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chickens

Baby chick help

James Bridger

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Location: Nebraska zone 5

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posted 1 year ago

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I need some help with this chick......this morning it had a case of pasty butt. The girls got it cleaned up, but this evening, it's butt is swollen, pink, and feels plump like a balloon. It seems to be in distress, it doesn't want to walk around, it just sits and kind of pants. I rodded it out, so to speak, with the tip of a q-tip, and it's bootyhole is open, and I got a few flecks of poo on the top of the q-tip, so presumably it's all opened up in there. Is there anything I can do, besides just put it out of its misery?

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J. Syme

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posted 1 year ago

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looks like you cleaned it well, guessing the old warm water soak and blow dry helped. I'd slap some bag balm on it's rear and give it a little bit to see if things work out be fore you give up on that one.

r ransom

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posted 1 year ago

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is she drinking and less than 5 days old?

Sometimes they don't learn and we have to teach them a second time. And sometimes they get pushed away from the water. Somewhere quiet and warm, dip her beak in the water like you did the first time, or put a drop of water on your finger and put it on the tip of her beak. sit with her calm and quiet to see if she wants to drink.

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James Bridger

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Location: Nebraska zone 5

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posted 1 year ago

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They're about 7-10 days old now, and they've been drinking, as far as I've been able to tell. She's one of the bigger ones out of the dozen I've got. After giving her the rotorooter treatment with a q-tip one more time, she's pooped twice that I've seen within the last half hour, and the swelling/pink spot seems better, maybe. I'm thinking she was just plugged up, so I'm going to leave her alone overnight and see how she does tomorrow, with explicit instructions for the girls to check on her every half hour or so and see if she needs her butt wiped. I'll apply some balm in the meantime.

r ransom

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posted 1 year ago

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If she's pooping and drinking, it could just be a reaction from the cleaning. It usually clears up in a couple of days with rest.

Or it could be something worse that I haven't been able to find treatment for (the hatchery says it happens, we'll refund that one when I ask them what does it)

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r ransom

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posted 1 year ago

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how is she doing?

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Kristine Keeney

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I'm betting that the chick is fine, now.
S/he's just a little thing. If something was going on that plugged her up - eating something she was too young to properly digest, eating too much, not drinking quite enough water - it's passed (quite literally).

The swollen abdomen could be caused by warm water that might have been just a little too warm for her baby self, or maybe the scrubbing was a little too enthusiastic. It happens. She looked okay in the picture, so putting some kind of skin protectant on the redness and just leaving her in a quiet area for a bit did the trick. I probably wouldn't have used a cotton swab so creatively, but I wouldn't want someone doing that to me, either.

I'm glad she's better and hope she continues to grow well and without fuss.

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James Bridger

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Location: Nebraska zone 5

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posted 1 year ago

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Chicky took a turn for the worse today. It wouldn't walk at all, and would just sit with it's eyes closed and pant heavily. We ended up putting her down.

J. Syme

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James Bridger wrote:Chicky took a turn for the worse today. It wouldn't walk at all, and would just sit with it's eyes closed and pant heavily. We ended up putting her down.

That's a hard thing to do but best for all.

Kristine Keeney

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I'm so sorry for your loss. That's hard and sad.

There is nothing so bad that politics cannot make it worse. - Thomas Sowell
Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom. - Albert Einstein

r ransom

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That's too bad.
hugs and stuff

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Carla Burke

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posted 1 year ago

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Awww... I'm sorry...

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Matt McSpadden

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Even though you know you are bringing life onto your land, and even though you know, at some point you will experience death... it is never easy. Don't let it get you too far down though. Even the best chicken keepers still loose chicks sometimes. If there is something to learn, learn it. If there was nothing you could do, then feel the pain of loss, but continue taking great care of the rest.

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