Sick or not sick - that is the question!!

[Mayroll]

Hello all. As I posted in the newbie thread, I am a beginner at chicken raising, although I did do my homework before hand on how to care for them. So, two days ago I noticed that 1 smaller chick (they are all 2 weeks old now) had poop stuck to her behind, and another chick was walking, eating and drinking, but would lay down and kind of flop over on her side. I separated those two into another brooder. I did some research and saw that the first chick had pasty butt. I initially cleaned her up with warm water and dawn, but after I did the research I see that I need to use a QTip and olive oil on her butt, and add some pro-biotics to her food.

Now, as for chick #2, "wobbles" as I now call her. A friend of the family said it sounded like the chick had Coccidiosis. She doesn't seem sick - she is not lethargic, I have not noticed any runny stools. She is eating and drinking, and so far today I have not seen the lay down and roll behavior. I am hesitant to give any of them the Corid that I bought today unless absolutely necessary.....

Any ideas??

 

[USMC-CHICKENS]

I use a qtip and warm water for pasty butt. And roll the qtip back and forth lightly. Be patient, it will loosen. Keep wetting the stop if you have to, especially if you get a piece off. You want to wet it as much as possible with the qtip to loosen the poo. Probiotics will definitely help. Sometimes baby chicks just get it. I wouldn't be concerned unless it keeps coming back. Usually once or twice is somewhat normal on baby chick.

Wobbles sounds fine. As long as she is eating and drinking and walking fine, she sounds ok. Is there anything wrong with her?

 

[Mayroll]

I use a qtip and warm water for pasty butt. And roll the qtip back and forth lightly. Be patient, it will loosen. Keep wetting the stop if you have to, especially if you get a piece off. You want to wet it as much as possible with the qtip to loosen the poo. Probiotics will definitely help. Sometimes baby chicks just get it. I wouldn't be concerned unless it keeps coming back. Usually once or twice is somewhat normal on baby chick.

Wobbles sounds fine. As long as she is eating and drinking and walking fine, she sounds ok. Is there anything wrong with her?

As far as what is wrong with her, we were concerned because she would walk a certain distance, across the brooder, and kind of lose her balance, sit down, and fall on her side. So far today I have not seen that behavior today.

 

[USMC-CHICKENS]

As far as what is wrong with her, we were concerned because she would walk a certain distance, across the brooder, and kind of lose her balance, sit down, and fall on her side. So far today I have not seen that behavior today.

Maybe she just needed some extra time and strength. You can always add a few vitamins to the water too just to be safe. They have something called nutri drench. It has a lot of vitamins for chickens.

 

[Mayroll]

USMC, thank you for the info. I actually did pic pick up some vitamins to add to the water, and their feed is the medicated kind as well.

Wobbles still seems fine....it is really weird. She never looked "sick", if anything it almost looked neurological. But I have not seen the behavior in the last 36 hours. If anyone in the group has mini-pigs, the way she was acting reminded me of how mini pigs react to stress when they get "dippity". I am relieved that she seems to be ok.

I think I will go ahead and keep them separated from the others for a little while to give them time to get bigger and stronger!

 

[ejtrout31]

USMC, thank you for the info. I actually did pic pick up some vitamins to add to the water, and their feed is the medicated kind as well.

Wobbles still seems fine....it is really weird. She never looked "sick", if anything it almost looked neurological. But I have not seen the behavior in the last 36 hours. If anyone in the group has mini-pigs, the way she was acting reminded me of how mini pigs react to stress when they get "dippity". I am relieved that she seems to be ok.

I think I will go ahead and keep them separated from the others for a little while to give them time to get bigger and stronger!

For the pasty but you are doing just fine I would add some probiotics, vitamin, or electrolytes to the water. I would do the same for wobbles to. I think wobbles will be fine and just needs some extra strength and energy.

 

[ejtrout31]

Oh and Hello and welcome to BYC a place where many poultry lovers come together and make one big family.

If you ever have a question just ask anyone on here will be happy to help you and if you know the answer to someones question go ahead and answer. Thats the great thing about byc you can ask and answer.

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[BigBlueHen53]

Hi. From what I have read here before, I would not treat for coccidiosis unless you see blood in the poop. Also, they get it from the soil, so unless they have been out in the dirt they probably have not been exposed. But perhaps it would be best to get more info from someone like @Eggcessive, I have a lot of confidence in her on this matter.

 

[Eggcessive]

It doesn’t really sound like coccidiosis at this point. That is more common between 3-6 weeks and older. Poops can be runny or occasionally with blood. There are at least 9 strains of coccidia in chickens, and only a couple of strains cause bloody droppings. The other signs are lethargy, hunched appearance, and not eating.