What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[binky28]

Has anyone had a chick with a clogged vent. We have 2 chicks that we placed with our broody hen from day old chicks. All has been fine until i found 1 of the chicks layed out struggling to survive. mum and other chick had left her to it. I immedietley picked it up and for some reason knew to check it's vent which was crusted over. i quickly got my husband to run a bowl of warm water and soaked it off and then got plenty more poo out. The chick seems to have perked up but not back to normal i think it is exhausted !! as it could sort of hold its own weight again we attempted to put it back under the broody hen and it managed to snuggle in but i removed it again as i thought if they moved it may not be strong enough to keep up and may get cold in the night and die. I now have it on a hot water bottle. I feel so bad that i did not notice before it got in to this state but as the hen had accepted the chicks i didn't want to take them out away from her. i have obviously been checking but just looking not examining. We have checked the other one and that is fine. If we are lucky enough and the chick pulls through do you think the mum will take her back. She is a good chicken. Anybody had a similar experience ? could it pull through ? fingers crossed x

[Redwing]

Now that you have unclogged the vent hopefully it will be ok, as you also noticed more 'backed up' poo come out of the vent this should mean that the chick should be able to process whats left in its body. Sadly it also means that its been clogged for a while

 

Now that its proper dark I would slip it back under the mum, providing she doesnt kick it out (check in ten mins or so) it should be ok

 

You could leave it on the hot water bottle but that will cool overnight

 

If you really dont want to put it with the broody tonight then a 60w bulb on a flexible desk or floor lamp over a plastic crate or similar will do as an emergency brooder

 

There is apparently a link between cold water and pasted vent so as a precaution let water reach air temp before putting it in their coop

 

Also keep an eye out for signs of Coccidiosis as a clogged vent can be a symptom

[binky28]

Hi thanks for reply . But i was too late !! All i can do is learn fro this and i will be so much more on the look out now. Other chick seems fine this morning. I will deff make sure water is warm too. As i got them from a breeder as day old chicks could i get another one of the same age from the same batch and slip it in or will my broody know. ? She is a very kind mum .

[Redwing]

It depends on how old the chicks are, if they are up to 5 days old its worth a try, if they are older its unlikely that she will accept them (not impossible but you must have a back up plan if she doesnt)