HELP!!! I think I messed up bad! Severely contipated chick with protruding vent (???)

[blondi3122]

I have a 7 week old Amaraucana chick named Sprinkles who's been sick for a week now. First I thought sour/impacted crop. But her crop goes down every morning. Then coccidiosis & it looked like a pretty solid case so I treated her & almost immediatley she started feeling better! The next night she was looking ill again. Her crop was huge. It goes from mushy to watery/air like to hard to nothing at all.

Tonight, I went to wipe her vent & feathers because her diarrhea has been getting all over her. I saw a pice of grass by her vent. I tried ot wipe it off but it was definitley coming from inside. She had been pushing & clenching for the past 2 days but I thought it was because of the diarrhea. She sits with her tail up like she's getting ready to poop at all times. I don't know why I didn't notice it before. She has been severly constipated!

Anyway, I pulled on the grass & it started sliding out with a bunch more stuff. I kept pulling on it with the baby wipe. She wasn't protesting so I thought it was ok. I got about 1 & 1/2 inches of it out when her vent started to look like it was turning inside out ??? like hemmeroids or her intestines, I don't know but she did not like it. I stopped but she stil had this hard mess of poop hanging out of her! So my fiance grabbed some scissors & we cut off the grass/poop/mess. I gently pushed whatever was coming out back in (there was no trouble doing it - it almost went right back in by itself.) But she went limp. Laid down all the way with one wing out and her head sideways. I thought she had died on me! I picked her up & her head wobbled a bit. I set her in a comfy position & let her be.

My fiance tells me there is nothing hanging out or swollen & she just seems exhausted. But she is still constipated!!! I didn't think it would be a good idea to keep pulling cuz I was afraid I was pulling her intestines out! Did I hurt her? Was this an incredibly stupid thing to do since she has been so weak?

She has had nothing but water poops & some brown diarrhea occaisionally. She drinks ALOT of water. What should I do??? Can't get to a vet for at least 18 hours! That is IF I can find one! Please somebody HELP MY GIRL!

 

[flewdacoop]

are you putting any electrolytes in the water are anytime of nutrition

 

[blondi3122]

I was until I gave her Amprol treatment for coccidiosis. I'm sorry to say that I think she has passed. The stress must have been too much for her weak little body to handle. I am devistated by her loss & can't help but to think I am at fault. I will never try & heal them myself again. I feel like I killed my baby. I am going to find a vet now so I know where to go next time. Can chickens pass out from exhaustion? How can I tell for sure if she is gone?

 

[mamayicken]

I am so sorry, I was just wondering if you found anything out? I am new at this too and am starting to realize there is so much I dont know. I would be like you, devastated and feel bad if I did not know what to do. They seem so helpless.

 

[blondi3122]

Well I realized one thing. Everytime I would research her symptoms... all kinds of illnesses/diseases would pop up. When they are sick, they act the same. Unless you can pinpoint it for sure... take them to a vet. There are some treatments you can give them that won't hurt them but some that will, if they don't have said illness.

It says everywhere I have looked that if they are not pooping then nothing is getting through the crop or they aren't eating. Maybe I just never looked int he right place but constipation never popped up. I had no idea & I feel so stupid. I feel like I killed her. I wish I had just taken her to a vet.

I don't know if it was jsut constipation or if she was backed up all the way. I don't know if exhaustion killed her or if it was the pulling of her insides. It's tearing me up. I raised her from a baby. I know it had only been 2 months but I spent all day with those babies for those 2 months.

I have learned SOME things. Things about sour/impacted crop, coccidiosis, bacterial ifections, iducing vomiting in a chicken, how to insert a feeding tube (haven't dont it yet but I have a good teacher), & learnign to recogize poor health & unhealthy poops. And I still know nothing.

Are all of your chickens ok? If so, I wish you the very best & I will pray they stay healthy... always

There is so much helpful information on this site. I should've spent more time researching EVERYTHING ( I spent alot of time as it is) & spent less time in the room with her worrying about her. She would've been fine on her own. She was eating & drinking on her own. That's why I just don't understand. Something as easy as constipation... and I let her die.

I'm sorry for the melodrama but it's still new to me this morning. I am blaming myself because she was my responsibility, period. Good luck to you. This happens alot. In one of my chicken magazines it says to not get attached to your flock. It says it much mroe insensively than that, but that's the main message. Because it's nature... some just don't make it. I still don't agree. I love my girls & I always will.

Take care. Let me know how all your girls are doing. And thnak you for your concern.

~Karen

 

[madi99]

i am so sorry about your chick

i doubt that you were the one responsible for her passing... it was probably some underlying issue.. i've heard that chickens rarely show pain. i'm so new at this and my first chicks turn 4 weeks old on friday/saturday. i'm terrified all of the time that something will happen to them and there will be nothing that i can do. i too get so emotionally attached to my chicks even though people tell me not to. For the time being all of mine seem healthy.. but i've spent hours on this site researching all different types of diseases and other health problems that our chicks and chickens can encounter and how to treat them... i don't know what i would do if i lost one of them, but i know that i would feel responsible for all of their lives even if it wasn't my fault...

 

[blondi3122]

Thank you so much for your words Chickens are very good at hiding pain, as I learned last night I never would've touched her if she would've made a single noise. I just have to tell you one thing. God forbid anything every happens to your sweet little chicks, if you can't figure out for sure what it is after a few days, or they don't show signs of improvement a few days after treating, go to a vet. It's not that expensive & I would give every penny I have to turn back time to take her to one. My fiance was always about "healing them ourselves" & "they'll be fine" or "more money for a chicken?" But after last night, he is singing a new tune.

 

[madi99]

i completely agree.. even though i've been doing all of this research i don't know if i trust myself to correctly diagnose a chicken... i would rather pay to take them to a vet at the first sign of trouble and catch whatever they have early on than put it off and be too late.. and by that point it would probably be more expensive because you would have to fix them super quickly. this all makes me so nervous lol... even though i can provide food water and a safe environment we still can't protect them from getting sick... sometimes it just happens

i pray that you don't have any more issues with your other chicks and they all have long and happy lives!

 

[cutlerfam7]

I am sorry for your loss. Hopefully she is in a better place now

I know how you feel the with the whole chickens being your everything. I am having issues with one of my 31 chickens and I've already spent $200 dollars on the little 4 week old chick. He has a deformed joint and his tendon won't stay in its place. Vet told me its very unlikely that it will get better and that the prognosis is poor but I can't give up.

Good luck with your others! You and your family will be in my thoughts!

 

[mamayicken]

I am so sorry about your girl, don't apologize either. I am such an animal lover that I am starting to wonder if this was not the smartest thing to get into. They are a little more fragile than i thought. I hope you are standing by in support of my mellodrama when or if something tragic happens for me and my girls. I just went through coccidiosis I think with 2 almost 4 week olds that I am attached too. They are Barred Rocks I think and very sweet. I have 3 other 8 week olds (BOs and RIR) and am already worried all the time

. The little ones seem to have made it through this okay but I am waiting for the next problem. I guess enjoy them while you can is the lesson for All creatures great and small including our family. Find Joy every day! Sprinkles knows you loved her and tried to help, I DO believe that and you should too. She was in your life for this moment to teach you things and you were blessed by her in that way.

Now who is being mellodramatic!

Stay strong and keep going....this world needs more people like you who care about the innocent creatures of the world instead of taking advantage or abusing. Dont ever be embarrassed!

Marching right beside you

Michelle