Urgent!! Reddish Yellow Protrusion From Chicks Bottom! Please Help!!!

[Oh Chicklets]

Just yesterday my second set of chicks was delivered to my home. While I was checking to see if any of the chicks had pasted up I noticed that one of them had a serious protrusion coming out of her back side. I tried to clean it (it was bloody but is not anymore) and it seemed to get bigger so I stopped and I have just left her alone because she seems to be acting ok (although I have been monitoring her closely). Shes eating and drinking, but I am seriously concerned. She made it through the night and seemed fine this morning, but when I went to take a picture for this post it had evidently gotten much much worse. Nevertheless, she is still acting unaffected.
This little baby is only 2 days old so I dont know if I am jumping the gun by doing anything. I read another thread that seemed of a similar situation and it was suggested to tie off the protrusion. Im not willing to do that without conformation but any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.
These pictures are upsetting

 

[jmlorton]

it looks like a prolapsed vent although that seems to be an older hen problem with egg laying but i suppose it is possible to get as a chick. i have read that preparation H can help the inflammation but i havent tried that myself. And keep her separate because the other chicks might be a little too interested in it and hurt her.

 

[leadwolf1]

This happened to one of my day old chicks. The umbilicus was accidently rubbed off and the intestines then can spill out. I'm sorry to say that if this is the case, there is no cure and you will have to put the chick down. Is this protrusion coming from the vent or just below the vent? It looks like she may have been 'squished' in shipping

 

[Oh Chicklets]

Im sorry Im pretty new to chickens and am not sure what the vent is. If you are referring to her bottom hole, it is definitely below that hole. I got a good look at it when it wasnt so bad and it seemed as though it was not coming out of any hole per se, just popping out of the skin.
Im hoping for the best but am maintaining realism in that she probably wont make it. I lost a pullet this spring for no apparent reason so I am familiar with the fragility of these little beings. As for now, she still seems very happy so I dont plan on doing anything, but if the situation begins to deteriorate I am not beyond looking into options of putting her out of her pain.
Thank you for the information.

 

[leadwolf1]

If it is below her vent, the opening where she goes to the bathroom from, then that is her intestines. She cannot survive with them outside her body. A vet may be able to put them back where they came from but the risk of infection is great. I tried and tried...while I was crying...to put my little guys back. Finally, I just had to end his suffering. The other chicks will start pecking at it and it already looks like some shavings have gotten on it...

As the umbilicus hole starts to close, it will cut off the blood supply to her intestines...it will be painful, you may want to decide to end her suffering now rather than later...the longer you wait and care for her, the harder it will be...I've been there

Good luck with whatever you decide...

 

[rbaker0345]

It sounds like an exposed hernia. It needs to be extremely well sterilized and pushed back in without pinching the intestines too much. Then you need to use tissue glue and close the hernia.

I would flush the opening and the intestines with sterile saline using a sterile syringe.
Next sterilize the intestines, the margin of the opening and the entire area with a betadine scrub.
Then I would don a pair of sterile gloves and gently push the intestines back in.
Next I would cover the opening with a sterile non adhering pad. You can get them at the pharmacy they are made by curad or telfa. Its just a square gauze pad covered with a plastic coating so that the wound doesn't stick like it would to naked gauze.
I would then use some vet wrap. You can get this at the pharmacy too, or your vet probably has some. But since you're going to the pharmacy anyway, look in the ace bandage section for a self-sticking bandage. It is a bandage that doesn't need to be taped, its not sticky but it sticks to itself. Your local feed store or Tractor supply would either sell it as vetrap or prorap.
Wrap the vetrap all-the-way around the telfa pad and over the chicks back and back again.
Now you've created a sort of sling for the guts.
What you will need to do is push against the pad several times a day, pushing the intestines back up into the hole and giving the skin a chance to knit.
This may take weeks or months, but eventually you will notice the lump and the opening growing smaller.
I would also highly recommend putting the chick on some good antibiotics.
Call your vet and plead with him or her to dispense an appropriate antibiotic.
You can get terramyacin powder from your local feed store or from petsmart, but I doubt it will be enough to fight off any bacteria that might have gotten into the chicks sterile body cavity.
Alternately, you may find at your local aquarium store a ciprofloxacin which is made for fish. If you need me to, I can figure out the dosage you would give your chick. If you cant find the cipro locally, you can find it on ebay and put the chick on the terramyacin while you wait for the cipro. I am not sure if cipro is safe for chicks of a certain age, so I would need to know the age of the chick.




If you have any questions, just ask.

 

[rbaker0345]

Never mind about the tissue glue, to prevent an infection, you may want to flush with sterile saline or betadine once a day using a sterile syringe which you can probably get a box of from your pharmacist or vet once you explain the problem to him. But I'm not sure if its okay to introduce betadine into the body cavity, you may want to ask your vet about this.

 

[Oh Chicklets]

Thank you so much rbaker0345 for the detailed instructions. It looks as though that is what I am going to have to do, as the situation seems to be worsening by the minute. I isolated her, but she seemed pretty upset about it, and the sac ruptured and I am now most certainly seeing intestines. Im going to leave her be for an hour or so to calm down until my boyfriend gets home and then we are going to have to try to push back the intestines. God this is awful. But I sincerely cannot thank you all enough for your help. She wouldnt have a chance without you.