Protruding or Prolapsed Vent in Baby Chick

[CrazyCrttr75]

I ordered chicks from Meyer Hatchery. They shipped out last Monday (Mar 11) and I received them Wednesday (Mar 13). All seemed to be strong, healthy and spunky.

Well, a few days later I noticed that one of the chicks was pecking at the bum of another one. Then I noticed a bit of poo back there. So I thought, uh oh. We have a case of pasty butt going on. As we cleaned her off we noticed something else going on. I don't know if it would be classified as a protrusion or a prolapse of her vent or maybe it's the same thing. Idk. Sry it's not the greatest pics. This is from Saturday.

Anyway, it's not normal. So someone suggested Preparation H ointment. So I bought some and we've put it on her. This is from today. No real change.

I don't know how to push it back in, as silly as that may sound. I've tried to do so gently but I am worried that I will hurt her. Needless to say, I haven't had any luck. My wee one is a week old now. She is active, drinking and eating (a LOT). She was pooping and the poops looked like normal. As I was sitting and watching her a little bit ago, now it's looking like she is straining a little bit more when trying to poop. So I am getting a bit more worried about her. What else can I try to do for her? Do I need to isolate her from the others? So far, no more pecking of her behind. Thx for your assistance.

 

[azygous]

Your chick is constipated and the vent is swollen from straining. The treatment is a little bit of coconut oil. Administer a tiny amount at a time of solid oil as it's much easier to stuff into a chick's beak without any going down the airway. Try to get half a teaspoon down it.

There can be different causes of this. One could be the chick hasn't learned how to drink yet and is dehydrated. The other is failure-to-thrive syndrome. This one is tricky to treat. We'll address that if the oil doesn't work.

Try the coconut oil and be sure the chick is drinking. Keep the vent cleaned but avoid rubbing the delicate tissue. Smoothing a bit of oil on the vent can help.