Very sick baby! Help please??!!

[Birdmom2020]

Okay if anyone is still on this one I still have a problem. I just lost another baby today. They are all perky, warm, eating drinking. But I noticed they all have caked up butts. I've been using a warm paper towel to try and wipe away the messes but they just keep getting caked up again. If they do get anything out it's watery/foamy like. I'm feeding Purina brand medicated starter for chicks from hatch to 6 weeks. I'm not sure if tractor supply got a sick bunch this time or what. My older ones are nice and healthy. And I haven't had the babies around the older ones at all.

Oh and this one was fine an hour before I found it. Walking around, picking at feed, drinking etc. None of my kids nor my dog was around them.

 

[Birdmom2020]

This happened to me and I lost two chicks and was so sad. Another chick started acting the same way falling asleep while standing not eating or drinking. I wet the chick food so it’s easy to eat and less waste, but since it’s wet I was able to hold the third chicks mouth open and put small amounts of food in his mouth. He would try to spit it out or swallow it so I kept doing it 3 more times I think and then dunked his head in water a couple times so he could digest the food. Then I repeated this step every couple of hours until the next day he started drinking water on his own so I know it was working and he was fighting me more I kept feeding him and he eventually started eating on his own with his siblings. He is now 5 weeks old and stronger then ever.

Okay. I'll try this! Thanks. Mine aren't falling asleep while standing or anything. Just going from alive and well one minute to nothing the next. It makes me even more sad that this batch is my favorite breed!!

 

[hayley3]

There is a reason for the pasty butt...too hot, too cold, too crowded, stressed in some way.

https://the-chicken-chick.com/pasty-butt-in-chicks-causestreatmen/

 

[Birdmom2020]

There is a reason for the pasty butt...too hot, too cold, too crowded, stressed in some way.

Okay. So how do I figure out which is my problem? I know they're not crowded. I had 5 in a 5 ftx5ft brooder. Now of course 4. They are not bothered unless I change bedding or give fresh feed and water. So it has to be temp. What's the best way to know if they're too hot or cold? I usually feel their feet and beaks. Is there another way that I don't know about?

 

[Birdmom2020]

Pasty butt occurs frequently in chicks who were shipped or in feed stores where the problem may have been ignored. If one has it they may get it every day for the first week or 10 days, so each day wash their bottom with fingers, warm water with soap. Dry well with a tissue. Put a drop of vaseline or oil on the vent. It can be caused by dehydration, getting, cold, or too warm of a brooder. The temperature for the chicks should be about 90 or a little less, with a cooler spot in the brooder. I would try to get the chicks drinking. Use a thermometer on the floor to tell if the brooder is too hot.

Okay. I'll do this. I keep my house (since they are inside for now) around 74 and have a heat lamp but not directly on them. I'll do the Vaseline thing and put the heat lamp a little lower on them.

 

[Birdmom2020]

An expensive thermometer on the floor in the warmest area should be used. That part should be at 90 the first week, then down to 85 the second week and so on. Chicks will usually go to the cooler side if they are too warm. It could be that the chicks were very stressed in shipping.

Okay. How expensive? And when will the stress from shipping calm? I'm worried I'm going to keep losing babies.

 

[Birdmom2020]

I'm pretty sure she meant inexpensive.

Okay. Lol thanks. I was hoping so!

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Okay. Lol thanks. I was hoping so!

What temp is your brooder?

 

[Eelantha]

A Mama Heating Pad can also be improvised. The mama heating pad replaces the broody hen who gives heat, and chicks go under it whenever they want some warmth. This makes for an easy temperature adaptation, as it emulates the natural way chicks would grow cold hardy in the wild while raised by their mother. Also, if the recurring problem of your pasty butt chicks is stress, having a warm, dark place to hide under should do wonders to calm them down. Just make sure to put some sort of protection above the heating pad so the chicks don't soil it when they climb on top of it, and if you don't hear them peeping incessantly when they hide there (those peepings are usually cries for warmth), you should be fine.