So, decided to try moving the chicks out of the brooder and was toying with the idea of sexing them when I noticed one of my pretty tibetan babies had a poop stuck to its behind. I tried giving it a short wash with warm water and then put it in the dust bath to see if it would fix itself...came back about five minutes later and it was all hunched up with the poo still stuck.Did a quick check with Dr. Google, diagnosed pasty butt, proceeded to follow recommendation of gently swabbing under warm running water (I couldn't find cotton balls, so I used a clean tampon). Poo came off, but bowel was clearly impacted and nothing was coming out. I made sure it was as clean as I could, and then went to dry off unhappy chick...and its head rolled back in my hand, eyes closed. I guess either there was internal damage I exacerbated by massaging, or the shock of the water temp was too much, although I tried to keep it warm. (everybody else got some scrambled eggs and seeds to make sure they were OK)
I held it in my hands for a while, just to make sure it wasn't going to bounce back. It's poor little feet were pale and icy cold. I mean, I know stuff happens, but I'm really sad.
