- Jun 27, 2011
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Hi, all:
I'm new to chicken keeping and also this forum. We have two Silkies, a buff Brahma bantam, a Dominique, and a Red Star. My wife and I have been preparing for months, and last Tuesday we got our five peeps in the mail. They all seemed a little rattled, but settled in and all were eating and drinking after "introduction" to their feeders. They are now one week old and get along well.
One of the babies, the buff Brahma bantam, began peeping loudly for no apparent reason yesterday. We observed her carefully and saw no obvious problems. However she, and the other two bantams, have had to have poop removed from their backsides a few times. I followed the method used for pasting in Storey's guide (use warm water to soften poop and remove carefully w/damp paper towel). I don't believe it was really pasting, but thought it was wiser to be safe than sorry.
Today I observed her "crying" miserably again.... then she pooped. She "cried" afterwords too. Clearly she's uncomfortable. I picked her up and checked her backside, her vent appears swollen and sore. None of the other chicks have this problem with their vents, and they haven't picked at hers. I tried applying some antiseptic ointment per Storey's guide, thinking perhaps treating her for pasting might make it better.
Several hours have passed and it does appear slightly better, but it's still bothering her. She still has some discomfort when she eliminates.
Other than the trouble with her bottom, she seems okay. She's VERY energetic (in fact, the hardest chick to catch), spends no more or less time under the lamp than the others, and eats, drinks, sleeps normally. She is still curious about what goes on around her and sleeps about the same amount as the other chicks.
I just can't figure why she's having this problem. It's a very helpless feeling.
Any ideas? I hate to think of such a tiny young creature suffering like this!
I'm new to chicken keeping and also this forum. We have two Silkies, a buff Brahma bantam, a Dominique, and a Red Star. My wife and I have been preparing for months, and last Tuesday we got our five peeps in the mail. They all seemed a little rattled, but settled in and all were eating and drinking after "introduction" to their feeders. They are now one week old and get along well.
One of the babies, the buff Brahma bantam, began peeping loudly for no apparent reason yesterday. We observed her carefully and saw no obvious problems. However she, and the other two bantams, have had to have poop removed from their backsides a few times. I followed the method used for pasting in Storey's guide (use warm water to soften poop and remove carefully w/damp paper towel). I don't believe it was really pasting, but thought it was wiser to be safe than sorry.
Today I observed her "crying" miserably again.... then she pooped. She "cried" afterwords too. Clearly she's uncomfortable. I picked her up and checked her backside, her vent appears swollen and sore. None of the other chicks have this problem with their vents, and they haven't picked at hers. I tried applying some antiseptic ointment per Storey's guide, thinking perhaps treating her for pasting might make it better.
Several hours have passed and it does appear slightly better, but it's still bothering her. She still has some discomfort when she eliminates.
Other than the trouble with her bottom, she seems okay. She's VERY energetic (in fact, the hardest chick to catch), spends no more or less time under the lamp than the others, and eats, drinks, sleeps normally. She is still curious about what goes on around her and sleeps about the same amount as the other chicks.
I just can't figure why she's having this problem. It's a very helpless feeling.
Any ideas? I hate to think of such a tiny young creature suffering like this!
