concreted vent

[popsie]

Can someone please help me? I'm not really sure what my chick has but I'll try to explain:

My chick is a 5 week old silkie - I bought the fertilized eggs from the Internet and hatched them myself - everything has been going wonderful until about 4 days ago I noticed one of them (I'll refer to him as a he from here on (as his name is Elvis)) - was caked around his bum and the underside of his belly in a white concrete like substance - he was a little off colour but still eating and running around - I immediately washed and picked it all off - his bum (vent) was sore and slightly open and I could see the pink inside although nothing seemed to be actually protruding- more just like the hole was open - anyway I separated him with another chick for company as one of the others was pecking at him.

I keep washing him and picking off the white stuff and when I do he does have a normal like poo and even after this he poos although sometimes i catch him straining and nothing coming - by the way I am putting vaseline around the vent area.

I may be way off the mark but I read that a normal poo is brown tipped with white (the white being the urine) - so I came to the conclusion that Elvis may be constipated and the white concrete is really just urine? - I put him on yoghurt and chick crumb (still the same) - I gave him a few drops of olive oil twice yesterday but I'm not even sure that he is constipated - the poos he does have seems a good consistency?

It's just this concrete white stuff sticking to him - he is really perky now too - if you couldn't see all this you wouldn't think anything was wrong - but it just doesn't get any better and now I'm running out of ideas.

Someone please help if you know how - sorry for the long post I'm just trying to cover everything.

 

[dlhunicorn]

...have him tested for pullorum?

 

[tiffanyh]

At the very least, keep doing what you are doing, cleaning it and keepimg him feed and hydrated. I thought pasty putt but dlhunicorn didnt say that, so maybe she knows something I dont. She is on the ball that way!

 

[dlhunicorn]

that is caused by several things... I would want to rule out pullorum first...

 

[tiffanyh]

PAsty butt is?

I dont know too much about it....I have had the benefit of not dealing with it. Great............now I jinxed myself. Either way......hope you chicks gets well!

 

[popsie]

thank you for your replies - I've read a little on pullorum disease and the symptoms are as follows:

Signs

Inappetance.
Depression.
Ruffled feathers.
Closed eyes.
Loud chirping.
White diarrhoea.
Vent pasting.
Gasping.
Lameness.

I could only say the following 2 apply right now:

White diarrhoea - although normal poos as well - which is what made me think about the urine thing?
Vent pasting

Also all the other 6 chicks are fine - i check them 5 or 6 times a day and they are the picture of health - i live in the uk - don't know if this has any bearing on the disease? I will take him to the vets if it carries on but it's bank holiday weekend here until tuesday - but he really doesn't seem upset or poorly apart from the bum thing - and I think it's strange that he does seem to do normal poos as well?

Thanx again everyone.

 

[BlueMoon]

How do we test for pullorum?

BTW, my Silkie Roos were all "Elvis" (Elvi, the plural). Now there's Lemondrop (couldn't figure him out until he was about nine months) and Yeti.

At five weeks, would he still need a heat amp? Another chick for company?

DLHUnicorn - is there a UK equivalent to Polyvisol and would that be a good thing for Elvis?

 

[d.k]

* Don't forget to grease up his little hiney so he's easlier to clean up and stuff doesn't stick so badly.