weak keets. poopy bottoms

[larajmd]

My guinea keets are about a week old now. But two of them have poop on their bottoms.
They had a difficult hatch

I washed it all off and dried them. One of the keets appears a little weaker than the others. Not so bright eyed and much smalller.

They are eating and drinking. I have put vitamins in their water

Is there anything else I can do for the weaker one to build him up? I was thinking kitten food but wanted to check this was safe first.

 

[JLeigh]

I would try room temperature scrambled egg before kitten food. Cat food tends to have a lot of chemicals in it unless it's organic, and even then there is a lot of stuff in cat food a keet that tiny may not be able to process. That's just my guess though - there are others with a lot more experience than I have who can guide you better. That said, get some Sav-A-Chick from Tractor Supply or a local feed store and continue with the vitamins. Use infant drops without iron. Make sure your feed is a high protein percentage, like 26% or higher. A game bird starter will have a higher percentage than chick starter.

Some keets have what I call, for lack of knowledge, "failure to thrive". No matter what you do, they just don't seem to grow or have any energy. In my experience, they usually die. It could be a congenital problem - a bad heart for example - that nothing will correct. We just can't know, all we can do is try.

Hope your little keet improves. Keep us posted.

 

[bestgear]

Our 31 keets were born 2 weeks ago today and we experienced similar symptoms for 2 of our keets. At first I thought they were born with a prolapsed vent but now feel as though the redness and swelling was due to the lack of feathers and swelling from other keets picking at their pasty bottoms.

Our twice-daily treatment was to run the faucet at a very slow speed at around 100 degrees and holding the keet on its back in one hand wash the feces from their bottoms with the other hand lightly using a q-tip all the while holding it's bottom under the running water. We would hold them for about 2 minutes with a washcloth wrapped around their bottom almost like a diaper rather than wiping them dry to avoid further irritation. Once they were dry we would apply a small amount of Preparation H with a q-tip to reduce the swelling and inflamation.

They didn't have much fight left in them when we first started this treatment but after 5-6 days we saw great improvement. We isolated these 2 keets with 2 healthy and kind keets in the brooder for a few days to give their bottoms a chance to heal and then they were all returned to the general population. We also started to give the entire flock a scrambled egg every other day and this shot of protein seemed to help give them a good boost.

Today these 2 keets are amongst our favorites and keep us well entertained. They are the smallest in the flock but I haven't observed it to be a detriment to their survival at this point. They readily access food and water and aren't bullied out of the way for the warmest spot under the heat lamp. Good luck with your keets and hopefully something here resonates and makes and difference.

 

[larajmd]

Thanks. the scrambled egg is going down a treat.
washing botoms every other day.
but one little keet isnt growing as fast as the others. tried separating it from the others for TLC. but he was gettng too upset about being separated from siblings.
anyway. I will keep persevering with the little one.

 

[larajmd]

Unfortunately the little weak keet died yesterday. others seem ok. growing and eating well

 

[bestgear]

I'm sorry for your loss and saddened but it sounds like the little guy was just too weak to pull through. It sounds like an isolated keet - I wish you well the others. I've also found introducing new menu items every couple of days has added to their growth and activity. So far I've given them some tender lettuce leaves, bird seed and a grasshopper and all have been met with glee and celebration with no visible ill affects. Good Luck!