smelly white discharge coming from vent

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

baby is just 3 weeks old,,,been keeping clean, keeping the area well lubricated, area seems a bit swollen, chick is very active, eats(mixed ground oatmeal n with crumble food) and drinks and poops, this has been for over a week now, no improvement

 

[Perris]

a photo would help if you can get one

 

[cottagecheese]

Chicks are better off with just their starter, it's well formulated to make them grow. The oatmeal cuts the nutrition in the starter, could be a source of pasty butt (because it increases the starch in the diet) and....it is a rather bad idea to give them while in the developing stage because it contains the anti-nutritional factor beta glucan. Anti-nutritional factor means something that adversely affects absorption of nutrients. I highly recommend stopping the oatmeal immediately and then very careful observation to see if the problem goes away, hopefully things are not too bad, since the chick is behaving normally. But if the problem won't go away quickly after eliminating the oatmeal, medication will be needed and it will be a guessing game to pick something (probably an antibiotic first imo but we aren't there yet).

Beta glucan generally speaking though, it's something good for the immune system, it's anti-cancerigen, it removes toxins from the body, etc. In humans. But birds are not much different in their immune system response. What I think is that it's wrong to give oatmeal to chicks until they grow up and it's wrong to present adult chickens with a big bowl of oatmeal, but... just a very little bit of oatmeal not often would be beneficial (again just for adult chickens).

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

Chicks are better off with just their starter, it's well formulated to make them grow. The oatmeal cuts the nutrition in the starter, could be a source of pasty butt (because it increases the starch in the diet) and....it is a rather bad idea to give them while in the developing stage because it contains the anti-nutritional factor beta glucan. Anti-nutritional factor means something that adversely affects absorption of nutrients. I highly recommend stopping the oatmeal immediately and then very careful observation to see if the problem goes away, hopefully things are not too bad, since the chick is behaving normally. But if the problem won't go away quickly after eliminating the oatmeal, medication will be needed and it will be a guessing game to pick something (probably an antibiotic first imo but we aren't there yet).

Beta glucan generally speaking though, it's something good for the immune system, it's anti-cancerigen, it removes toxins from the body, etc. In humans. But birds are not much different in their immune system response. What I think is that it's wrong to give oatmeal to chicks until they grow up and it's wrong to present adult chickens with a big bowl of oatmeal, but... just a very little bit of oatmeal not often would be beneficial (again just for adult chickens).

Well, i read that oatmeal was good for pasty butt, and that is what the chick started out with.....but now that it is free of that issue the white discharge is what is happening now...ok i will stop the oatmeal and just resume starter grower feed...thanks for replying.....i do give my adult chickens a small portion of oatmeal every morning approx 2 cups of cooked oatmeal for 17 chickens

 

[cottagecheese]

The blogger Chicken-chick was warned by a poultry nutritionist about oatmeal. I linked the whole blog post in the past, here it is again:

https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-shocking-effect-of-oatmeal/

I was reluctant to link it because it contains an irrelevant second part dealing with something else. I'm lazy and the second part makes work for me because whenever I link it I must also explain how I disagree with what he says in the second part, where he's just giving his opinion. It's funny, he says it himself "I am not aware of any study evaluating the impact of any herb".... But then he says he knows for sure that herbs don't work. If there are no studies on 'kitchen ingredients', then how does he know they don't work?

About oatmeal for the adults... I noticed mine were reluctant to eat it, even though they were quite hungry, and combined with the alarm sounded in the link above, I stopped with the oatmeal. But I am rethinking my position because people take beta glucan as a supplement to protect themselves from cancer and it helps the body fight infection and does other good things. So how do we reconcile the bad as presented by the poultry nutritionist with the fact that it is (in my opinion) a help for the immune system of chickens, since it is a help for the immune system of humans? Giving oatmeal everyday would be too much, I think you would agree after reading the link. What would be the best dose to support their immune systems without messing up their digestion/absorption of nutrients? Just a guess: 1.5 cups of cooked oatmeal once a week or once every ten days to be shared by 17 adult chickens.

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

would it be okay if i put the chick on corid for 5 days along with its little companion they are almost 4 weeks old

 

[cottagecheese]

This is a very difficult question. Will attempt to answer by deflecting all responsibility.

Option A: Sure, why not?

Option B: Have they been outside yet? Did you bring clumps of dirt for them to peck at? Chicks with cocci out of control don't behave normally, are not active, don't have much appetite, have pale combs. If the cocci suspicion is based only on the discharge and the chick behaves normally, could this be cocci? I don't think it is, cocci in my experience = diarrhea + lethargy or at least listlessness. I'd just watch very very carefully for the slightest change in behavior. Corid is not totally free (don't mean money), why mess with their thiamine (vit B1) ?

Is the discharge unchanged? What does it smell like, what kind of 'smelly'?

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

This is a very difficult question. Will attempt to answer by deflecting all responsibility.

Option A: Sure, why not?

Option B: Have they been outside yet? Did you bring clumps of dirt for them to peck at? Chicks with cocci out of control don't behave normally, are not active, don't have much appetite, have pale combs. If the cocci suspicion is based only on the discharge and the chick behaves normally, could this be cocci? I don't think it is, cocci in my experience = diarrhea + lethargy or at least listlessness. I'd just watch very very carefully for the slightest change in behavior. Corid is not totally free (don't mean money), why mess with their thiamine (vit B1) ?

Is the discharge unchanged? What does it smell like, what kind of 'smelly'?

no, not outside, and no dirt for them..just been in dog cage for 4 weeks

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

This is a very difficult question. Will attempt to answer by deflecting all responsibility.

Option A: Sure, why not?

Option B: Have they been outside yet? Did you bring clumps of dirt for them to peck at? Chicks with cocci out of control don't behave normally, are not active, don't have much appetite, have pale combs. If the cocci suspicion is based only on the discharge and the chick behaves normally, could this be cocci? I don't think it is, cocci in my experience = diarrhea + lethargy or at least listlessness. I'd just watch very very carefully for the slightest change in behavior. Corid is not totally free (don't mean money), why mess with their thiamine (vit B1) ?

Is the discharge unchanged? What does it smell like, what kind of 'smelly'?

sour smelly...chick eats drinks and poops...sometimes the poop doesnt fall down , stays there and i wipe it off....but not dirrahrea

 

[HAPPYCHICKENLADY17]

This is a very difficult question. Will attempt to answer by deflecting all responsibility.

Option A: Sure, why not?

Option B: Have they been outside yet? Did you bring clumps of dirt for them to peck at? Chicks with cocci out of control don't behave normally, are not active, don't have much appetite, have pale combs. If the cocci suspicion is based only on the discharge and the chick behaves normally, could this be cocci? I don't think it is, cocci in my experience = diarrhea + lethargy or at least listlessness. I'd just watch very very carefully for the slightest change in behavior. Corid is not totally free (don't mean money), why mess with their thiamine (vit B1) ?

Is the discharge unchanged? What does it smell like, what kind of 'smelly'?

they have been outside but in their tote to get sunshine