Repeatedly Constipated Chick!

[brenna]

I have a week and a half old chick who can't poop properly. Since last night, I've had to "help" her poop every few hours. Her vent gets very protruded and swollen when she needs to poop and she peeps like it hurts.

I have been using toilet paper and a q-tip with vaseline to kind of get the poop out each time (sometimes squeezing a little bit and then wiping gently what comes out).

This is NOT pasty butt, her whole rear is completely clean. She just doesn't seem to be able to pass poop properly since yesterday.

Should I try molasses to get things moving? If so, how much do I put in her water? Do I need to separate her from the other chicks (in other words is the molasses bad for the others who are pooping normally)?

Any help would be appreciated. My most recent move was to put the Q-tip with vaseline into her vent a little bit after getting the last round of poop out to try to help the next batch not get stuck.

What's next? Advice? We've already lost two chicks from this batch (one DOA and one very week and gimpy from the start didn't make it to day 5 ). It's been a heartbreaking year and we definitely don't want to lose this one, too.

 

[dretd]

It would be really helpful to have more history and descritpion of your situation:

What type of food are you feeding, are they getting any fresh foods, what type of brooder are they in, what breed (standard or bantam) hatched yourself or from a hatchery or breeder, what does the poop look like etc.

 

[dancingflower68]

I wouldn't squeeze her, I think that could cause more problems/injury. I would try feeding her plain yogurt, wet mash and mashed hardboiled or scrambled eggs. Are you using ACV in their water? If you aren't, maybe you could try that too. You could cook the scrambled eggs in a little olive oil too to help.

 

[cary 1973]

yogart and apple cider vinager in the water and i know when i give my girls watermellon wow the poop comes a flying how ever you will need to add grit in the nursery

 

[brenna]

Ok, more information:

We ordered the entire brood from mypetchicken.com, and they are a mix of standard breeds. She is one of several who look very similar, and I honestly am not 100% sure which she is- but maybe an Australorp or Black Copper Maran. They are in a large plastic brooder on wood shavings (started on paper towels, then transitioned over after a few days) with brooder lamp (red bulb) living in our office (until they get a little older and a little dustier). They are on standard Dumor chick starter/grower (non-medicated) from TSC and I sprinkle a little bit of chick grit into their food when I re-fill it (starting about 4 days ago). We had them on GroGel+B for the first few hours after they arrived. They currently don't get any fresh foods. Their poop looks normal, though the poo from the chick in question seems a bit less liquidy than the other chicks'. I don't see any obvious signs of wood chips or anything in the poo that she does pass, it just seems a bit thicker or grittier than the others'.

We don't have any un-filtered ACV, but I'll put a little of what we do have (filtered) in their water until I can get my hands on some. I'll also try the wet mash and yogurt (is plain Greek okay?).

 

[dancingflower68]

I use filtered ACV because that's all I can find around here. I also use the plain greek yogurt. Hope she starts feeling better soon!

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

You can also add a tsp of sugar or honey into a quart of water. It wont hurt any of them. I wouldn't allow them to have it more then 12 hours. Then give clean fresh water.
What type of wood chips do you have them in? Hopefully not cedar as that can be poison to chickens.

What i would do is change the bedding from wood chips to sand, Add a bit of honey to the water, give a small bit of yogurt (greek or regular) to just the one chick, and possibly even give a bit of fruit. after a few hours of sugar water I'd empty that and give water with a small splash of ACV.
Good luck

 

[Kikiriki]

Have you felt the crop? i'm wondering if maybe the chick ate wood chips that could be absorbing the water? Epsom salt is used for a laxative, but I have no idea how much a chick should get... It would very VERY little, as adult humans take a teaspoon mixed in 4 oz of water.

I add a couple of grains to a quart of water for magnesium with a little baking soda for electolytes in heat with no ill effects, but epsom salt can cause painful cramping if used as a laxative, so I would only use a bit of dust with a few drops of water for the chick.

 

[cary 1973]

try some watermelpon as a laxitive works great on my chicks and my desert tortis