Chick with two cloacae

[twoacresofhappy]

Does anyone here have any experience with a chick with two cloacae? I have a 5-week old FBCM baby with this problem. Both cloacae seem to "work" - one is "normal" and the other is smaller and to the side. She (I think it's a girl) always has a little bit of fecal matter sticking to her - well below the openings, so it is not blocking anything. She was thriving, but has started to slow down in growth compared to her siblings, and seems less energetic than her other siblings and age-mates. I can't bring myself to cull her, though my intuition tells me I should. Any thoughts? The lady who works at the local feed store tells me that when this happens, sometimes one opening will close up. That doesn't seem to have happened yet.

I'm attaching a photo taken shortly after this was discovered; she was probably about 10 days old at the time.

 

[ten chicks]

Does anyone here have any experience with a chick with two cloacae? I have a 5-week old FBCM baby with this problem. Both cloacae seem to "work" - one is "normal" and the other is smaller and to the side. She (I think it's a girl) always has a little bit of fecal matter sticking to her - well below the openings, so it is not blocking anything. She was thriving, but has started to slow down in growth compared to her siblings, and seems less energetic than her other siblings and age-mates. I can't bring myself to cull her, though my intuition tells me I should. Any thoughts? The lady who works at the local feed store tells me that when this happens, sometimes one opening will close up. That doesn't seem to have happened yet.

I'm attaching a photo taken shortly after this was discovered; she was probably about 10 days old at the time.

I would leave her and see how she does. You could try adding warm water to feed(so it resembles oatmeal)chicks love this and it may encourage her to eat more.

 

[twoacresofhappy]

Thanks, ten chicks - I am probably going to take a "wait and see" approach. I'm still really curious if anyone else has seen this before, and if they can tell me what I might expect to happen - especially if this is a girl and she starts laying.