poop question - "constipated chick"

[tusket]

Hi all,
Just looking for a bit of advice with one of our chicks.
This is our first time raising chickens. We have 13 chicks about 6 weeks old. We recently moved them from their little pen in our basement to an outdoor coop/pen. They all seemed to be adjusting well to this change. We have continued to feed them chick feed from the store and have started to give them veggies - cucumbers, corn, etc to supplement the feed. They always have water available in their coop.
We noticed last night that one of the chicks (who hasn't been growing as fast as the others. All the other chicks are well feathered by now. This little one is still getting its body feathers, so it is not as 'developed' as the others despite being the same age) was lethargic and seemed to have a problem with its rump (not sure what the actual terms are for chicken body parts). My husband squeezed his rump a bit and a very hard piece of poop came out, kind of serving as a cork, followed by a few more significant chunks of poop. There was quite a bit for a little chicken. We brought him inside, apart from the other chickens, and have him in a box with just feed and water. Since last night, he has not been as lethargic, but is still not moving around much (could be the fact that he's in a box...) He hasn't pooped yet, but has been dripping a milky/watery substance from his butt. there are drops around the box and it seems to be sticking to his butt. I keep wiping it away, scared he's going to get backed up again...
Anything else we should be doing? any thoughts on why this happened? Our theories are that either his digestion system isn't mature enough for the different veggies, or he hasn't been drinking enough water (he's the last to figure out that he should be coming and going between the coop and the pen so I question how much water he was drinking)
sorry for the detail...just trying to figure out how to help this little guy.
Thanks,
Renee

 

[Schultz]

Sounds like 2 things are going on. 1st could be pasty-butt. It sounds like you are doing the right thing by keeping it's little bottom clean, I also use a little olive oil on the exit area to help keep it from sticking. 2nd it the veggies. It sounds like you will need to incorporate grit for them so the veggies can be properly digested. We use play sand but you can also buy grit used for parakeets. Some chicks feather and grow a little slower than others, if the chick seems healthy, eats well and drinks well, I would just keep an eye on it's feathering to make sure.
ETA: The little chick could have an impaction of it's crop from the lack of grit available. I have not dealt with this ever so I hope someone else can clarify. You can try giving it a little bread soaked in olive oil to help clear the crop so it is back to pooping normally.

 

[spook]

With pastey butt I use a drop of molasses in the drinking water, it usually straightens them out. If you don't keep that, some sugar water works, along with yogurt. Once they taste it, they will love it.
As for the 2nd part, I'm clueless!

 

[California Ducken]

Bump to the top!

 

[tusket]

thanks for the help. We separated the chicken from the others. I fed him water with a drop of molasses - he drank that up! He's been pooping, but he squawks when he's pooping, as though it hurts him. but the pasty butt seems to have passed. I'll keep an eye on the chicken and will give him yogurt/oatmeal special treats to hopefully keep his system healthy and moving.
thanks again
Renee

 

[Judy]

Sounds like you're doing fine. He could have a bit of a tear or cut from the constipation. You might dab a little Neosporin on his butt 2 or 3 times to help heal and to make it more comfortable.

Good luck!