Constipated chick

[bbsnooks]

Thanks for this post. Someone pointed me here today to try to help a constipated chick out. She had a clear outer vent but an obvious internal blockage. This gave me some ideas to try and while she died, I know I tried many things to save her.

I'm sorry. its tough some times.. its good you tried..

just a few thoughts on my little chirper...
I have to say that for a week.. I think i would hear this " Flipper" kind of chirp.. that was my BLRW wyandott chirping when she would have to go.. it would take several minutes.. and I did the internal .. warm coconut oil infused with garlic via beak.... and back end flush.. and by the next morning she was better.. _ the chirp was less.. and i did it again.. .. and by the next day. no flipper ( the dolphin ) chirp sound. and poop's aparently better... or she figured i'd give it to her again.. and stopped. no.. every thing is better. tho. at the time.. she was notably smaller.. I wonder if her problems stunted her growth.. but.. all is well now...
thanks again.

 

[Chambertin]

Sorry for the loss. As you said you can take comfort that you tried everything you could think of or find.
As most of us have learned half of it is up to the chick.

Take care and best of luck to all the other chickens you have.

 

[johnbtic]

Hey all

We're first timers who bought 8 chicks. We had them for 3 days and one of them wasn't growing the same way as the others. It stopped eating and wasn't looking too healthy ('fur' not looking as shiny as the others, just standing there with its wings slightly raised and leaning forward otherwise not moving at all) and it's 'vent' (butt?) was looking blocked with poop. We tried to clean it with warm water and cotton wool and it wasn't looking any better. So we tried to squeeze the vent very gently and considering its size a large amount of poop came out, it still wasn't looking too good. We bought a syringe and tried the 'enema' as advised in this post (fairly intrusive however as the poster said, if you don't clear the blockage the chick will die). My wife was the one who carried it out. We used warm water and I'm sure it doesn't have to be said but we'll say it anyway, they're tiny things so it's important to be very careful and gentle, and only inject small amounts at a time. It's surprising how much came out. The first thing the chick did was run around making lots of noise, it was wet though at the time and probably cold, and it was traumatic I'm sure. After that it was a lot calmer, still not looking too good, however its stance was different, it was more huddled and smaller than previously (yes it looked like it had lost some weight probably its stance more than anything). It didn't look too good for about 2-3 hours, then it started eating again, and eating and eating. It also started pooping and drinking which is the best we could hope for. That was 24 hours ago and as of this morning it's smaller than the others but it's acting in much the same way as the others, eating and drinking and running around. The other chicks wing and tail feathers started coming in a day or two ago, and the one that was previously sick now has wing feathers coming in as well. Looks like we saved a life!

 

[Chambertin]

Good job!
Taking the time to help a chic can be rewarding, and a little scary for everyone.

This may sound crazy but I wish they sold powdered mama chicken poop.
Every time we incubate there are problems with sticky butt and sometimes blockages, but those who spend time under mama pecking at everything poop perfectly and never need any attention and dont get sick either.

With such a small digestive tract I guess they really need those probiotics from mama poop. A little gross to us but good to them.

Good luck to the little one, hope it grows up well.
Dont worry about stunted growth, it will be a little behind but our recovery chicks all filled out to normal size.

 

[Six Chickies]

Hi,
In reference to apple cider vinegar, how much do you put in a quart of a water?
Thanks

 

[Angelight]

For chicks, a small splash until I feel like they've had time to get accustomed to it. ACV is very healthy but in a high enough concentration on gentle skin (like a chick or baby would have) it can do some real damage. Once they're older, I relax and just pour some. Try drinking it in a glass of water. A tablespoon per glass is recommended for people to start with. Use that to judge what you think they should be subjected to. : )

 

[Six Chickies]

Okay, thank you!

 

[sled483]

I know this is an older thread. Maybe someone can help me. I have a 2 week old barred Plymouth bantam that is struggling to poop. She makes this squeaky noise while she's trying and it takes a few minutes to finally come out. I have done pretty much everything in this thread. How do you do the chick enema? What type of syringe should I use? Do I just use warm water? How much? How many times and how often should I do this?

 

[sled483]

Update: at lunch I went to the store and bought a baby medicine dispenser with a plunger. I went home, chick still had swollen red vent. I put about 1/8 tsp of warm water in the syringe. She did not enjoy it. When I took the syringe out a tiny bit of poop came out and the water. I did it one more time. Same result. So then I emptied the syringe and used it as suction instead. That did the trick. I would say a 2 inch long piece of poop came out. When I put her down she was chirping and walking around. She seemed relieved. I didn't have time to watch her and see if she was able to poop on her own. Tonight after work I'll watch her and see. Fingers crossed she is all better. I would be really sad to lose her.

 

[titika]

I have a little chick that has had a big belly since hatch. I noticed today (about 4 days old) that it is had some poop build up hardened on it's backside. I got that off but it's poor belly is so big. It's straining to go but nothing comes out. I am going to add a little sand for it today and see if that helps but I am worried. It eats and drinks just fine and runs around, just can't poop...