my 1 week chicks have runny poo and dirty butts

[megaloo]

I have 59 one week old white rock chicks - I have been checking their butts for pasting up and found that the cloaca is clear but they have really dirty butt, is this normal? I have been watching them and some have really runny, brown poop. Is it possible that the brooder is too warm? They seem to be really huddling around the lamp (it is about 90 degrees in there). I have not been giving them medicated food but just put in some apple cider vinager in the water tonight for the first time. I am worried about cocci - should I get some antibiotics tomorrow?

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Tell us what kind of feed you have been giving them, where did you get them, describe the brooder (a cardboard box? an old rabbit cage? etc.,) how big is the brooder, what kind of bedding they are on, have they had any vaccinations, did you just buy the feed or did you already have it, are they kicking a lot of bedding into the feeder or waterer.

 

[megaloo]

I them in steel water troughs - I have been feeding them non medicated chick starter. I have been using straw as a bedding, adding a thin layer 3 times a day to cover up the poop and I have cleaned out the brooders once since I got them 6 days ago (bleaching them and the water and food containers). I change the water a couple of times a day and there is usually lots of bedding in the water when I do this.

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[sammi]

I'd change the bedding..
you can use that rubbery non-slip shelf liner,
or newspaper with ribbed paper towels on top..
or just the ribbed paper towels.

what temp are you keeping them at?
giving them chick vitamins?

keep a close eye on the droppings..if you see red..post back ASAP.

also..keep the vents clean..

 

[megaloo]

Thanks - should I give them chick vitamins? If I use newpaper and paper towel how often should I change the bedding?
Are dirty bums normal?

 

[sammi]

dirty bums are not normal...

chick vitamins are good for them..but wait till the droppings firm up and they are stable.
adding anything at this point will only complicate figuring out the problem..

you'll have to change the paper as needed to keep clean.
a few times a day maybe.

are these 59 chicks all together in 1 brooder?

please describe the brooder and environment as ddawn posted..
what temp are you keeping them at?

 

[megaloo]

They are divided into two brooders.
Should I bath them?
Do you think they have cocci?

 

[threehorses]

Change to medicated food, amprolium medicated only. Give them probiotics every other day til this clears up. (see below for the different types)

Chick vitamins in the water and in heat can actually grow bacteria in the water. (Chick vitamins often have sugar in the mix.)

Don't use paper. Use wire or shavings or play-sand. Paper just doesn't keep the poop off of their feet, they will pick and eat it off their feet and spread it around.

DON"T give antibiotics because you don't know what it is and the antibiotics will kill the few good bacteria they have just barely tried to establish in their guts.

Go to the petstore and get a reptile thermometer and put it inside their brooder just away from the light. If they're huddling, they're cold. They should be slightly together and not directly under the light. That way if they need more warmth they can go under the light, less they can get further away.

Buy sulmet, but this isn't (yet) coccidiosis. If they don't get on medicated food and probiotics quickly, it will be, though.

 

[megaloo]

thank=you!!!!
the brooder is about 85 degrees. Can I give them childrens probiotics?

 

[threehorses]

What's the label on the children's probiotics? My first instinct is to say "yes" - most human probiotics are fine for poultry. I really like the blend for women for yeast infections as it has B. bifidum in it.

Funny I only found them looking for bird probiotics at the health food store. What a backwards woman I am.

Acidophilus will help, too, though.