. Not like that. She just fell over a lot and after 2 days slowed down. Then she has started doing it more. I will try the "soup" tomorrow. Thanks so much. She is still here, peeping a little sigh peep

 

[rufus]

Try putting some soil in the brooder for the chicks to peck and scratch in. There seems to be something in the dirt the chicks need that prevents pasty butt. Have you ever seen hen raised chicks with pasty butt? No, that is because they have access to the earth.

Try it, what have you got to lose?

Rufus

 

[Zahboo]

Cocci is in the dirt tho... Any I've never seen a hen raise chicks period...
Quote:

 

[tulie13]

Quote:

If they are on medicated chick starter, then cocci should be the least of your worries at this point. But I don't know how much adding dirt would help if your chickie has some sort of infection from the yolk sac.

If you can get her to eat the dampened crumbles/soup, I bet that will help her out. Keep us updated, OK? Good luck with her!

 

[threehorses]

Quote:

It's not the earth that does it - it's the hen's droppings that keep them from getting pasty vent. The good bacteria from the hen's system in her droppings that they get before they're even on the dirt as they peck around trying to learn to eat.

Giving her dirt would just be too much of the bad bacteria, not enough of the good.

Please just give her the yogurt, perhaps a little ground up oatmeal.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Thank you, I have a Turken who is having similar symptoms. I have been battling for a whole day.
I saw this post and made the "soup" now it is laying down, but it is eating and quite a bit.
I will give an update when there is news.

 

[ChooksChick]

I'm dealing with something similar, but it involves a chick with maybe something more going on- I have a thread open about it, but I'm not getting any hits-

Zahboo, is your baby pooping at all? My baby hasn't pooped and the pastiness is all urates. It's not coming from the vent- the little kissing pucker, but rather urates seep slowly from a raw-looking spot directly beneath! I'm lost as to what is going on except perhaps her back-end got built wrong. She is also missing a tail bone- just a round drop-off...and she's a BCM!


Mine had a giant yolk, and it doesn't seem to be diminishing as quickly as the others- 11 of them...I'm bummed.

It doesn't sound like you have an infection going on, though- maybe just not enough pooing? I've used Chicken Poop lip balm on the pasty butts to keep it from sticking...with classic pasty butt, that is. Perhaps you have some natural lip balm you can apply with a Q-tip? The thickness of the balm helps out, I think.

I hope your baby gets better!

 

[Zahboo]

She is pooping. Dot is still here thank God. Thank you threehorses. I made the soup and she eats it slowly. Today she is playing in the crumbles dry, not really eating good, but at least she's showing interest. She will drink the sugar water on her own. Yesterday she couldn't walk, today she took 8 steps in a row without falling and I was about to start balling. She is getting better. The swelling on ther bum is going down.