Something is wrong with my chick

[Broody Bist]

Guys something is definitely wrong with one of my 6-day-old babies. Please read this all the way through, and anyone who has experienced this with their chicks or knows maybe what's wrong, please reply ASAP.

So, when we got our chicks, the two D'uccles were a little messy. A simple case of pasty butt, which we have had before in the past, so we do know what we're doing with this. Jacqueline had to go through one cleaning, then she was great. But Marguerite (the chick in question) had to be cleaned over and over and over.

Now what started as a little case of pasty butt has escalated. She has a very swollen vent, and every time she squats to poop (if you've had chicks, you know the 'pose' I'm talking about) she just stays like that and makes a loud peeping noise over and over. It's almost like she's constipated. Or have you ever seen a hen having trouble laying an egg? That's kind of what it reminded me of. I had a modern game bantam who would have trouble laying, and she did EXACTLY the same thing, same noise and everything, except she was trying to lay an egg and not poop.

Marguerite is kind of slow and wobbly on her feet too, for a chick that's almost a week old. I see her eat and drink all the time, and there is plenty of heat (also a place to escape the heat). Their food and water is always clean, and we're doing all we can for her. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong??

I know, that's a lot to read, but if you read this far and you know what might be going on, please help. Suggestions are welcome. Actually anything is, I'm pretty desperate.


~Elisabeth

 

[micstrachan]

Hello. What bedding do you have? She might be eating the bedding and getting backed up from it. Do you have coconut oil on hand? You can lubricate her vent with it, but you can also feed her tiny chunks of the solid oil to help her break up the mass. Just put little bits in her beak so she can swallow them on her own one at a time. I’ll be here if you can reply right away.

 

[micstrachan]

Also, posting a photo of her vent might help us help you socwe can see what you are dealing with. A warm epsom salt soak might help, but I’d wait to hear from someone else on that. If she is very weak, getting her wet could possibly be dangerous.

 

[Cayuga momma]

So I'm not sure exactly what could be wrong with her, but cleaning out her vent could help. Use an oral syringe filled with saline solution to gently squirt into her vent. Massage the area around the cloaca. If she is constipated, this should help work out hard poop. Once the cloaca is clean, follow up with betadine or iodine-based antiseptic. Adding Apple Cider Vinegar with "Mother" to their water will help.

I had ducklings with severe pasty butt die from the poop stuck inside creating an infection.

You don't have to be doing anything wrong for things like this to happen. This chick could just get easily stressed which would make her more susceptible to problems. She could also have what they call "failure to thrive".

Please don't blame yourself!
I hope she pulls through!

 

[Cayuga momma]

 

[oregonkat]

@azygous, you may have advice for this OP.

 

[azygous]

She has all of the classic symptoms of constipation. It often accompanies pasty butt. She needs unstopping. Coconut oil in its solid form is easiest to stuff small pieces into her beak. Try to get a half teaspoon of oil into her.

If you have no coconut oil, use olive oil or mineral oil.

 

[Broody Bist]

Thank you guys so much for replying!!! We are definitely going to give the coconut oil a try. I'll let ya'll know how it goes

 

[Broody Bist]

UPDATE: We went ahead with our cleaning routine like we usually do (cleaning off the poop with a paper towel and warm water, then drying with the hair dryer on low) but we decided to try lubricating it more, like @micstrachan suggested, only we used vaseline (it's perfectly safe for chicks, we used it to help poop slide off when our earlier batches had pasty butt). We also gently massaged the area around her vent and stomach like @Cayuga momma suggested. So far, it seems to be really helping! She is pooping a lot easier and more often, even though she does make that terrible sound and squat there for a while. We are going to get some solid coconut oil later on and see how that goes. So far so good!!

 

[micstrachan]

Yay! That is great news. How is she doing now?