pasty but vent still blocked!

[fuzzygecko]

I picked up some chicks this morning and the man gave me three for free. they had horrible pasty. like the whole backside was covered in hard bedding and it SMELLED when I cleaned it all off.

The others are moving, one started eating, the others still walking about but hes wobbly, the last one though still had white blockage in its vent. I tried to cox it to poop while it was under warm water but beyond poking stuff up the vent there wasn't much else I could do. It still looks like its trying to poop and the vent looks pretty inflamed. I put some antibiotic cream on it for now but Im not sure what else to do for it. Any ideas?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I picked up some chicks this morning and the man gave me three for free. they had horrible pasty. like the whole backside was covered in hard bedding and it SMELLED when I cleaned it all off.

The others are moving, one started eating, the others still walking about but hes wobbly, the last one though still had white blockage in its vent. I tried to cox it to poop while it was under warm water but beyond poking stuff up the vent there wasn't much else I could do. It still looks like its trying to poop and the vent looks pretty inflamed. I put some antibiotic cream on it for now but Im not sure what else to do for it. Any ideas?

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry your having problems, if you have photos that may be helpful.

You may have to poke or coax out the hardened poop. Apply a little oil (coconut, mineral, what you have on hand) to a qtip. See if you can work the poop out that way. You may need to carefully remove small bits with tweezers if you are steady or a dull instrument like an orange stick (cuticle stick) or similar.
Once you get the poop out, apply your ointment or oil to the vent.
For this particular chick, I would give him a bit of coconut oil orally as well. Refrigerate the oil and break it into little pieces for him to eat. Make sure he's hydrated, then offer a little wet feed.

For all of them, if you have something like Poultry Nutri-Drench I would give them each a direct dose twice a day.

Let us know how they are doing.

 

[fuzzygecko]

Thanks for the help! I didn't have any coconut oil but I was able to coax it out after we left a little ointment on it. It's perked up a bit and it finally started eating again last night so I'm really excited.

On the down side though the little black one seemed to have gone backward. It was eating at first but then stopped and seemed to just get really lethargic. Now one of its feet has two toes turned in and has trouble standing with out wobbling. I had to separate it because now when it does go to eat the others start to bully it pretty bad. It also won't lay down to sleep and prefer to lean on other chicks while sleeping upright.
It took a little water and wet food from a dropper so hopefully that perks them up a bit.
I did put booties on it which its not to happy about but Im not to sure when to take them off. None of the others have the crooked toes so Im guessing its because it's having such a hard time eating and has a vitamin deficiency.

They both still have pasty though. All the others I cleaned haven't had a reoccurrence but those two I still have to clean twice if not three times a day to make sure it doesn't get worse. I tried putting some medicated ointment and after the swelling went down switched to some vaseline but it doesn't seem to stop the caking up. The pic of the yellow one was only 10 minutes after I rinsed off the poop and already there is a piece starting to cake again.

The measuring cup has some food mixed with water since the little black one is having such a hard time getting food. Tried to get a better picture of its butt but i didn't want to harass it again after putting the booties on. It's not red or swollen anymore but it is missing lots of feathers on both the yellow and black one. I washed as gently as I could but they just fell off as the water ran over them T.T

 

[Mellowmalt]

get some of that nutri-drench. It is filled with the essential minerals and nutrients it needs to fix the curled toe. It will also reduce inflamation, make them perk up and will reduce their stress levels. It should also help with diarrhea thus improving pasty butt.
You can try feeding a bit of egg yolk in the meantime(or egg yolk paste with a bit of water in a syringe if it isn't eating).

 

[fuzzygecko]

I'll try the egg, won't be able to get to the store tell friday :/ I gave the whole lot of them a bunch of egg to get them to perk up right after they were cleaned and put away and everyone perked up immensely. Im thinking the little one may not have been able to get any with how its getting picked on. I do have a whole bunch of mixed buggies that I keep on hand and did try to give it a little bit of puried cricket and worm but it didn't want anything to do with it. maybe it'll like the egg better.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad you put on booties or taped the feet. I would leave them on for a day then see if it's been corrected. If not, then go another day.
For curled toes you want Riboflavin(B2) which is not in Poultry Nutri-Drench, so I would get a bottle of B-Complex (tablets can be found at WalMart or similar store). Give the chick 1/4 tablet once a day for a couple of weeks. I like to dissolve the tablet in a tiny amount of water, then syringe drops into the chick. If they are weak or not taking a lot of drops at once, then I spread it out over the course of a day.

The 2 that are still struggling with pasty butt - do they seem colder/hotter than the others, are they a different breed or possibly bantams?

Vaseline is fine to use. An anti-inflammatory cream may help with swelling. But hydration will go a long way as well.

I'm sorry that you still have a couple that aren't doing so well, but glad the constipated one is better.

 

[fuzzygecko]

They don't appear to be colder or hotter than the others. The yellow one has perked up and will wander about with the other, but the black one will follow all the other chicks around and lean up on them. I know it was having trouble walking today but it constantly seems to want to snuggle. It falls right to sleep when I hold it and it very much enjoys the heater that is my husband.
It's seemed to calm down quiet a bit now that its just the two in a separate setup and it doesn't appear to be seeking snuggles constantly anymore. It still sleeps standing up and refuses to lay down like the rest of them. I'm not really sure if that's normal or not.

I couldn't tell you much on breed. I got them from a neighbor who just kinda aquires chickens and lets them do what ever. Theres at least 8 different breeds mixed into the bunch. I think the black may have silkie since both the feet and beak are red but the other two have red coming in on the head.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

I found it helped pastey butt go away to mix their chick food with water so it was oatmeal/grits texture. Seemed easier for the weak ones to eat and the extra water seemed to help "keep things moving" so to speak.

And cooked, pureed egg yolk is a good vitamin boost to add in. It contains lots of B vitamins and is the food the chick ate before birth, so a safe bet...but unfortunately most of the B2 is in the egg white. I personally haven't fed egg white to a chick...? Probably okay, just no personal experience.

 

[fuzzygecko]

I made a paste out of a little chick feed, egg yolk, and a drop of honey mixed in water. It ate a little last night and this morning. It finally started looking interested in eating about an hour ago.
It still has trouble getting around but it seems to finally get better.

Both still have the pasty. Im cleaning twice on the yellow and three on the black. The yellow one is finally putting a little weight on and acts pretty normal.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

I'm so glad they're doing a bit better! As long as you keep cleaning off their booties they should be okay. It may take a couple days for their poo to stop sticking though.

You can also stick a small amount of cooking oil (olive oil, coconut, etc) on their butts after you clean them to help future poops slide off. I think someone already mentioned vaseline, which would work too.