We got 10 banty chicks from the feed store 4 days ago. All were doing well but one has developed a pasted vent. Any advice as to what can be done?
Check your temperature to see if they are a little too cool or too hot, and make sure you keep the bedding clean. You should pick or cut away the crusty part so more good stuff can come out. You may need to do this every day for a few days until the problem is taken care of. Good luck.
Clean that pasted vent but do so very carefully. Try not to tear the skin. You might get a paper towel really wet with warm (not hot) water and soak the mess so that it loosens up and then gently try to pull it off or break it up some and then pull off smaller pieces. It is imperative that you get the vent unclogged or the chick will die. And it usually means a temp problem so do check on that also.
Thanks for the info, my temp was to hot.
I dab a little baby oil on their bottoms after I've gotten the vent clean. It helps to prevent the matter from sticking to their fuzz. I usually only have to do this once.
Ordered 24 chicks and recieved 28. One died in transit.
Thank you,
EME
By Dr. Bruce Smith (Brucesmith) on Monday, April 22, 2002 - 08:20 am:
By Susie (Susied) on Monday, April 22, 2002 - 08:26 am:
It's good that you caught it. Keep an eye out for this issue!
Susie
By Emengels on Monday, April 22, 2002 - 09:30 am:
EME
By k. Daniel (Farmwoman) on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 - 02:02 pm:
By Anonymous on Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 04:45 pm:
I'm currently experiencing a similar problem with a chick. It's actually happened twice, but the first chick recovered nicely after being cleaned up. The second has become a problem. I have learned that the pastey bottoms are my fault, room is too bright and the temps are much too low.
I didn't catch the second chick fast enough and the others started pecking it. By the time I found it, it's vent was extended and quite bloody. I've seperated it from the rest and clean it a couple of times a day. When washing, I dip the rump into warm water and gently massage and wipe with a cloth. I have trimmed the fluff to reduce how much can stick to it.
This all started on day 2 and this second chick was one of the larger ones. It is now (day 7) the smallest and doesn't seem to be improving, the vent is still extended despite the peck wounds healing. It's personality isn't that of a sick bird though, it's quite active in trying to get out of it's cage and rejoin the others. It actually appears to be quit pissed about the whole ordeal. It's got a healthy appetite and is active. But I fear that returning it will amount to it's extended and constantly dirty vent being a pecking target again.
I've considered culling it as a responsible thing to do, but since it's problem is environmentally induced and it's still behaving like a healthy bird, I'm having a tuff time justifying it. Any advice would be appreciated.