Constipation help... for 2 day chick!

[AUZLDY]

My 2+ day old Araucana chick is struggling. I used a warm, wet paper tissue to soften the hardened feces. Then one poop. Now chick is straining... poor little chick. Has anyone experienced this with any breed? What can I / should I do?

 

[Nupe]

I've had this happen to me before. I determined that it was because my brooder was too warm and there wasn't enough room to get away from the heat. Try raising your heat lamp or turning it off completely during the day. Its probably plenty warm depending on where you keep your brooder. When it's too hot the chicks will turn their butts towards the heat to get their faces farther away. It has a tendency to dry it up back there. You want the warmest spot in the brooder to be 95 degrees minus 5 degrees every week until they feather out. You also want plenty of room for them to get out of the heat when they don't want it. When brooded by a hen, the chicks would go back and forth from warming up under mama to foraging at ambient temps.

To help the babies out, you can offer them some chick feed mixed with plain yogurt to an oatmeal consistency. That should help soften things up while it's still tender back there.

 

[AUZLDY]

OK... great advice! I will do that!