One of our chicks has been having a really stubborn Pasty Butt (or something) problem since the weather got so hot. We have tried the commonly suggested treatments here to only slight improvement. Yesterday it was looking a lot better and I saw it pass a normal poop.
Then today (quite late this afternoon), I was stunned to see the vent was suddenly VERY swollen looking and the chick was in distress trying to poop.
Background: Chick is 5 weeks old and one of 40 we have on our covered back porch. The others seem okay although we've had some really watery poops on the hottest days. They get a fan on about 10am when the temp gets up around 85. Average high has been about 95.
They are only fed Chick Starter. I don't feed treats.
From the start, I put Corid in their water at the prevention dose because their feed is unmedicated. Also small amounts of Probios probiotic in the water as a standard just-in-case.
Treatment History: First day we bathed the chick in warm water & dawn because the poo was really stuck on and I didn't want to rub too hard. It was hot enough to dry quickly. We used coconut oil outside/around the vent and fed it to all of them mixed in a wet mash of their starter feed.
The next day we repeated the procedure because the chick was messy and crusty again.
The following day they all had watery poo because it was extremely hot. None of them got messy except Pasty chick, who had a steady drippy run of poo/urates running down its abdomen and almost no down left in the region. That's when I read here that the urates can burn their skin.
So, I cleaned it gently and put on Vaseline over all the exposed skin as a barrier. The Coconut oil seemed to not stick on for long enough so I gave up on using that.
We fed them a cooked rice recipe recommended here, mixed with starter to help firm up the poo. It seemed to help. The day after (yesterday) the Pasty chick looked a lot better and pooped a normal texture although it was still complaining when it went.
Cut to this evening when I noticed all that swelling. It looks on the verge of prolapse. Very active, eating and drinking. But also constantly grooming its bulging backside so that it now has no fluff left back there. No mess on its bottom, the outside was clean.
Without any further recommended treatments and in a bit of desperation before it got dark, I tried to get the chick to drink some Milk of Magnesia. It stubbornly refused and even with my mom helping we couldn't get any in the chick and feared forcing it might lead to aspiration.
So, then I borrowed some of my mom's prescription steroid ointment (clobetasol propionate) thinking it might help reduce the swelling a bit, and plastered that all over its hiney. I only tried these things because I have read that most human and pet meds are safe enough for chickens with caution on the dosing. And because I'm at my wits end.
While I was handling the chick it got some poo on me which smells really foul. Very very stinky.
So, I thought I would come check with you guys if you have any ideas what might be going on.
Could it be a fungus or bacteria at the root of this?
Then today (quite late this afternoon), I was stunned to see the vent was suddenly VERY swollen looking and the chick was in distress trying to poop.
Background: Chick is 5 weeks old and one of 40 we have on our covered back porch. The others seem okay although we've had some really watery poops on the hottest days. They get a fan on about 10am when the temp gets up around 85. Average high has been about 95.
They are only fed Chick Starter. I don't feed treats.
From the start, I put Corid in their water at the prevention dose because their feed is unmedicated. Also small amounts of Probios probiotic in the water as a standard just-in-case.
Treatment History: First day we bathed the chick in warm water & dawn because the poo was really stuck on and I didn't want to rub too hard. It was hot enough to dry quickly. We used coconut oil outside/around the vent and fed it to all of them mixed in a wet mash of their starter feed.
The next day we repeated the procedure because the chick was messy and crusty again.
The following day they all had watery poo because it was extremely hot. None of them got messy except Pasty chick, who had a steady drippy run of poo/urates running down its abdomen and almost no down left in the region. That's when I read here that the urates can burn their skin.
So, I cleaned it gently and put on Vaseline over all the exposed skin as a barrier. The Coconut oil seemed to not stick on for long enough so I gave up on using that.
We fed them a cooked rice recipe recommended here, mixed with starter to help firm up the poo. It seemed to help. The day after (yesterday) the Pasty chick looked a lot better and pooped a normal texture although it was still complaining when it went.
Cut to this evening when I noticed all that swelling. It looks on the verge of prolapse. Very active, eating and drinking. But also constantly grooming its bulging backside so that it now has no fluff left back there. No mess on its bottom, the outside was clean.
Without any further recommended treatments and in a bit of desperation before it got dark, I tried to get the chick to drink some Milk of Magnesia. It stubbornly refused and even with my mom helping we couldn't get any in the chick and feared forcing it might lead to aspiration.
So, then I borrowed some of my mom's prescription steroid ointment (clobetasol propionate) thinking it might help reduce the swelling a bit, and plastered that all over its hiney. I only tried these things because I have read that most human and pet meds are safe enough for chickens with caution on the dosing. And because I'm at my wits end.
While I was handling the chick it got some poo on me which smells really foul. Very very stinky.
So, I thought I would come check with you guys if you have any ideas what might be going on.
Could it be a fungus or bacteria at the root of this?
When I say brooder, you may think the space is small, but it's actually 2 secure "runs" taking up a third of our big porch, with "coops" which are more typical 2x4 brooder size for sleeping. 20 chicks in each. We went a bit ambitious with it all because an owl was haunting our porch with the last batch, and I plan to incubate often for upcoming breeding projects.
They're not in the coop yet at 5 weeks because one side is still quite small (Genetic Hackle) and we are still rearranging fences and whatnot to maintain separate groups.
They're not in the coop yet at 5 weeks because one side is still quite small (Genetic Hackle) and we are still rearranging fences and whatnot to maintain separate groups.
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