Is This Pasty Butt or an Umbilical Cord? PIC INCLUDED

[harriedhomemaker]

All of the chicks I received this morning seem perfect except one little Delaware (?). I think she still has her umbilical cord attached but it is a bit larger than I imagined it would be. I think her vent is not covered but I just want to make sure it is not pasty butt. I did gently wipe her bottom with a warm, wet washcloth. She seems OK (has eaten and drank) but is more sleepy than the other chicks. She keeps wanting to sleep on her side and the other ones want to pick at her little sore bottom!

Here's a pic:

I think the green color is from the Oasis feed supplement Meyer gives the chicks prior to shipping.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

Emily -
That should fall of in a few days. Do not pull at it. It is normal (but large).

 

[harriedhomemaker]

Alrighty. Hands off then.

 

[mommabice]

Wow. That is a big "stump". It's not the same color as the poo though, so my guess would be umbilical cord too. I found that after cleaning off the poo, just a little veg oil on a Q-tip, then rub around the vent, and that really helped. I only have one chick who still has poop sticking to her butt fluff, but the vent is not covered so I leave it alone. I figure when the fluff falls off, so will the poop.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

When the poop sticks often, just pull it off and it will take some feather with it. It does them no harm.

 

[harriedhomemaker]

I'm starting to think that her big "stump" is a sign of some sort of developmental problem. Maybe the yolk didn't absorb in completely? She is smaller than my other chicks (including the other Delaware we have) and spends most of her time sitting or laying down. When she does walk, her posture is a little off.

 

[chicken pickin]

My runt white plymouth rock(she is like half the size of the others even at 2 1/2 weeks so cute lol) She had the same thing the large crust cluster on her behind but not on her vent and also the greenish color. I was so nervous for her and thought she had an infection i prepared myself for her to die. But after a few days her behind was clean and she was just fine. Dont worry about yours shell be ok. Just watch her close and clean her vent. Good luck with your babies

 

[harriedhomemaker]

My runt white plymouth rock(she is like half the size of the others even at 2 1/2 weeks so cute lol) She had the same thing the large crust cluster on her behind but not on her vent and also the greenish color. I was so nervous for her and thought she had an infection i prepared myself for her to die. But after a few days her behind was clean and she was just fine. Dont worry about yours shell be ok. Just watch her close and clean her vent. Good luck with your babies

That is encouraging, thank you.

"Runt" has doing poorly yesterday. We had to leave the house for a few hours (I didn't want to, but it was my MIL's birthday and she probably would have been insulted if I had missed it because of chickens!) and when we came back Runt was flat out on the floor and looked dead. When I touched her, she barely moved. We prepared our kids for the fact that she might die, but decided to see if we could help her.

We separated her from the rest of the chicks. One of the issues was that they were just piling up on her and I was worried they'd kill her that way. I made a scrambled egg and my husband actually managed to get her to eat a bit of it. Over the next few hours she livened up and now is behaving more like the rest of the flock. Her posture is even better. When I got up this morning to check on them, I had to look a while before I could spot her! I think she's turned the corner!

 

[chicken pickin]

I did the same, I seperated Pip our runt with the 2 other white rock chicks we have for company because the other 9 were pecking the 3 chicks eyes poor babies. Its funny now because we still have the 3 white rocks in a seperate brooder until we build a large one to accomadate all 12 of them for another 4weeks until they can go outside in the coop but when we occasionally let the 2 flocks mingle the 3 white rocks play "boss" lol. Pip the runt is so small but she charges the others, wings open and pounces on thier backs shes a tough girl for her size and the loudest of the bunch. IM REALLY GLAD YOURS SEEMS TO BE DOING BETTER!

 

[chicken pickin]

Here is a pic of Pip and Queen Bee
sorry its sideways i didnt know how to turn it