Inflamed vent

[amberruments]

Hi there,

We just recently got this chick who is about a week and a half to two weeks old who has a severely inflamed vent. We have cleaned it, soaked it, and tried to push it back in but nothing is working. What should we do?

 

[amberruments]

This is a picture.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@Eggcessive
@Wyorp Rock
@azygous

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How warm are you keeping the brooder?
Do you supply grit?

She's prolapsed. I would make sure she's drinking well. Offer wet feed and I would give her 1 tsp coconut oil daily. This can be split up over the course of the day.

Soaking the vent in a warm epsom salts bath can help. Keep the tissue moist with an ointment, anti-inflammatory cream or oil, you don't want it to dry out.
Hopefully with hydration and being able to pass stools more easily, you will be able to push it back in and it will stay.
Sadly, sometime a prolapse can't be fixed, but give it some time and treatment to see if it will go in and stay in. Watch that the others don't pick at the exposed tissue and cause damage.

 

[azygous]

@Wyorp Rock has said what I would have.

In my experience, when a chick has this issue, it's also got other issues. Has this chick been a bit smaller and slower than the others?

When the vent is in this state, the chick is very constipated and often in pain from it. Two things are important. Refrain as much as possible touching and rubbing the delicate tissue as it makes it more swollen, except to put on a tiny dab of cortisone cream to help with the pain and swelling. The other is to keep putting the coconut oil into the chick's beak to try to soften the poop.

 

[amberruments]

How warm are you keeping the brooder?
Do you supply grit?

She's prolapsed. I would make sure she's drinking well. Offer wet feed and I would give her 1 tsp coconut oil daily. This can be split up over the course of the day.

Soaking the vent in a warm epsom salts bath can help. Keep the tissue moist with an ointment, anti-inflammatory cream or oil, you don't want it to dry out.
Hopefully with hydration and being able to pass stools more easily, you will be able to push it back in and it will stay.
Sadly, sometime a prolapse can't be fixed, but give it some time and treatment to see if it will go in and stay in. Watch that the others don't pick at the exposed tissue and cause damage.

This is the change over night. I will totally try to oil for her hydration. She is passing her stool completely fine now and she is drinking and eating. I’m not sure if it is still prolapsed because I am a new chicken owner but it almost looks virtually gone compared to the last post. Thank you so much for the help!! Here is a picture for reference. Her but looks like that because we just cleaned her up and soaked her

 

[amberruments]

This is the change over night. I will totally try to oil for her hydration. She is passing her stool completely fine now and she is drinking and eating. I’m not sure if it is still prolapsed because I am a new chicken owner but it almost looks virtually gone compared to the last post. Thank you so much for the help!! Here is a picture for reference. Her but looks like that because we just cleaned her up and soaked her

Also here is a picture of where they live and we only have the Normal chicken feed.

 

[amberruments]

@Wyorp Rock has said what I would have.

In my experience, when a chick has this issue, it's also got other issues. Has this chick been a bit smaller and slower than the others?

When the vent is in this state, the chick is very constipated and often in pain from it. Two things are important. Refrain as much as possible touching and rubbing the delicate tissue as it makes it more swollen, except to put on a tiny dab of cortisone cream to help with the pain and swelling. The other is to keep putting the coconut oil into the chick's beak to try to soften the poop.

She is a little smaller but barely but not so much slower. Only when she had the very inflamed vent. I just posted a recent photo of the change in her vent overnight!! Thank you so much for all the help

 

[BigBlueHen53]

When you say you are feeding Normal chicken feed ... do you mean you are feeding the same feed you give your adult chickens? If that's the case, you need to be giving chick grit for digestion. Ideally, they need Chick Starter, it is designed for baby chicks.

Also do you have a thermometer to see what the temp is in the bottom of your brooder? I suspect it is too warm in there for your babies. There should be a way the chicks can get out from under the heat of the lamp if they get too warm, and it does not appear that your bin is big enough for them to be able to do that. Can you raise the lamp?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This is the change over night. I will totally try to oil for her hydration. She is passing her stool completely fine now and she is drinking and eating. I’m not sure if it is still prolapsed because I am a new chicken owner but it almost looks virtually gone compared to the last post. Thank you so much for the help!! Here is a picture for reference. Her but looks like that because we just cleaned her up and soaked her

The vent looks better.
I would keep it cleaned and apply the ointment or oil to the tissue to help sooth it.

The coconut oil will help if she's constipated which is often the reason for a prolapse in a chick.
I do agree, the bin is a little tight looking, you may want to provide more space. Sometimes finding a larger tote may be a challenge, you can make a larger area by taping boxes together. I know the chicks are tiny now, but they grow sooo quickly, you'll be amazed at how fast they will need more space.

Hope it all goes well for you.