chick with impacted vent...cull?

[Christie Rhae]

I hatched chicks 12 days ago. One is really having a hard time. It started to get a messy bottom the first couple days. I know all about pasty butt so I kept it really clean. After a few days of cleaning it up I realized it's poor vent is just totally packed and clogged. I keep applying olive oil to make things a little slicker. There is just the smallest bit of really smelly poo that somehow oozes out and dries on the chicks bottom. I tried actually giving the chick olive oil. I have watched the chick try to poop and really nothing comes out. I can see a mass of urates (spell?) the white stuff inside the vent. It is all hard and not moving. I tried to gently squirt some oil into the vent to see if it could loosen up. The chick just chirps constantly and is obviously unhappy. It is behind in growth now too tho I have seen it eat.
I just feel terrible. Maybe the little thing just is not formed right inside and cannot expel properly. How long do I wait? Just let it slowly die? Ack! I have never had to do away with a chicken or a chick but I know this is part of responsible pet ownership.

 

[sherylreno]

Give her some mollasses in water first and see if that'll help her before you cull. If all else fails then cull.

 

[chickenarmy]

Lots seem to have this problem... check out some other posts, they have some information.
I hate to see a chick suffering!

 

[kari_dawn]

...you may have to dig all that goop out of there. It may just be that there is so much stuff in there that it CANT come out on it's own...I would get a cotton swab, soak your chick in a sink with warm water (I am dealing with pasty butt right now too...I fill the sink just enough for them to be able to stand in it, and have their vent submerged). Let her sit in the warm water spa for about thirty seconds (of course, stand there and watch her), and gently start trying to expell that goop. Try using a cotton swab or even a dulled toothpick, or maybe even some tweezers or makeup aplicator you don't need anymore. You may have to dig around IN the vent.

Try to get as much of the plug out as you can, and then try yogurt, and others have suggested ACV and molasses to me as well. After you get all the gunk out, give her a few days to see if that helps...chicks grow rapidly. Even if there is something wrong with her vent, it may correct its self as she grows.

 

[Christie Rhae]

Quote:
I have been able to scoop some out but I am afraid to hurt her insides. There is just so much. I am afraid it is so backed up I could never get it all out... sigh. keep trying.....

 

[kari_dawn]

Soaking her in warm water will really help loosen all that gunk up...I had one that had almost two centemeters of gunk hanging off her back side this morning...I soaked her for like three minutes, and really worked that stuff out...as soon as I sat her in the box to check the rest of the chicken butts, she dropped a half inch poo in the box!

I highly recommend the warm water soaks, letting her sit in the water, and while she is still in it, working that stuff out like a zit...

 

[Christie Rhae]

Quote:
Yeah I have been soaking her every day. Nothing looks more pathetic than a half soaked chick...walking around chirping on it's skinny legs.
I work on her until I feel like she is starting to get too stressed then let her rest. I am going to pick up some molasses today.
I have my whole "chick hospital" all set up. I have even tired using an old nasal spray bottle with olive oil to try and get some oil up in there so soften it up. I think the blockage is just so backed up... Maybe if I work a little more from the other end I will have better results. I read pineapple juice too somewhere. My shopping cart is gonna look funny at the grocery store.

 

[OC closet chicken fan]

Hello. just got curious... how's the chick doing? hope all is well... i am still learning so much.

 

[Christie Rhae]

Sadly the chick died yesterday. I tried everything and kept hoping that it would pull through. I feel terrible that I did not have the guts to put the poor thing down when it was suffering. I just couldnt think of a way to do it that did not seem just as bad as the suffering.
i feel bad.

 

[kari_dawn]

Don't feel bad, and don't beat yourself up. Life can be cruel, and this little one just wasn't ready to take it on. Im sorry that you lost her

Definately do not fault yourself for trying to help her. I almost always resort to trying to help...I have seen some truely amazing recoveries over the years.