HELP!!! My chick cant poop!

[MydearWatson]

Hi. My three day old Silkie seems to be having problems pooping. I saw a little poop on her bottom and I wiped it off. While she was sleeping I saw some come out but it just stayed there so I wiped that off. She is now trying to push some out but seems to be having problems. What can I do for her??

 

[Donna in Montana]

I've read that can be caused from eating foods like lettuce.... are you feeding it anything but the chick starter?

I had a little one that was not thriving (we had to put it down a couple of days ago). Trying to figure out if there was any thing I could do I noticed he had not pooped while I was holding him for several hours so thought I'd try to help. I do not know how acceptable this is but I gave my little one a bit of an enema. I took a little stirrer straw and put warm water in it, just did put it up his bun hole and let the water run out. He did poop a little bit. Hubby thought later on we should have tried a little eye dropper and I think that would have been better.

The little guy only had one eye that worked, was very tiny and although I did see it once 'bumping chests' with a larger chick he just never had much of a chance. He would only eat a bite and drink a drop if I pet his head... other wise he just seemed to want to sleep.

My remaining eight chicks are doing quite well.

Hope your little one can come around

 

[MydearWatson]

She has been totally fine all day. Its just been like the past hour. I am afraid to pick her up, I dont want to upset her more. I've just been feeding her the chick starter. I've only had her 12 hours. Do you think she would be ok till the morning or is this something I should stay up and watch?

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Chick scratch can help with this. "Pasty butt".

Keep her rear clean in the meanwhile. If it gets stuck on there, soften it with warm water until it falls away. DO NOT just pull it off; you can hurt your chick.

If there is a problem other than pasty butt, such as something internal, time will tell and there may be little you can do for that except to allow nature to take its course.

 

[wannabchick]

Quote:
X2
And wipe her beak with some yogurt...and give some infant vitamins in her water too

Good luck

 

[MetalSmitten]

don't panic - this is fairly common. just keep cleaning the poo off, it should fix itself in a couple days

if there's any poo still stuck to her though, successive poo's will stick to that, so it's important to get her as clean as possible. warm moist paper towels, even a butt soak in warm water if necessary. some people use a little vaseline under the vent to prevent more poo from sticking. just keep up with it, and she should be okay though. good luck!

 

[MydearWatson]

Thank you for the replies. She is up and eating right now. I did pick her up and gave her a very thorough check. She looks very clean. I hope she will be ok overnight. It's just like kids! They always seem to get sick right when you want to go to bed!

Everytime my two chicks are separated, they freak out. They call out for each other and when they are back together they cuddle. It breaks your heart! Too cute.

I hope my girl will be ok, my oldest son is just head over heels for these babies!

 

[MetalSmitten]

put a little mirror, feather duster or small stuffed animal in with them, it'll comfort the other one when you're checking the dirty bum one

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Oh, I took in 5 chicks that had a very hard hatch. One of them had pasty butt for like 3 weeks!! It became part of our regular schedule to pick her up, clean her bum with a warm wipe, and check again a little later. She was on vitamins, electrolytes, B complex, chick starter, you name it. She pulled through just fine. It just took some diligence.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Quote:
X2
And wipe her beak with some yogurt...and give some infant vitamins in her water too

Good luck

Why infant vitamins?

There are vitamins for chickens that can be mixed in their water.