YAY! My chick can poop again!!!!

[Jennifer Cappi Williams]

I had known my chick had a runny bum for 2 weeks. I have been washing his bum and drying it and making sure nothing was sticking to his butt. I had been giving him the probiotics and things like scrambled eggs... Thinking everything was OK. Then yesterday I saw him with is eyes closed and making a pitiful high whistle. I grabbed him and looked at his bum...he was straining so hard he was on the VERGE of having a prolapsed vent. OMG... So I pressed against it with my finger to keep him from pushing it too hard and ran and put him in a warm bath soak. That didn't do much. I had to then blow dry him (and him being a Silkie so lots of fluff to brush out). Once he was dry I had to get a pair of tweezers, a small tiny syringe, a cup of warm water, a tiny cup of veggie oil, and a Qtip and went to work. I had to use the tweezers to VERY CAREFULLY remove just the poop I could see in the vent opening. It was hard and crunchy like tiny rocks. I would pick a few, then use the syringe with warm water to put a few CC's of warm water in the vent area as I made some space. I then would put mineral oil on the Qtip and oil the opening. Then a paper towel I would massage his butt like you do a baby mammal to make it go potty. That would produce a little movement and I would clear it, wash it, oil, massage it. OVER AND OVER AND OVER. The speed of doing this was about the same as an assisted hatch. Tiny piece by piece. I was scared I would accidently hurt his vent and put or cut his intestine so I had to only do tiny pieces at a time. That started at 4pm yesterday and it was non-stop work until 3:30 AM last night. I thought I was going to pass out. The second I would put him down, he would start straining dangerously again and his little bottom looked like a golf ball was going to come out his bottom. I would have to push against him to stop him from killing himself and slowly get the poop out. I thought last night after I finally could shower and pass out I would wake up to a dead baby that I didn't hear calling for me (I did have him in the bedroom all night but I was so tired). He was able to poop a tiny bit on his own but still you could tell it was painful. I gathered up all my stuff I needed and took him to work with me today to the stable. I kept doing the wash, pick, oil, massage between cleaning stalls and taking care of the other animals. I went in to get him to head home and GIANT STINKY POOP!!!! Just like when a colicky horse finally poops, I was so happy to see this! He seemed pretty proud of it too! Now he is all fired up hopping around. I gave him some yogurt and scrambled egg mixed with his chick starter (just a bit at a time to make sure things were going thru, FYI...they are). So I feel I dodged a bullet right now... I am still going to keep bum checking for LIKE EVER... Chip (named cause he is a partridge silkie) is doing great right now... *KNOCK ON WOOD

 

[Shadowfire]

So glad he's doing better!

 

[Alexandra33]

Fantastic job tirelessly nursing that precious peep! Keep up the good work. Little more rewarding than watching all your dedication bear fruit.

~Alex

 

[aart]

OhMyGoodness!!
Great description on how to handle such an issue.
But....How did it get so plugged up?

 

[Nibarlan]

What would cause that??

 

[Silkiesarefluffydinos]

Ni ce! So glad he 's okay! But what would cause it to get that bad?

 

[azygous]

You're a hero! You sure had perseverance and dedication! I'm so glad the chick responded to all your hard work.

I had a two-week old chick a couple years back that became super constipated. Later, I noticed the nipple waterer was malfunctioning, and the poor thing (only chick) wasn't able to get water out of it. This is a common reason why chicks get constipated - not drinking enough water. Another common reason is people fail to consider a chick needs grit if fed anything but chick feed.

Next time, if there is a next time, use chilled coconut oil so it's solid and slip tiny bits into the chick's beak until you get about half a teaspoon into it. My chick responded a couple hours later with a giant smelly poop, and the change in demeanor was dramatic.

The coconut oil is great for any sort of blockage, crop or gizzard. I also keep it in my chicken first aid kit for wound treatment since it's a natural antibiotic and fungicide. It's especially useful for chicks because it's easy to administer without risking getting into the airway.

 

[Jennifer Cappi Williams]

Ni ce! So glad he 's okay! But what would cause it to get that bad?

It really seemed like the first part to be removed was pieces of chick grit and feathers. I think that even though I gave him chick grit, there must have been some that was too big or combined with feathers to really block him up.