Seemingly sickly 3 day old chick; husband terribly concerned. Help!

[2bradleys]

Hi all-

This is my first attempt at raising chicks. They arrived yesterday from Ideal Poultry; they were shipped on the 6th. All 20 arrived alive and apparently healthy. They are in our guest room, with a heat lamp, in a kiddie pool with pine shavings. All have been eating/drinking well, scattered about the kiddie pool, quite active and peeping.

A couple of hours ago I went in to play with them, and noticed that one little chick...a Salmon Faverolle (the husband's breed pick, naturally) had pasty butt. When I found this chick, I knew *nothing* about pasty butt other than that it exists, lol. So I quickly got online and read through some other threads. I used a warm wet washcloth but it wasn't really helping much. I pulled off most of the poop, being very careful. There's still a bit left but the...exit door...doesn't appear to be clogged. After I removed the pasty poop, there was some whitish/yellowish ooze coming out, but just a little. The poor little chicks bum is rather red. Hubby put some Preparation H on it.

This chick is smaller than the rest. It seems pretty lethargic, has been sleeping since I discovered this problem and doesn't resist being handled whatsoever, whereas the others still protest quite a bit. Hubby says it seems a duller yellow than the other Faverolle chicks.

Could there be another problem than the pasty butt? Does pasty butt cause lethargy? I really don't think this has been a problem prior to sometime today; we spend quite a lot of time watching/playing with the chicks and I hadn't noticed it before, but it was obvious right away when I went in there earlier.

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Go to your local drug store (or some grocery stores have it) and get polyvisol infant vitamin drops WITHOUT iron. And, unfortunately, be prepared for the fact that she may not make it - shipping can be really hard on them, and you might experience losses over the first few days. If she doesn't make it, contact the hatchery, and they should replace her, or issue a credit.

You can also try some plain yogurt with a tiny bit of molasses mixed in. Good luck!!

 

[2bradleys]

Any chance that flavored (strawberry or blueberry) yogurt would work in a pinch? Plain yogurt isn't something I keep in the house...I can get some tomorrow though, along with the polyvisol drops you mentioned.

Do you really think she won't make it? Poor little thing. Everything I was reading about pasty butt led me to believe that it would have to progress to a serious backup before it would kill a chick...and I don't think she's extremely backed up. But, what do I know, this is my first time doing this. Sigh. I really don't want her to die.

Am I doing anything wrong? Are my other chicks at risk of having this happen to them, due to my ignorance? I read on here not to give them cold water, because it lowers their body temperature...I didn't read that until today, and had just refilled their waterer, but I went and changed it to room temp water right away.

Blah. Now I'm going to worry myself to premature grayness over these chicks. The hatchery sent 9 extra males (for warmth)...naturally it couldn't have been one of *them* to get sick, lol.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

I don't think that it has anything to do with the pasty butt, I think that is probably coincidental, though it isn't helping...sometimes unfortunate things just happen...I wouldn't do the fruit yogurt, as it may give her diarrhea, making the pasty butt worse...

 

[gamamachik]

If you will put sand in with them, it also helps with the pasty butt...the sand is grit for baby chicks, which helps with digestion. The yogurt works also...Good Luck.....you can do it...

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Depending on what kind of food you use, it may have grit in it already...

 

[2bradleys]

I'm using Manna-Pro medicated chick starter crumbles. I do have a bag of landscaping sand that I got from Lowe's...should I put some in there? Just scatter it in with the pine shavings?

This morning her little bum was cakey again, so I washed it off as best I could with warm water...at least got it clean enough to where I could see her poop hole...pulsating, as they do. I have no idea if she's eating or drinking, I haven't seen her do either but I haven't exactly been watching them constantly. I put her beak in the water this morning and she drank, but didn't go back for more on her own.

She's keeping her eyes closed almost all of the time...she really doesn't even open them when she's walking around, or when you hold her.

What is polyvisol and what does it do?

 

[La_TomboyGirl]

When a few of my chicks had the pasty-butt, if it was too hard to get off, I just dipped the dingleberry in a cup of warm water for 10 seconds or so, & then used a toothpick to very gently pick it apart, then remove with the washrag. I checked & removed poo @ least 3 times a day. It really helped it from getting too bad in between cleanings. Are the chicks warm enough? Is the pool covered with something to hold in the heat? Just trying to think of all possibilities...the polyvisol is a vitamin supplement. The yogurt's healthy & also has the probiotics to help out her digestion. Hope she gets better soon.

 

[2bradleys]

Bah. My little chick is still not doing well. I've been checking her regularly for pastiness, but I don't think she's really even pooping. She drank some water and ate a little food this morning...I got some plain yogurt and mixed with her crumbles, and scrambled an egg for her. She's just sleeping all the time, and she still doesn't open her eyes very often. I've got her isolated from the others, but still inside their kiddie pool...I put her in the box they were shipped in.

What's wrong with her? Is she going to make it? She's been acting like this for more than 24 hours. Is she suffering? She's very quiet. I keep hoping that she's sleeping so much because she's using the rest to get better, like people do. But I worry that she's suffering.

 

[2bradleys]

Well...she didn't make it.

She died sometime last night. I guess you have to expect these things...but dammit all, I was really hoping she'd pull through. Had to be one of the Faverolles, too...naturally, it couldn't have been one of the included-for-warmth extras.