Chick Health

[chittyn]

hi one of my chicks seems to have some poo or something on its vent i have seen it eating and pooing since but should i give it a wipe. And if so what should i use ?

 

[chittyn]

please help i took them out of the incubator at around 12 hours as they were causing harm to themselves they began eating around 18 hours .
i am worried that the chick might be ill but it shouldn't be if its eating and drinking right. Also what consistancy should their poo be ?

 

[Edwards' East of Eden]

It's probably pasting - "pasty butt". You can do a search for it on the site.

But - in short - use a warm washcloth and melt it off. You can help it off, picking at it gently, but be very careful not to damage the babe's vent. Melting the poo off is better.

You should be checking each of your chicks for this daily for the first week, I think - if the vent gets completely shut off with poop, the chick can die, so you want to watch for it.

Warm washcloth, melt it off, dry the chick, keep it warm during the process. Keep an eye out for a repeat performance.

You'll find more information if you move on down to the "raising baby chicks" subportion of the site. Pretty much, once they're out of the shell, that's where questions move on to.