Chicks with poopy butts

[Sooz]

I am really sorry if this is already covered. I have looked and looked and see lots of advice for hens with poopy butts but does this advice also apply to chicks? Mine are 4 days old and have a bung of poop in their buts. I have tried to wipe the butts wih a damp tissue but am really afraid of hurting them. Can I bath them? I don't know why this happened. I am feeding them chick crumbs and give them fresh water every day. I have organc apple cider vinager- should I give them soom. Any advice would be appreciated. Also does the ACV last or go off?

 

[Judy]

It's a common problem with baby chicks. Soak it off. I hold their butts under a thin stream of water in the sink. Takes several minutes. Then keep them warm til they are dry -- you can use a hair dryer on low but I just wrap in a small towel and hold til dry. Then put some ointment on their butt; makes it much easier to get them clean if it happens again. Something like Vaseline or triple antibiotic ointment (like Neosporin) is fine. Just make it an ointment, not a cream, so stays on the skin.

ACV in the water would be good. Also, give them some probiotic, like a tsp. or so per chick of plain live culture yogurt; they'll probably accept it better if you mix it with a bit of feed. A bit of baby food applesauce is also good; again, mix with a bit of feed.

Organic ACV is alive so should stay good. Give it a sniff.

Be sure they are not too hot. If they are in a small brooder with a light, try raising it a bit or otherwise cooling it off in there a bit. You can tell by whether they move away from or toward the light what they want, if the brooder is beg enough.

Good luck!

 

[whitutis]

we had problems like this with our chicks before. the advice given to us was to put some cleaned sand (like playbox sand)in with their food. not to go overboard with the sand though. more is not better, it's just to give them a little something in their gullies to help digest the food.

i've also had to spend a few minutes working on caked on chick goo...it takes a bit of time and effort. don't worry about hurting them--it is uncomfortable for them either way, because if you don't get the scab of poo off, they will die from not being able to vacate. (can you imagine what that must feel like??)

make sure you keep them warm while your helping. tools i've needed involve lots and lots of cotton balls (to soak the area), Qtips to help debrid, and twizzers as a last resort.

if you spend a little time "cuddling" with your chick afterward, you'll notice they start to be able to help pull some of that feces off and they start preening themselves in the area to help get the rest of it clean.

i'd start with the strongest of the ones that have it; chances are you might lose some. hopefully not though!

good luck!

 

[KayP]

I ground up some oatmeal and added it to their feed and it solved the problem. I continued to check twice/day, but the oatmeal did the trick!

 

[Sooz]

Thank you so much for the prompt replys! I have four wee butts to clean now so better get started!!! Wish me luck.

 

[Sooz]

Update, the chicks are nice and clean now. I have put some plain yougart in with their chick crumbs and they love it. Anther question, should I add yougart every day or just now and again?